Winston Churchill's custom Land Rover gets the highest bid in an auction of vintage vehicles!

Winston Churchill Land Rover Sold At an Auction for £129,000

A Land Rover that was built for former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was sold at an auction for a whopping 129,000 pounds in UK. The vehicle which was modified for him to be chauffeur-driven around his Chartwell estate in Kent, was expected to get around 60,000 pounds at an auction in Cambridgeshire, but it got sold for £129,000, which is twice its estimate. It was sold with the original logbook registering it to Churchill to a bidder, who wished to reserve his identity. Sir Winston Spencer Churchill, regarded to be the greatest prime minister of UK, was gifted with a custom Land Rover in 1954 when he was 80.
The Series 1 Land Rover was endowed with an extra wide passenger seat, leather grab handle along with a padded centre armrest; it also had the registration UKE 80 in the name of the Rt Hon Sir Winston Spencer Churchill KG. OM. The Land Rover remained with him until his death in 1965, after which it was transferred to Churchill’s son-in-law Christopher Soames, who kept it with him up till 1973. It was then sold off at Soames’ Hamsell Manor Estate during the sale of farm equipments. The Churchill Land Rover was brought by Norman Mills for £160. The true worth of Land Rover was judged by Frank Quay, who brought it for double the price from Norman.
For the next few years, the Churchill Land Rover was in Frank’s daughter’s horse box to various events before Frank decided to leave the Land Rover back in the shed to preserve his investment. Frank’s gamble paid off very well as the Churchill Land Rover fetched him a jaw-dropping price of £129,000, when it was sold at a Cheffins auction this weekend in Kent. Cheffins auctioneers opined that the vehicle, which had 12,932 miles (20,812km) on the clock, was regarded as the most expensive item in its auction of more than 2,000 vintage vehicles.

Courtesy of Nitrobahn