THE £730,000 ESCORT RS

A black Ford Escort RS Turbo, driven by Diana, the Princess of Wales, from August 1985 to May 1988 went on sale with Silverstone Auctions at the end of August with no reserve. It was expected to go for a six figure sum – nobody saw the final price of £730,000 coming, as the previous record for a Ford Escort had been £60,000.

Arwel Richards of Silverstone Auctions said: 'The final tussle for ownership of the car was between a Dubai buyer and a Cheshire based English buyer, both bidding online, with the English bidder winning the car in the end. The atmosphere in the auction room was electric.'

Registered on 23rd August 1985, this RS Turbo Series 1 and its famous driver were extensively photographed outside the boutiques of Chelsea and the restaurants of Kensington from then until May 1988. The Royal Mews provided a selection of Rolls-Royces and Daimlers for official state occasions, and these were often used by other Royals for off duty shopping trips, but Princess Diana far preferred to be at the wheel of her own car, albeit with a detective in the passenger seat, a member of The Royalty Protection Command (SO14).

Black was chosen to make the car less conspicuous, and this is the only RS Turbo Series 1 car to be painted that colour. Ford's Special Vehicle Engineering department also fitted a regular five-slat front grille to assist in the 'stealth makeover,' and a secondary rear view mirror for the protection officer with radio in the glove box, the cable still being visible today.

The car's history file is incredibly detailed and copy internal memos at Ford HQ confirm the 're-plating' of the registration number, as is common with ex-Royal cars, when it was returned to Ford. Further documentation from the DVLA shows the successful re-registration of the car back to C462 FHK in later years.