Sale or return? Atkinson to auction classic car ... again
A CUNNING plan, as Baldrick might have said. Rowan Atkinson has decided to sell his classic Mercedes 500E – for the second time.
The Blackadder star and supercar aficionado is putting the silver saloon up for auction having already sold it and bought it back once before.
Atkinson first bought the four-door when it was new in 1991, a year after the launch of his enduring comic character Mr Bean.
He kept it for three years before selling it, and the car remained with its enthusiast second owner for more than 20 years before Atkinson bought it back again in July 2017.
Less than two years on from that purchase, he has again listed it for sale at auction next month. The car is being offered without reserve, although other 500Es have changed hands for as much as £50,000.
Gary Dunne, auction manager at Classic Car Auctions, said: “We are delighted to be offering a car direct from Rowan Atkinson. It has such an unusual story in that he has owned it twice...we often have unusual stories and this is one of those, especially for a celebrity to repurchase his car after such a long period. It is going to generate a lot of interest.”
The Mercedes has a top speed of 161mph, a five-litre V8 engine and can go from zero to 62mph in 5.5 seconds.
Atkinson sold his Mclaren F1 supercar for £8million in 2015, four years after he crashed the vehicle into a hedge in Oxfordshire.
The crash, his second in the Mclaren in 17 years of ownership, landed his insurer with a £910,000 repair bill, thought then to be the biggest single car insurance claim.
He said at the time of the sale: “It was never bought as an investment. I bought it for the quality of the thinking that went into its design, and now it has become a thing of value, it is time for it to be enjoyed by someone else.” Atkinson is a keen driver and a former leader on the Top Gear lap-time board.