£ 450,000 for classic car fit for a Prince ( and Queen)
AN ASTON Martin Lagonda made for Prince Philip is set to fetch up to £ 450,000 at auction.
The convertible was used by the Duke of Edinburgh to drive to polo matches and to drop a young Prince Charles off at school.
It was fitted with an extra vanity mirror so the Queen could adjust her hat and also featured a radio telephone that allowed the Duke to speak to Buckingham Palace via a relay station in north London.
Philip was said to have taken great delight in making surprise calls to his wife and also in disguising his voice while chatting to Charles and Princess Anne at home.
History
The Duke owned the Lagonda 3- litre Drophead Coupe from 1954 until 1961 and used it when he opened the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia.
Finished in a bespoke shade of Edinburgh Green matched to grey leather upholstery, it is being sold by an anonymous third private owner. It could fetch up to four times what a 1954 model without the royal link would normally be worth.
H& H Classics is hosting the auction at IWM Duxford in Cambridgeshire on April 20. Spokesman Damian Jones said: “This car is part of our history.”