Forget your garden gnomes – try a 35ft Cold War missile!
GARDEN ornaments have come a long way since gnomes were in vogue – and now the ultimate outdoor feature has been put up for sale: a Cold War Soviet rocket.
The 1960 Lavochkin V-760 comes complete with dummy nuclear warhead and is certain to get the neighbours talking… or running to their bunkers.
The 35ft weapon is being sold in an auction of garden accoutrements, alongside the more usual statues and benches, next week.
The V-760 and its variants shot down more American aircraft than any other missile in the Cold War, famously including the U-2 spy plane piloted by CIA agent Gary Powers in 1960.
Auctioneer Rupert van der Werff put an estimate of £8,000 to £10,000 on the weapon – but said it would be a steal.
He added: ‘It is an icon of the Cold War and would have cost hundreds of thousands of pounds to build originally so the estimate is very reasonable’
The V-760 is part of the estate left by Czech rocket scientist Alexander Roudakov.
Mr van der Werff said: ‘The solicitor handling the estate saw I had previously sold a diplodocus and he thought, “If he can sell a dinosaur, he can sell a rocket.”’
Although the missile looks terrifying, it would be impossible to rearm, Mr van der Werff said.
‘The engines and the guidance system have all been removed and the warhead is a model. There is no way it could be used again, unless you had access to the important stuff that goes inside, and frankly if you had that you wouldn’t need the outside.’
Previous rockets sold at auction have gone to corporate buyers, one is in the lobby of an office block, the other is being used as a drinks dispenser.
Mr van der Werff said: ‘It could make an impressive garden feature. There is a lot of interest. One potential buyer has a lake and was thinking of installing the rocket nose-down to look as if it had landed in the water.’
Mail on Sunday gardening expert Martyn Cox said: ‘People are looking for sculptures that are more and more unusual. In the right setting it could add an explosive touch to the garden.’
It is being auctioned by Summers Place of Sissinghurst, West Sussex, on June 13.