Morris Minor Makes £18000 at Shannons Auction
The problematic black 1955 Morris Minor convertible that actor Garry McDonald drove as Arthur Beare in the popular ABC television comedy series ‘Mother and Son’, sold for an unprecedented $18,000 at Shannons Sydney Summer Auction last night.
In a classic ‘life imitates art’ sequel, the car that was sold on behalf of the Australian Broadcasting Commission, was purchased sight unseen over the telephone by a young man from Central Victoria who lives at home with his mother.
To get his ‘dream car’, he had to outbid another seven telephone and as many floor bidders from around Australia, as the unreserved price for the Series II Tourer soared past its estimated selling price range of $7,000-$12,000. Shannons had to limit the number of telephone bidders due to demand exceeding the number of lines available.
“The whole family loved the series, but I went a bit overboard,” admitted the purchaser, who did not wish to be identified.
“After I saw the car advertised a month or so ago, I rang Shannons and they told me all the little things that needed doing to it, like fixing the carpet and so on. But I said to them, ‘don’t touch a thing’. The whole attraction of the car to me was that it had never been offered for sale before and therefore it is exactly how Arthur Beare drove it.”
The Morris is now destined to become a celebrity classic in the Bendigo area when it is taken out on special occasions.
“Hopefully it will be a little more reliable for me that it was for Arthur!” the new owner quipped. www.shannons.com.au
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