Bond baddie car sold

The "flying" sports car used in the movie

Bond baddie Scaramanga's golden "flying" Matador sports car has been snapped up at auction for £7,480.

The Man with the Golden Gun starred Roger Moore and Christopher Lee

The car is from 1974's The Man with the Golden Gun starring Roger Moore as Bond and Christopher Lee as the villainous Francisco Scaramanga.

Auction house Bonhams and Brooks had priced the American Motors coupé at £7,000-£10,000, for the sale in Hendon, north London on Monday.

It was just one of more than 60 coveted cars under the hammer, including a 1949 Bristol coupé belonging to married British screen legends Jean Simmons and Stewart Granger.

Movies

In The Man with the Golden Gun, Scaramanga is a cold-blooded, international assassin - with a lethal solid-gold firearm.

His glamorous car was equipped with plane wings and engine and offered a handy means of escape.

Granger and Simmons in one of their Bristols

Sadly, the Matador's famous wings have now been removed. But the buyer also had a letter from Lee thrown in.

Stewart Granger's Bristol NP2 was bought for £38,900 - more than £5,000 above its top asking price.

The car - which also came complete with a star-studded history file - was one of two identical convertible Bristols ordered new by Granger for himself and Simmons.

They were one of the first of their type to be made and were called NP1 and NP2.

NP2 was used in the publicity for the film Adam and Evelyn in which Granger and Simmons were about to star.

Original

Granger was a friend of successful racing driver Tony Crook, who had a long interest in Bristol cars, becoming the company's managing director in 1973.

Crook recalled of his actor friend: "Granger owned a string of exotic cars and said to me he wished there was a convertible Bristol, certain that it would go down well in California.

Peterson's car still has many personalised features

"Bristol Cars had already decided to make a small run of convertibles and Granger was very excited about this.

"He and his future wife Jean Simmons were about to star together in the film Adam and Evelyn and Granger was keen to have "his" and "hers" identical Bristol cars."

Also in the sale was the 1962 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster belonging to legendary Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson.

The car was bought for £128,000 - just £2,000 below its estimated top price.

It comes with many original fittings put in by Peterson himself, such as Canadian car club badges and a Minerva Rally chronometer.