nsxt2000
10-16-2007, 11:48 PM
In the current issue of "Sports Car Market" magazine the cover features a shot of Steve McQueen's 1963 Ferrari 250 GTL "Lusso" Berlinetta that sold for a cool $2,310,000 at Christie's August Monterey auction. Keep in mind that there are U.N. recognized fourth world countries whose GNP is not $2,310,000!
Even by Ferrari standards and allowing for the "Monterey Mystique", that's a lot of greenbacks, especially for an automotive work of art - and a world record for a Lusso. Experts figure that the price was five times the $400,000 that an excellent Lusso without celebrity provenance would otherwise command.
Relating this to the Acura line, over the years quite a few celebrities have owned an NSX. Among them are: Victoria Principle, Chuck Yeager, Robert Redford (although I think he was given his for doing a commercial for Acura), Dion Sanders, David Justice, Michael Douglas, Reba McIntyre, Alice Cooper, Mary Lou Retton, Jenson Button and Rowan Atkinson - aka "Mr. Bean", to name but a few. It would be interesting to see how much any of these folks ownership would add to the resale value of their NSX. I assume it is safe to say it is substantially less than the amount credited to the late Mr. McQueen for his Ferrari...
Incidentally, most of us think of "Mr. Bean" driving one of those funky little British cars we see in his television show. In reality Rowan Atkinson is quite the automobile enthuasist and one of his long term cars is a McLaren F1. A couple of years ago he was involved in an accident on the M1 outside London while driving it. Minor mis-hap and not his fault, but how inexpensive can any accident be when a McLaren F1 is involved?
By chance have any forum members been involved with purchasing a celebrity owned vehicle? If so, please share it with us.
-Mike S.
P.S. - Although the editor of "Sports Car Market", Keith Martin, has little respect for the NSX (it has on cachet, it has no real racing history...it doesn't break down enough...) it is an excellent publication and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in cars. Incidentally, the article about Steve McQueen's car sale was written by my neighbor John Apen. John is a recognized expert on the Ferratri marque and has a collection of very nice vehicles.
Even by Ferrari standards and allowing for the "Monterey Mystique", that's a lot of greenbacks, especially for an automotive work of art - and a world record for a Lusso. Experts figure that the price was five times the $400,000 that an excellent Lusso without celebrity provenance would otherwise command.
Relating this to the Acura line, over the years quite a few celebrities have owned an NSX. Among them are: Victoria Principle, Chuck Yeager, Robert Redford (although I think he was given his for doing a commercial for Acura), Dion Sanders, David Justice, Michael Douglas, Reba McIntyre, Alice Cooper, Mary Lou Retton, Jenson Button and Rowan Atkinson - aka "Mr. Bean", to name but a few. It would be interesting to see how much any of these folks ownership would add to the resale value of their NSX. I assume it is safe to say it is substantially less than the amount credited to the late Mr. McQueen for his Ferrari...
Incidentally, most of us think of "Mr. Bean" driving one of those funky little British cars we see in his television show. In reality Rowan Atkinson is quite the automobile enthuasist and one of his long term cars is a McLaren F1. A couple of years ago he was involved in an accident on the M1 outside London while driving it. Minor mis-hap and not his fault, but how inexpensive can any accident be when a McLaren F1 is involved?
By chance have any forum members been involved with purchasing a celebrity owned vehicle? If so, please share it with us.
-Mike S.
P.S. - Although the editor of "Sports Car Market", Keith Martin, has little respect for the NSX (it has on cachet, it has no real racing history...it doesn't break down enough...) it is an excellent publication and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in cars. Incidentally, the article about Steve McQueen's car sale was written by my neighbor John Apen. John is a recognized expert on the Ferratri marque and has a collection of very nice vehicles.