This curvaceous turquoise roadster once owned by British actress Diana Dors has fetched nearly £2million at auction, it emerged today.
The one-off 1949 Delahaye Roadster was given to Dors – dubbed the British Marilyn Monroe – when she was 17.
RM Auctions, who sold the vehicle, described the stunning car as ”extravagant and outrageous – a rolling sculpture”.
The 20ft long light blue car has a four and a half litre straight six engine, which puts out 165bhp, but has only covered a few miles after being restored.
And on Saturday a mystery buyer forked out 3million (US dollars) (£1.9) at an auction in Monterey, California.
It was expected to sell for double that but was bought by an anonymous buyer plus a buyer’s premium of 10 per cent.
RM Auctions spokesman Alain Squindo said: ”They were often outlandish designs and many were built just for shows and for impressing people.
”This car was made when this coach-built era was almost at an end, but this is one of the most spectacular and outrageous examples.
”It is a one-off and would have been extremely expensive at the time. It was made for an Englishman, Sir John Gaul, and Diana Dors bought it from him a few years later for about £5,000 or £6,000.
”She was only 17 and didn’t even have a licence but it was curvaceous, sexy and ‘flamboyant, just like her.
”These were rolling sculptures and built as show cars, and this won several events.”
Swindon-born Dors married three times and left £2million when she died in 1984 aged 52.
At 20, she became the youngest owner of a Rolls-Royce in the UK – a reflection of her success at an early age.
After she died, the car changed ownership several times and has in recent years been restored to its former condition.
Its catalogue listing says the Roadster – which has a top speed of 70mph – can “easily claim to being the most extravagant and beautiful coachbulit car in existence.”
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