The world’s oldest running car, an 1884 De Dion Bouton Et Trapardoux Dos-A-Dos Steam Runabout, made history Friday, fetching .62 million at RM Auctions‘ Hershey, Pennsylvania event. Before a packed house, the 127-year-old ride quickly eclipsed its 0,000 starting bid.

By the time the dust had settled, the gavel fell at .2 million. The final price included a ten-percent buyer’s premium. The crowd began applauding as soon as the car crept onto the stage and the enthusiasm didn’t wane until well after the sale.

The Runabout had been in the same family for 81 years prior to the sale, and is one of six De Dion tricycles known to still exist. A total of 20 of the three-wheelers were built. When new, the trike had a top speed of 38 mph and a range of 20 miles on one tank of water. The vehicle that sold last night was the only car to show up for the world’s first auto race, where it averaged 16 mph over a 20-mile course. Hop the jump for a press release.

Continue reading World’s oldest running car fetches .6 million at auction

World’s oldest running car fetches .6 million at auction originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 08 Oct 2011 12:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At least one lucky bidder has reason to celebrate today after managing to win a 1964 Aston Martin DB5 that was famously used in two classic James Bond movies, Goldfinger and Thunderball. May we suggest marking the occasion with a vodka martini… shaken, not stirred?

Harry Yeaggy’s winning bid of .6 million (2.9 million pounds), which includes 12 percent in auction fees for RM, will see the car that Sean Connery famously piloted make the trek all the way from London to Ohio, U.S.A. Proceeds from the sale will benefit former owner Jerry Lee’s eponymous charity.

Apparently, the car is fully roadworthy in the UK, even with its dual machine guns behind the driving lights, revolving license plates, ejector seat, rear blast shield, slicer wheel caps and console-activated oil slicks. Somehow, we imagine Yeaggy won’t have nearly as much use for those Q-special features as Bond did…

[Source: BusinessWeek | Image: AFP/Getty]

James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 sells for .6 million originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 18:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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