Land Rover brings in over R100 million with James Bond-inspired auction

Land Rover in partnership with EON Productions and Christie’s auction house yesterday hosted a charity auction to mark the 60th anniversary of the James Bond film series and the 25th time its vehicles have featured in these movies.

The auction sees a grand total of 60 lots going across the blocks – consisting of 25 lots containing Land Rover, Range Rover, and Jaguar stunt cars, with the remaining lots comprising posters, props, costumes, memorabilia, and experiences.

After part one of the auction concluded, the combined revenue was realised at £6,103,500 (R118.7 million) with 100% of all proceeds going to “over 45 charitable causes,” said Land Rover.

Big sales

Notable sales during the Sixty Years of Bond auction included a replica Aston Martin DB5 stunt car used in the new James Bond No Time To Die, which fetched a massive £2,922,000 (R56.8 million).

Another standout model was an Aston Martin V8 with a five-speed manual transmission registered on 7 September 1981, the final hammer falling on £630,000 (R12.3 million).

Moreover, one of the 10 Land Rover Defender stunt cars from No Time To Die made a big splash when it found an owner at £189,000 (R3.7 million). 

The 10 specially-modified Defenders used in the movie were given unique VIN numbers, the unit sold bearing the 007 designation.

A Defender 110 V8 Bond Edition, of which there are only 300 in the world and three in South Africa, then got swooped up for £163,800 (R3.2 million).

Other big lots included an Omega Seamaster 007 Edition mechanical wristwatch which sold for £226,800 (R4.4 million) as well as a Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE stunt bike for £138,600 (R2.7 million).

Also surprising was that a Swarovski crystal-mounted Fabergé egg used as a prop in the 1983 film Octopussy went for £327,600 (R6.4 million) after experts valued it at a “mere” £10,000 (R194,000) before the auction.

The bidding continues

The above sales were made during the one-day, invite-only, in-person auction that took place on 28 September at Christie’s in London, which was part one of the Sixty Years of Bond event.

Part two sees a further 36 lots available to bid on from now until 5 October spanning posters, props, costumes, experiences, and one-of-a-kind collectibles from the 25-film history of the James Bond series.