1961 Ghia fastback coupé originally owned by actor Peter Lawford to be auctioned
Actor, producer and socialite Peter Lawford (1923 – 1984), the illegitimate son of Lieutenant-General Sir Sydney Lawford, KBE (1865 – 1953, AKA ‘Swanky Syd’) and the then wife of one of his officers, May Aylen, was a member of ‘The Rat Pack’ and at one-time brother-in-law to John F. Kennedy. He was the last person to speak to Marilyn Monroe, appeared in Ocean’s Eleven (1960) and now a 1961 Ghia L 6.4-litre originally owned by him – described as “one of the finest-finished automobiles in the world” – is to be sold at auction in August.
Offered with an estimate of £230,000 to £288,000 ($300,000 to $375,000, €260,000 to €326,000 or درهم1.1 million to درهم1.4 million) and having cost the punchy sum of $13,500 new in 1961 (the equivalent of $111,000, £85,000, €96,000 or درهم408,000 today), the fastback coupé to be offered by RM Sotheby’s at their Monterey sale on 18th to 19th August is one of just 26 built and sold. It is the first production chassis to have rolled off the line and is one of just a few cars to have been specially modified for members of ‘The Rat Pack’ including not only Lawford but also Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.
Opulent beyond belief, the car was restored by its current owner from 2006 to 2009 and now boasts an interior with Bentley specification leather, a special gauge cluster and air conditioning. It is offered for sale publicly for the first time and is described as “deserving of a star now, as in 1961.”
What a stunningly beautiful car. I love it.
I agree with Zach. I’d never seen one of these before and can see why Mr Lawford must have fallen for it.
WTF????????????? It might be large but its god-dammit ugly!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Scrap metal on wheels at a ridiculous crazy god-dammit mad price!!!!!!!!!! Euuuuuuuuuughhh!!!!!!!!
S u p e r b……..!
What a load of rubbish!!!!!!!!!!!! Vadim Zadorozhny’s Museum of Equipment which is the finest Car Museum in Europe would dedicate it to Rod’s Cubing Machine aka the “Wrecking Ball”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Yanks , led by Trump, have no idea. Scrap it. I’ll give them £50 for the junk metal and make a loss.
The car is a time capsule of that Camelot era. I think that much of the value though is in that it was so close to JFK during that time. He probably even rode in it when the Lawfords lived in the Santa Monica Beach House during his Presidency.