Sold At Bonhams Auction For Nearly $270,000

The Gipsy Moth biplane from the seven-time Oscar-winning motion picture "Out of Africa" sold for a world auction record €201,250 (just under $270,000) to an anonymous telephone bidder in Kenya. The airplane is on its way back to the country after nearly three decades, having found a new home in Kenya at the Bonhams auction at the Grand Palais in Paris, France, on Thursday.

The 1929 American Moth Corporation De Havilland 60GMW Gipsy Moth bi-plane was featured in the Sydney Pollack-directed movie starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. The auction was held in conjunction with  the French capital’s Rétromobile week. The sale set a new world record for a Gipsy Moth.

A 1929 Bentley 6.5 Litre Speed Six tourer was the top-selling lot, bringing €828,000, while a 1963 Aston Martin DB4 Vantage cabriolet more than doubled its pre-sale estimate at €805,000
 
The entire sale realised just short of €13 million from 86 motor cars, 84 motorcycles, and more than 100 lots of automobilia, with successful bidders from 27 countries worldwide.

(Gypsy Moth pictured in file photo)

FMI: www.bonhams.com/auctions