Bugatti bargain: £60 car sells for £430k

2 July 2011 Last updated at 11:52 GMT The Bugatti was restored and raced in the 1950s by a Rugby engineer A Bugatti racing car bought for ?60 in 1950 has been sold at auction for ?430,000.

The 1924 type 35 Bugatti was found by Jack Perkins, from Rugby, Warwickshire, at a Nottinghamshire aerodrome and restored to racing condition.

The car raced at Indianapolis 500 in 1936 and the American National Championship races in 1938.

The vintage car was sold at Bonhams' annual auction at Goodwood Festival of Speed in West Sussex.

Engineer Mr Perkins, who died in 1992, continued to race the single-seat car until June 1988 when he was 78.

'Most beautiful'

His widow Jean put the Bugatti on display at the Haynes Motor Museum in Somerset, where it remained exhibited until December 2010.

Autocar magazine has described the Type 35 Bugatti as "the most beautiful racing car of all time".

Another Bugatti at the auction - a 1926 Type 37 Monoposto - sold for ?197,000 while a 1954 Aston Martin cabriolet, previously owned by British racing car driver Innes Ireland, sold for ?606,500.

The new owner of the Bugatti was not identified.

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Duchess's ex-home sells for £485k

3 June 2011 Last updated at 14:38 GMT Watch: Auctioneer Dudley Singleton shows Alison Moss around the home

The childhood home of the Duchess of Cambridge has been sold for ?485,000 - ?10,000 less than the guide price.

A local family bought the late Victorian four-bedroom house in Bradfield, Berkshire, but were said to have no interest in its royal history.

It was bought by Kate Middleton's parents, Michael and Carole, in 1979 when they worked for British Airways.

The family sold the property and moved to a larger house in 1995, when the future duchess was 12.

Auctioneers Dudley Singleton said there been interested from abroad but the only bids came from people in the UK.

"The family were delighted to win," the auctioneer said.

"They wanted a bigger family home and fell in love with the place, rather than having any interest in its royal connections.

"They will be living there as their family home, it has not been bought as an investment.

"Just as I hoped it would be, it's a family, just as it was for the Middletons."

He added that an oligarch had expressed interest but he was unable to get his affairs in order in time and failed to attend the auction.

The property features an outbuilding in the back garden which was converted by the Middletons and used as an office.

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