The black Ford Escort RS Turbo was pushed from August 1985 to Might 1988 and was offered at Silverstone racetrack in Northamptonshire . Though the RS Turbo Sequence 1 was solely made in white it was painted black to present the Princess discretion when she was driving round.
The Princess was photographed with the RS Turbo Sequence 1 exterior the trendy boutique outlets of Chelsea and Kensington.
Engineers on the Ford manufacturing facility got the duty of modifying the car for the Princess in what was dubbed a “stealth makeover”.
This included becoming an everyday five-slat entrance grille and a secondary rear-view mirror for the safety officer with a radio within the glove field.
Diana most well-liked to drive her personal automotive with a member of the Royal Safety Command (SO14) sitting within the passenger seat.
The automotive solely has 24,961 miles on the clock and has been detailed to a nut and bolt concours commonplace.
It has a lifetime tracker fitted which will be transferred to a brand new proprietor together with a spare key, Ford Motor Firm inner memos, and interval registration paperwork.
Arwel Richards, a traditional automotive specialist at Silverstone Public sale who organised the public sale stated that the car was a “fascinating” alternative for the late Princess of Wales given her social standing.
He stated: “The RS Turbo is a driver’s automotive and the late Diana, Princess of Wales was clearly a fan, and it was an interesting alternative for the daughter of an earl, mom of the long run king, and the daughter-in-law of the Queen to decide on.
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“This automotive was often called the ‘individuals’s sports activities automotive’ and the very fact it was pushed by the Folks’s Princess simply nails it.”
The automotive with the registration plate C462FHK was offered to a purchaser in Cheshire.
Auctioneer Jonathan Humbert stated that there had been big curiosity within the automotive and it had obtained the very best variety of phone bids in 12 years.
The bidding started at £100,000 and was initially a contest between hopeful consumers in Dubai and Coventry.
Nevertheless, across the £450,000 mark it grew to become a contest between the Dubai bidder and a rival one from Cheshire, who in the end positioned the successful bid.
Earlier on Mr Humbert had described the automotive as a “piece of historical past”.
Nevertheless when bidding climbed he exclaimed: “£500,00 for a Ford Escort? I’ve by no means stated that earlier than.”
