Vijay Mallya‘s vintage cars were put up for auction in an attempt to reduce company debt by global liquor giant Diageo, which controls United Spirits Limited. The online auction was held on August 25, 2016 and was the first of its kind in India.
Bidders clambered to get hold of these rare models which also included a 1903 Humber, said to be the oldest car in India which is still in running condition. This was also the oldest car in the selection and was picked up for INR 1 crore.
Apart from this, a vintage British Lancaster sold for INR 2 crores while other cars in the collection included a Rolls Royce, Lancia and Wolseley along with a Bentley Turbo R, 2010 Rolls Royce Phantom while even a 2010 Maruti Suzuki Ritz was among this princely collection.
The auction was conducted by organizer Quippo Valuers and Auctioneers. Mallya is said to possess over a 100 cars of which 30 were put up for auction. These cars were parked in Mumbai, Goa, Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata. They are in pristine condition and came with all relevant documentation.
The online auction which commenced at 2.00 pm on 24th August was extended to 4 am on the next day due to aggressive bidding by various collectors each trying to get their hands on the tycoon’s vintage cars. The bidders were from a close knit circle of vintage and supercar collectors, some of whom were also known to Mallya.
Vintage cars are the best performing investments especially for high net worth individuals. A study conducted by New World Wealth, a global wealth intelligence and marketing research company, during the period 2007 to 2015, price of classic models has seen an increase of 163%.
via Team-BHP
