Have a spare £50,000? John Bonham’s old car could be yours
A 1972 Jensen Interceptor III, once belonging to Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, is set to go under the hammer.
The auction for the piece of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia is set to take place at The Wing, Silverstone Circuit, at 11am local time on July 25th.
Iconic Auctioneers, who are hosting the auction, are expecting the vintage car that was once owned by Bonham to be sold for between £40,000 and £50,000.
The listing reads, “Few Interceptors can offer the combination of celebrity provenance and recent investment represented by this exceptional third-generation car. First registered on 18th March 1972 to John Bonham Enterprises Ltd, this right-hand drive Interceptor III H-Series is indeed powered by the venerable 6.3-litre 383ci Chrysler V8 engine coupled to the marque’s familiar TorqueFlite automatic transmission.”
It then adds that “the car’s association with John Bonham is well documented,” without going into the details as to why his history with the car might be so notable.
As Rolling Stone noted, both Bob Spitz’s 2021 biography on Led Zeppelin and Chris Salewicz’s 2018 biography on Jimmy Page tell a tale about Bonham driving a Jenson Interceptor into a ditch in September 1977.
According to Spitz, Bonham was “speeding as usual, shitfaced as usual” when the incident occurred, which led to him breaking two ribs, but somehow, getting out of the vehicle in one piece and making his way home.
Iconic Auctioneers note of the car’s current condition, “When acquired by the current owner, the Jensen was effectively in barn find condition and in need of a comprehensive rebuild so an extensive three year restoration and improvement programme was subsequently undertaken.”
This restoration project took place between 2020 and 2023, which cost the current owner of the Jenson Interceptor more than £83,000.
While it’s unknown if this vehicle is the very same one that Bonham did his best to destroy, it’s still an iconic piece of rock ‘n’ roll history nonetheless.
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