Senna inspired F1 sculpture sells for mega money

| 16 Aug 2011

A full-size, Airfix-style model of F1 champ, the late Ayrton Senna's McLaren spectacularly smashed its estimate when it sold for €187,000 at Coys' Oldtimer Grand Prix sale on 13 August.

The uniquely-packaged McLaren MP4/6 F1 art piece - which is constructed from parts off Senna's 1991 Championship-winning car - had been expected to make €35-45,000 but interest from eight telephone bidders propelled bidding to over four times the top estimate, with the sculpture now on its way to a New York-based collector.

Back in 1994, the piece was the work of Central St Martin's College sculpture student Jay Burridge, who won a competition run by the F! car maker to create an F1-inspired art piece.

Following Senna's tragic demise in May that year, McLaren chose to retain the sculpture, which was only recently released back to its creator.

The result headlined a strong, €2.8m sale for Coys' annual Nürburgring fixture, which also featured a 1967 Iso Grifo (above) that made €228,000 (against a €195-250,000 estimate) and 1935 Riley Imp (below) that sold for a strong €78,000.

Other standout results included a 1961 Porsche 356 Cabriolet, which changed hands for €81,000, and a 1956 Healey 100M which sold for €51,000.