Senna helmet sells for an amazing £71,500

| 27 Feb 2012

More than £100,000 was spent on just two items of Ayrton Senna memorabilia at Silverstone Auctions' Race Retro sale on Saturday (25 February).

A helmet with what seemed an high estimate of £42-50,000 in fact soared to an astonishing £71,500, while a race suit accounted for another £34,000.

The result confirms the Senna fever that has followed the much-discussed film documentary.

The good results were not confined to the automobilia, however, and the 1958 Tojeiro-Jaguar led the car results after making an impressive £286,000.

Some way behind it was a 1960 Aston Martin DB4 that was sold for £170,000.

Those two results helped Silverstone Auctions to a 74% sale rate and a £1.75million total for the 77 lots offered, nearly half of them competition cars.

Nick Whale, managing director of Silverstone Auctions, said: "We have worked hard on behalf of our vendors and achieved some excellent prices for both classic and competition vehicles. Everyone has been delighted and we are extremely proud of our achievements in our first visit to Race Retro."