If you have ever considered buying one of Jeremy Clarkson’s cars, this auction offers the perfect opportunity.
Held as part of the NEC Classic Motor Show, one of the largest classic car gatherings in the UK and Europe, Iconic Auctioneers’ sale on 14 November will see a remarkable collection of cars head towards new garages. Among them are several iconic machines driven by television producer and presenter Jeremy Clarkson on The Grand Tour.
1982 Lancia Montecarlo Spider: The Car From the Final Episode
For the final chapter of an era, The Grand Tour: One for the Road, Jeremy Clarkson personally chose a 1982 Lancia Montecarlo Spider, which was then subjected to the punishing conditions of Africa. Now, the car is being offered without reserve.
Showing 62,740 miles and finished in metallic Lotus Blue, the car has an MOT valid until 18 September 2027. The modifications made specifically for the African journey—and for Clarkson’s own comfort—remain intact. These include the switch to fabric seats to avoid the unpleasant effects of leather under equatorial heat and an Alcantara-trimmed racing steering wheel.
With Ferrari 308 rear lights, quad exhausts, Lancia Delta Integrale wheels, headlights and front grille, the Montecarlo looks much as it did on screen. Following extensive work by Max500 Ltd, it is now once again in healthy running condition.
Anyone who watched the episode will remember just how demanding the journey was for the car. At various points its tyres were removed so that it could be adapted to run along railway tracks, and it even found itself travelling across lakes.
After all those adventures, Clarkson developed an emotional attachment to the car and decided to keep it in his personal collection. With no reserve price announced, there is as much curiosity surrounding why he is now selling it as there is about how much it will fetch. Neither the auction house nor Jeremy “Jezza” Clarkson has offered an explanation, although the reason is expected to emerge in a future episode of Amazon Prime’s Clarkson’s Farm.
1983 Alfa Romeo GTV6: A Long-Time Clarkson Favourite
In the legendary “Well Aged Scotch,” the seventh episode of Season 3 of The Grand Tour, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May travelled through Scotland in ageing Italian cars that had fallen out of favour but, they argued, deserved to be remembered as genuine classics.
Hammond arrived in a Fiat X1/9, May in a Lancia Gamma Coupé and, unsurprisingly, Clarkson chose an Alfa Romeo GTV6. Clarkson’s famous view that “you can’t be a true petrolhead until you’ve owned an Alfa Romeo” was once again at the heart of the episode. Having previously owned another GTV6 in his youth, he became so attached to this particular car that he took it back to his farm after filming.
After around seven years in his ownership, the Alfa Romeo GTV6 is now heading to auction. Finished in classic Alfa Rosso and showing 28,315 miles, the car remains a compelling example of one of the most charismatic sporting coupés of its era.
Its technical layout was equally distinctive: disc brakes on all four wheels, a rear-mounted transaxle and Alfa Romeo’s legendary front-mounted, longitudinal 2.5-litre “Busso” V6. With an engine note that could turn almost any journey into a mechanical symphony, Clarkson hardly needed a sound system.
With an MOT valid until 14 April 2027, this GTV6 is more than simply a classic Alfa. Lift the bonnet and the smell of metal and petrol is joined by the memory of a television icon and one of the final chapters of a truly analogue motoring era. Its final selling price will therefore be watched with particular interest.
1978 Lincoln Continental Mark V: An American Giant From the COVID Era
The 1978 Lincoln Continental Mark V personally selected by Jeremy Clarkson for “Lochdown,” the third episode of Season 4 of The Grand Tour, is also being offered by Iconic Auctioneers. Clarkson kept the car in his own collection after filming.
Produced during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the presenters were unable to travel abroad, the episode saw the trio remain in Britain and ask why enormous American luxury cars of the 1970s had never really caught on there.
All three presenters chose some of the decade’s vast American coupés, often nicknamed “land yachts.” Hammond drove a Buick Riviera, May chose a Cadillac Eldorado Coupé de Ville and Clarkson opted for one of the era’s other great contenders, the Lincoln Continental Mark V.
With their enormous dimensions, features that appeared almost absurd to European eyes and thirsty big-block V8 engines producing surprisingly modest horsepower figures, the three cars became perfect material for a journey through the Scottish countryside. Dissatisfied with the Lincoln’s performance, Clarkson even installed a nitrous oxide system, although the results were less than spectacular.
Showing 68,285 miles and finished in Wedgwood Blue, the 5.8-metre-long Lincoln has an MOT valid until 13 August 2027. Automatic climate control, electric windows, powered seats and velour upholstery made it one of the most luxurious American coupés of its time.
That sense of luxury even extends to the Cartier clock mounted in the cockpit. And yes, the car retains the details seen in “Lochdown,” including the bagpipe arrangement connected to the exhaust system. The only question now is how much someone will be willing to pay for it.
Exceptional Classics Are Also Going Under the Hammer
Jeremy Clarkson’s television cars are far from the only highlights of the Iconic Auctioneers sale. A wide range of rare and important classics will also be looking for new owners.
The most valuable car in the auction is expected to be a 1983 Lamborghini Countach LP5000S, with an estimated value approaching £900,000. Alongside it will be a 1980 BMW M1 expected to reach around £500,000, a 1986 Porsche 911 (930) Turbo SE 3.3 “Flachbau,” formerly owned by Ron Dennis and estimated at approximately £400,000, and a 1991 Lamborghini Diablo 5.7-Litre 2WD Series 1 valued at around £250,000.
For those whose budgets do not quite stretch to those figures, there is another intriguing option: one of just 33 examples of the 1992 Opel Omega 3.0 EVO 500, expected to sell for around £40,000.
Credit: Iconic Auctioneers
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