Baby, you can drive (and own) his car. A rare 1964 Facel Vega Facel II owned by Ringo Starr will be auctioned by Bonhams auction house on Dec. 1 and is expected to sell for approximately $500,000.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Starr purchased the deep burgundy two-door coupe at a car show in 1964. He paid the equivalent of $68,000 in today’s dollars and owned the right-hand-drive car for four years.
Facel a French manufacturer, had a short tenure as a luxurious automaker of power classics compared to Rolls-Royce. It built around 2,900 cars.
This Facel II is one of only 182 ever made, with only 26 of those sold with the right-hand-drive like Starr’s. The four-seat coupe is also one of only two built with a manual transmission and a 6.7-liter Chrysler Typhoon V-8 with 390 horsepower.
The auction house believes the car will sell for between $485,000 and $566,000.
Bonhams sold John Lennon’s 1965 Ferrari 330 GT coupe for $582,000 at a July auction in England. A year ago, a 1964 Aston Martin once owned by Paul McCartney sold for just under $500,000 (before commission) at a London auction held by RM Auctions.
Article Last Updated: October 7, 2013.