Car designed by Armenian tycoon Gulbenkian set to fetch $40,000

Car designed by Armenian tycoon Gulbenkian set to fetch $40,000

PanARMENIAN.Net - A car designed by Armenian tycoon Nubar Gulbenkian which was then rejected by Rolls-Royce is expected to fetch £30,000 (around $40,000) at auction, the Mail Online reports.

Gulbenkian designed the 1947 Silver Wraith and then approached Rolls-Royce with the design.

The businessman's idea was rejected, so he went directly to Rolls-Royce coach builders Hoopers and commissioned them to build it.

The 73-year-old car has unusual bars across the head lights, a curved body and a striking square windscreen. Even the businessman himself admitted that he was unsure about the finished product.

The current owner of the car is not in a position to complete the work and has offered the vehicle for sale through auctioneers Historics of Iver, Buckinghamshire.

They are expecting bids of around £30,000 for it.

The motor is being sold alongside an enormous bundle of paperwork documenting its long and fascinating history. The sale takes place on March 7.

Gulbenkian moved to the UK at just a few weeks old and was educated at Harrow and then Cambridge University.

During WWI he organised an underground network to repatriate British airman who became stranded in France.

He was later left £2.5m in his late father's will and gained further wealth through his own oil dealings.

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