Would you buy a used car from this prince?

Prince William and Kate Middleton leave Buckingham Palace driving Prince Charles' convertible Aston Martin on April 29, 2011. (Getty Images)

Prince Charles has a weakness for several things in life. One of them is Aston Martins.

He has had several over the years, the most famous being the DB6 MKII that was given to him by his mother for his 21st birthday in 1969. That was the car that he allowed Will and Kate to drive out from Buckingham Palace after their wedding last April.

It was only later revealed -- by Charles himself -- that William had accidently left the parking brake on while he whipped his new bride around in his father's pride and joy.

Charles is keeping that Aston Martin -- now there's even more sentimental value -- but his green 1994 Virage Volante 6.3-litre convertible is going under the hammer next month at the Bonhams auction house.

It is the "most aristocratic of convertibles," quotes Fast Lane magazine.

The pre-sale estimate is $80,000-$110,000.

Charles used the Volante until 2008, when it went on display at Aston Martin's headquarters in Gaydon, England.

That's around the same time that he had his DB6 converted to run on bio-ethanol fuel made from surplus wine. It was all part of the Prince's push to help the environment (not to mention the wine industry).

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Jed]

I noticed the author referring to the car as "Volante". While this is not technically wrong per se, it is also not proper. "Volante" simply means convertible, and one should really be referring to it as "Virage" or "Virage Volante".