The WWII Fighter Aircraft

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

The British are patriotic people, you know. The arrival of a Spitfire in the sale of Bonhams at Hendon on April 20 generates some excitement in the press releases of the auction house.

Before World War II, intensive studies were made to design a perfectly efficient aircraft. Thus was developed the Spitfire, whose main characteristic was to have oval wings.

Made from 1940, this aircraft was perfectly adapted to its missions. One can say that it won the war in the air. First conceived as a single seater, it could be transformed into a two seater with the two airmen behind one another.

The model at Bonhams is a Spitfire TR Mark IX, built by the Vickers-Supermarine factory in 1944. He nearly ended its career in a scrap yard of Cape Town, where it was found by an amateur in the 1970s. Refurbished and transformed into a two seater, it is now in flying condition.

To set the price, Bonhams has sought in its archives. As I reported last year, the Australian branch of the group, Bonhams and Goodman, had sold another Spitfire in Nelson, New Zealand, on September 14 for $ 2.8 MNZ excluding fees. The latter was a Mark XVI, less prestigious and not flightworthy.

It is therefore easy to Bonhams to increase the price a bit compared with the result of September and here is their estimate as you could have calculated it yourself: £ 1.5 million.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

The Spitfire reached the price that was expected: 1.58 M £ before fees.

Bonhams reported the identity of the buyer: Steven Brooks, a financier and polar adventurer.