The one-off Maserati Boomerang concept car has sold at Bonhams’ inaugural Chantilly auction for an incredible £2,439,555, just 10 years after crossing the block at Christie's for just over half a million pounds.
The Giugiaro-penned wedge proved as big a hit at the chateau north of Paris as it did at the Turin Motor Show, where it was first unveiled to the public in 1972. Borrowing its mechanical underpinnings and 4.7-litre V8 engine from the Bora Coupé, the Boomerang produced 310bhp and featured styling cues that would influence cars designed more than a decade later, including the DeLorean DMC-12, Lancia Delta and Quattroporte III.
Its strong performance in the auction room was no doubt helped by being fully roadworthy, the result of an extensive restoration which began in 2002, plus a string of concours prizes from Villa d’Este, Avignon Retro Festival, Zoute Councours d’Elegance, to name but a few.
The car’s profile was also raised after featuring in a series of recent television advertisements for Louis Vuitton.
