When soccer superstar David Beckham piloted a Bladerunner speedboat down the Thames carrying the opening ceremony Olympic Torch this summer in true James Bond style, an estimated 900 million people were watching around the world. Now the one-of-a-kind craft, a whiplash fast carbon fiber Bladerunner BR RIB 35 built by the Britain’s ICE Marine and heavily customized with rockets, smoke canisters, waterjets and LED lights worthy of any 007 vehicle, will be offered at Bonhams’ December 3, 2012 sale at Mercedes-Benz World Brooklands in Surrey, UK.
Expected to fetch up to about $400,000, the Bladerunner took its place in sporting history with Beckham’s spectacular cruise to deliver the torch on its final leg to the Olympic Park, synchronized to impressive pyrotechnic displays including a curtain of fire descending from Tower Bridge, ceremony orchestrated by award-winning director and producer Stephen Daldry.
“Bonhams is proud to offer for sale the ultimate souvenir from the Olympic opening ceremony,” notes Tim Schofield, Director of the Bonhams UK Motor Car department, “what has been dubbed ‘the greatest show on earth.’”
The Bladerunner joins a number of other important lots in the sale, including a vintage Hawker Hurricane aircraft, estimated at up to $2.7 million, a 1938 Jaguar SS100, a 2010 Pagani Zonda F and a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT.
