Bonhams' auction at the Greenwich Concours d'Elegance 2013 has been highlighted by the sale of a rare 1967 Aston Martin DB6 Vantage Volante.
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The car, formerly owned by conductor Leonard Bernstein, sold for $825,000 against an $800,000-900,000 estimate. It is one of only 29 DB6 Vantage Volantes ever built, and collectors were only too eager to snap up this auction rarity.
Launched in 1965, the Aston Martin DB6 is one of the marque's most celebrated models, bringing technological advances to the renowned style and design of the DB5.
"There can be little doubt that the DB6 is the best Aston yet," respected critic John Bolster commented in 1966's Autosport magazine.
The term Vantage refers to the 20% bump in power to 325bhp that this model has on regular examples. Volante refers to its convertible roof, with the 1967 example built on the long-wheelbase chassis, as opposed to earlier models that were completed on the DB5's short-wheelbase.
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Bringing the second highest bids of the sale was a charming 1905 George N Pierce "Great Arrow" Roi Des Belges, which sold for $243,100. Considered one of the most important early Pierce Arrow cars to have survived, it was formerly owned and restored by esteemed collector Henry Austin Clark.
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