The late Patrick Swayze’s 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 coupe realised $81,250 in a sale of Hollywood memorabilia hosted by Julien’s Auctions.
The car was dreamt up by the wildly eccentric John DeLorean, a former engineer at General Motors who left to pursue his dream of building a sports car.
Patrick Swayze bought his DeLorean in 1982
DeLorean was arrested in 1982 after he was caught on tape agreeing to help smuggle cocaine to the US.
While he was acquitted in 1983 on the grounds of entrapment by the police, it was effectively the end of his career.
Julien’s comments that: “Swayze often laughed at the fact that he bought his DeLorean just two days before John DeLorean got busted for cocaine on October 19, 1982.”
The car was later immortalised in classic movie Back to the Future (1985).
Meanwhile, a genie bottle from classic US sitcom I Dream of Jeannie (1965-1970) achieved $34,375.
The lamp is actually a Jim Beam decanter
The bottle is actually a Jim Beam decanter and was chosen as it was visually very different to Aladdin’s lamp but still had an oriental look to it.
Director Gene Nelson spotted it in the window of a liquor store.
Several of these decanters were used on the show, although this is the main one. It’s accompanied by a letter of provenance from actress Barbara Eden, who played Jeannie.
The others were used in the creation of special effects and are numbered on the bottom. This example is not numbered.
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