So you think the prices asked for classic cars are outrageous, especially during economic hard times? Try buying a vintage aircraft. An airworthy two-seater Supermarine Mk IX Spitfire aircraft was recently sold for $2,527,784 during a Bonhams Collectors Motor Car sale. The buyer was Steven Brooks, a British financier and polar adventurer, who became the first person to drive across the Bering Straits from America to Russia in 2002 and the first person to fly from pole to pole by helicopter in January 2005.
I hardly need tell you of the Spitfire's history for it is one of the greatest fighters of all time. The final Mark 21 series, with clipped wings, 5-bladed prop, bubble canopy and 2000 hp Rolls-Royce Griffon engine could hit 420 mph on full throttle although the narrow track made it tricky during landings and takeoffs. However our featured Spitfire was originally a single-seat Mark IX, having been converted to a 2-seater for training purposes. Delivered in 1944 it survived the war and was sold in 1948 to the South African Air Force. Many years later it was discovered languishing in a Cape Town scrap yard. A series of owners led to restoration in two-seat trainer specification during which the supercharged V-12 Rolls-Royce Merlin engine was overhauled and fitted with a four-blade Hoffman propeller.
This connection between vintage cars and aircraft is not unusual as witness the sale of a Ford Tri-Motor for $1.21 million at the 2009 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction. If I were a rich man… well, here we go again, Powell! As a kid during WW2 I often imagined myself in the cockpit of a Spitfire or Mustang. Too young then and later overtaken by family responsibilities I was in my mid-50s before I finally took flying lessons. I'd sacrifice everything for an hour in that Spitfire cockpit.