Estimated to sell for A$345,000 to A$690,000 - This is a true star car!
Celebrity provenance contributes a great deal to collector car values, and this 1956 Ford Thunderbird may boast – to some – the most incredible celebrity history of all.
This Ford Thunderbird was formerly owned by Marilyn Monroe from 1955 to 1962, and will be sold at auction as part of Julien’s Auctions’ “Icons & Idols: Hollywood” sale, on November 17 2018 in Los Angeles (or bids are available online).
Estimates are pegged between USD$250,000-USD$500,000, which equates to A$345,000 to A$690,000 at current exchange rates.
Marilyn Monroe remains one of the most iconic women in recent history, and though she endured a troubled life, she reportedly spent some of her happiest days with this Thunderbird convertible.
According to the auction house’s research: Soon after buying the Thunderbird, Monroe married the famous playwright Arthur Miller and “published reports” indicate that Monroe and Miller drove this vehicle to their civil wedding ceremony on June 28, and likely to their private wedding on June 30 1956.
The Thunderbird was purchased on December 20 1955, from Westport Motors in Westport Connecticut – under the name of Monroe’s business: Marilyn Monroe Productions.
Anecdotal accounts suggest that the car was a Christmas gift from her business partner and photographer Milton Greene.
Milton Greene’s wife, Amy Green, spoke of the car and said: “Marilyn liked to drive. We’d take the convertible and with the top down, we’d go sailing along the highway. We both liked to feel the wind in our faces and the warmth of the heater on our legs”.
The 1956 Thunderbird was originally designed as a competitor to the Chevrolet Corvette, bearing a low-slung two-seater roadster body and a powerful (for the time) 225hp 312cu V8. Monroe’s car came from the factory with both its canvas convertible soft top, and a detachable “porthole” hard top.
Monroe enjoyed six years with the Ford Thunderbird before gifting it to the son of director and acting coach Lee Strasberg for his 18th birthday.
Julien’s Auctions stipulate that the legal transfer of the Thunderbird likely occurred just a few months before Monroe’s tragic death on August 5 1962.
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