John Lennon's first car - a Ferrari 330GT - to sell at Goodwood

The Ferrari 330GT 2+2 formerly owned by Beatles singer/songwriter John Lennon - as his first car - is joining the lot list on Bonhams' sale at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on 12 July.

The car was bought by Lennon in February 1965 when he passed his driving test. This made national news at the time, and hours, the top dealershps were lobbying him to buy their cars. Out of the list of possibles, Lennon chose a right-hand drive Ferrari 330GT 2+2 Coupé finished in Azzuro Blue paint and paid £6500 for it. He loved the car, too, keeping hold of it until October 1967, and covering more than 20,000 miles while he had it.

During its subsequent life, it was resprayed and lost its registration number, but in recent years, it was restored back to original and the original DUL 4C registration was restored by DVLA. And it's going on sale at the Festival of Speed with an estimate of £180,000-£220,000. It was offered by Bonhams back in 2011 at its Grand Palais sale in Paris (where it was estimated at £140,000), but it failed to sell. 

Joining the John Lennon Ferrari at the Bonhams Goodwood Festival of Speed Sale are a number of other important motor cars, including the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 in which five-times Formula 1 World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio won two grands prix on his way to his second World Drivers' Championship. Among other cars on offer are the 1955 Maserati 300S Sports-Racing Spider that finished third in the 1955 Sebring 12-Hours (estimate £3.5 million - £4.5 million); a 1934 Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 'Le Mans' Tourer (estimate £1.4 million - £1.8 million); and an example of the ultimate Ferrari from the 1960s – the 1966 Ferrari 500 Superfast – that is one of only six right-hand drive models made (estimate £800,000 - £1 million).

This is going to be a big sale for Bonhams, and the UK auction industry in general - expect to see records tumble.