Ex-Top Gear presenter James May is auctioning off a Porsche 911 he snapped up in 2007 after falling in love with it while recording a documentary.
The 1984 3.2-litre Carrera Coupe has a target price of £28,000 to £34,000. It goes under the hammer as part of the Goodwood Festival of Speed sale on Friday 26 June 2015, in Chichester, Sussex, run by auction specialists Bonhams.
It was finally revealed May will not be returning to the hit BBC motoring show last night. Chris Evans was named as its new lead presenter following the departure of Jeremy Clarkson and it was confirmed that the programme will get an entirely new presenting team.
May bought the eighties classic while recording the Radio 4 documentary 'Speed, Greed and the M25.'
He visited Paul Devyea's Porsche workshop and showroom in Kent to borrow the 911 - a favourite of 1980s stockbrokers - in order to record the engine sound to illustrate 'Thatcher's Britain yuppies'.
At the time, the car was in excellent condition and for sale, so James snapped it up on the spot.
It then appeared on screen in the 'Airfix' episode of 'James May's Toy Stories' and in the Top Gear online film 'James drives to work'.
May has found himself without his prized Top Gear role after fellow presenter Jeremy Clarkson Clarkson was dropped for assaulting a colleague at a hotel. Both May and fellow co-host Richard Hammond said they would not want to present the show without Clarkson.
Radio 2 star and TV presenter Evans had categorically denied he would join Top Gear three months ago. He then tweeted last night 'First tweet as new Top Gear host. I would like to say Jeremy, Richard & James are the greatest.'
Evans said that he had ruled himself out of the job because he didn't want to upset the former presenters - before changing his mind when it was confirmed that they would not be returning.
However, May today denied that he was offered a new deal by the BBC, saying: 'I didn't choose to leave, I haven't been asked to return.'
The Porsche comes with plenty of history. Car dealer Paul Devyea's sales invoice is on file together with detailed service history recording mileage totals.
May says the 911 has only be used as a 'hobby' car and in good weather.
It has 55,000 miles on the clock and is a good example of car increasingly prized by classic fans and collectors.
May joked: 'It was donated to my dad to use for the past four years, as he never owned a proper sports car.
'Recently he decided that he was getting on a bit to be seen in a retro stockbroker's car, and my mother hated it.
'As a 911, it's significant for being near the tail-end of the development of the original 1963 car. As a piece of social history, since it's Guards Red and has the sports pack, it stands as a monument to everything 1980s Britain was about.
'It's the 911 that Denis Thatcher would have driven, if he'd had one.'
The car is fitted with a CD player but May said he would chuck in a 'broadly period radio/cassette' to go with it, if wanted.
He adds: 'It has the cassette storage rack fitted, after all. The ideal environment for listening to Duran Duran, etc.'
Also included in the sale is a Haynes workshop manual, Porsche GB correspondence, service booklet, sundry service invoices, old and current V5 documents (the latter in James May's name) and quantity of expired tax discs and MoTs dating back to 1984.
he 911 can do 0-60mph in 5.3 seconds with a top speed of 152mph, with 100mph reached in a breathtaking 13.6 seconds.
Some 30 years on from their showroom-fresh days, the Porsche Carrera 3.2s are now highly sought after classic cars Bonhams says - and finding one is not easy these days.
-Daily Mail