Few get the chance to drive an exotic car - let alone tire of the experience - but a millionaire Suffolk businessman has died leaving an unusual collection of classics that no longer piqued his interest.
The fleet of seven vehicles was discovered shrouded in two decades of dust on the man's rambling estate, after his family suggested an auctioneer might want to look at "the old cars in the barn".
To the amazement of Edward Crichton, from Lacy Scott & Knight, he found a collection that included some of the most exclusive cars made in the 1970s, 80s and 90s - many of which have hardly turned a wheel since new.
The offbeat collection includes two Maseratis, one of which - a 1989 Quattroporte III - has covered just 960 miles. Among its two Bentleys is one of only 46 Continental R Mulliners ever produced, although the 1998 car has at least covered a respectable 21,000 miles.
Perhaps the bargain of a fleet that also includes a mark III Jensen Interceptor is the 1988 DeTomaso Longchamp GTSE which, despite having a paltry 440 miles on the clock and being one of only six examples ever made, has a guide price of only £8,000-12,000.
But anyone looking to snap up a bargain when the cars go under the hammer on 13 March needs to budget for some costly repairs. It's thought that many of the cars haven't been turned over for 20 years, and experts have warned that their brakes and even engines may have seized.
"This is very much a case of 'buyer beware'," deTomaso restorer Roger Brotton told The Telegraph.
"They may think they can just put on a new battery and turn the key, but that could well destroy the engine," he added.
The final, most surprising find of all is an eighth vehicle, which the un-named man found entertaining enough to drive for nearly 68,000 miles: it's a blue, diesel Nissan Patrol.
