Sir Jimmy Savile's Treasures to Go Under the Hammer

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Dreweatts and Bloomsbury Auctions are to sell the personal effects of Sir Jimmy Savile.

Flamboyant, cigar-smoking Sir Jimmy Savile's reign as the nation's most colourful showbiz personality lasted for more than 50 years.

He met the Queen, Pope John Paul II, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair and forged close friendships with Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales.  Amazingly, the Top of the Pops and Jim'll Fix It star kept every souvenir of his extraordinary life.  On 30 July, a huge slice of his incredible collection is due to go under the hammer in one of Britain's most spectacular charity auctions.

Tireless Sir Jimmy had raised an estimated £42 million for charity when he died two days short of his 85th birthday last October, and his final wish was that his personal possessions should be sold in one last major fund-raising effort - and literally everything must go in Sir Jimmy's 'Sale of the Century'.

Everything, from his stunning £90,000 Rolls Royce Corniche, the £12,000 gold and diamond encrusted Rolex watch, his trademark gold identity bracelet and rings, yellow BMW bubble car and the iconic Jim'll Fix It TV chair .... right down to the last of his finest Cuban cigars.  Many of Sir Jimmy's Top of the Pops outfits - including the Superman comic suit he wore to meet Prince Charles and Goon Show stars Spike Milligan and Sir Harry Secombe, and his coveted Royal Marines flying suit - will all go under the hammer.

Scores of medals, running vests and rainbow-coloured tracksuits from the 216 marathons he ran, and a stable of racing cycles he rode in his 300 professional bike races are all for sale.  In one scribbled calculation found at Sir Jimmy's Leeds penthouse home, he worked out he had covered a staggering 156,896 miles.

The star lot of the auction is set to be Sir Jimmy's immaculate 2002 Rolls Royce Corniche convertible which has just 4,420 miles on the clock and carries a conservative sale estimate of £60,000 to £90,000.  Former Radio 1 DJ, Sir Jimmy, nicknamed his beloved 6.7-litre Rolls "The Beast" and his personal registration JS 247 - signifying his initials and the station's former 247-metre medium waveband - is still on the car.  The silver Rolls with cream leather trim was Number 46 of a planned limited edition of 56 "Last of Line" Corniches built to mark the end of 56 years' production at Rolls Royce's Crewe plant in 2002 and was one of only nine right-hand drive models made.

To view a fully illustrated online catalogue, please click  here.