King Hussein Bin Talal 1935 - 1999 Known to his people as Al-Malik Al-Insan (“The Humane King”), King Hussein of Jordan was a wise ruler who guided his country through strife and turmoil to peace and stability. Throughout his 47-year reign, he sought to promote peace in the Middle East. A direct descendant of the prophet Muhammad, he was proclaimed King on August 11, 1952, following the assassination of his grandfather King Abdullah. An accomplished aviator, motorcyclist and racing driver, King Hussein was educated in England at Harrow and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. His love of motoring led him to assemble an eclectic collection of classic cars ranging from a Humber 10 to Alvis, Aston Martin, Daimler and Bentley cars via examples of American automobiles, Panthers and Mercedes. As a discriminating collector of classic automobiles and a keen sportsman, it was only natural that his late Majesty, King Hussein of Jordan would come to own and cherish cars from one of Britain’s oldest sporting marques - Aston Martin. Indeed, the Aston Martin Virage Volante offered here is said to have been one of his late Majesty’s favourite cars. After almost 20 years in production, Aston’s well liked V8 was updated for the 1990s as the Virage, the chosen body design being that penned by Royal College of Art tutors Ken Greenley and John Heffernan. The existing Lagonda chassis and suspension were used in revised form for the new car, while engine development was entrusted to Callaway Engineering, of Connecticut. Immensely strong, the old V8’s bottom half was retained but fitted with new cylinder heads boasting four valves per cylinder and hydraulic tappets, the comprehensive re-design enabling the revised, ‘unleaded’-compatible V8 to be built to identical specification for every market worldwide. Launched at the International Motor Show, Birmingham, in October 1988, the sensational newcomer re-stated its forerunner’s muscular looks in the modern idiom, contriving to be slightly narrower yet providing increased interior space. The car was still no lightweight, but with 330bhp on tap was good enough for a top speed approaching 160mph and a 0-60mph time of under seven seconds. An open Volante version arrived in 1990 and was followed by the 2+2 Cabriolet and Vantage models in 1992. Delivered new to his late Majesty, King Hussein of Jordan and fastidiously maintained by Aston Martin Lagonda while in his private collection, chassis number ‘60041’ had covered 7,000 miles by the time it was purchased by the current (second) owner from Bonhams & Brooks’ sale at Aston Martin Works Service in May 2001 (Lot 164). The car has continued to be looked after by Works Service while in the present ownership and comes with full AML service history from new. A right-hand drive model equipped with automatic transmission, the car is finished in Navy Blue with matching hood and blue-piped magnolia leather interior, the latter equipped with Sony face-off stereo/CD system. It has covered circa 11,000 miles in total from new and remains in excellent condition throughout. This Aston Martin Virage Volante is an outstanding car of impeccable provenance and comes with road fund licence to October 2005, MoT to July 2006 and Swansea V5 registration document.
King Hussein Bin Talal 1935 - 1999 Known to his people as Al-Malik Al-Insan (“The Humane King”), King Hussein of Jordan was a wise ruler who guided his country through strife and turmoil to peace and stability. Throughout his 47-year reign, he sought to promote peace in the Middle East. A direct descendant of the prophet Muhammad, he was proclaimed King on August 11, 1952, following the assassination of his grandfather King Abdullah. An accomplished aviator, motorcyclist and racing driver, King Hussein was educated in England at Harrow and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. His love of motoring led him to assemble an eclectic collection of classic cars ranging from a Humber 10 to Alvis, Aston Martin, Daimler and Bentley cars via examples of American automobiles, Panthers and Mercedes. As a discriminating collector of classic automobiles and a keen sportsman, it was only natural that his late Majesty, King Hussein of Jordan would come to own and cherish cars from one of Britain’s oldest sporting marques - Aston Martin. Indeed, the Aston Martin Virage Volante offered here is said to have been one of his late Majesty’s favourite cars. After almost 20 years in production, Aston’s well liked V8 was updated for the 1990s as the Virage, the chosen body design being that penned by Royal College of Art tutors Ken Greenley and John Heffernan. The existing Lagonda chassis and suspension were used in revised form for the new car, while engine development was entrusted to Callaway Engineering, of Connecticut. Immensely strong, the old V8’s bottom half was retained but fitted with new cylinder heads boasting four valves per cylinder and hydraulic tappets, the comprehensive re-design enabling the revised, ‘unleaded’-compatible V8 to be built to identical specification for every market worldwide. Launched at the International Motor Show, Birmingham, in October 1988, the sensational newcomer re-stated its forerunner’s muscular looks in the modern idiom, contriving to be slightly narrower yet providing increased interior space. The car was still no lightweight, but with 330bhp on tap was good enough for a top speed approaching 160mph and a 0-60mph time of under seven seconds. An open Volante version arrived in 1990 and was followed by the 2+2 Cabriolet and Vantage models in 1992. Delivered new to his late Majesty, King Hussein of Jordan and fastidiously maintained by Aston Martin Lagonda while in his private collection, chassis number ‘60041’ had covered 7,000 miles by the time it was purchased by the current (second) owner from Bonhams & Brooks’ sale at Aston Martin Works Service in May 2001 (Lot 164). The car has continued to be looked after by Works Service while in the present ownership and comes with full AML service history from new. A right-hand drive model equipped with automatic transmission, the car is finished in Navy Blue with matching hood and blue-piped magnolia leather interior, the latter equipped with Sony face-off stereo/CD system. It has covered circa 11,000 miles in total from new and remains in excellent condition throughout. This Aston Martin Virage Volante is an outstanding car of impeccable provenance and comes with road fund licence to October 2005, MoT to July 2006 and Swansea V5 registration document.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
