A former police car, owned and used on the Isle of Wight by Lord Louis Mountbatten, has sold under its estimated valuation at auction.
Mountbatten served as the final governor of the Island from July 20, 1965, and was later the first Lord Lieutenant from April 1, 1974.
In 1978, the police car became Mountbatten's official staff car on the Island, which, for security reasons, was registered to the local fire chief.
The vehicle, a 1975 Rover P6 3500S, which was painted black at Mountbatten's request, went under the hammer at Birmingham's NEC last weekend.
Read more: Helpfulness and humour of Lord Mountbatten the Isle of Wight’s last governor
Ahead of the auction, the value of the vehicle was estimated at between £15,000 to £20,000, but it sold for a lower price of £12,938.
After Mountbatten’s death, the Rover was given to the County Council and continued to be used by the chairman before being sold into private ownership.
It was later discovered abandoned in a pigsty in Eastleigh in the late 1990s.
The car’s restoration consisted of new panels and a new engine, repainted in the original livery and given all its police equipment.
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