A Jaguar E-Type driven by fictional super agent Austin Powers will be auctioned next January.
The car, affectionately called the Shaguar, comes complete with a custom swinging 60s Union Jack paint job and its nickname on the registration plate and badging.
Under the costume is a Jaguar E-Type that was driven on screen in all three Austin Powers movies.
The films, Austin Powers International Man of Mystery (1997), 1999’s The Spy Who Shagged Me, and Goldmember from 2002, starred Canadian comic actor Mike Myers as an over-the-top James Bond parody brought back to life in the 1990s.
The films made over $100 million, but were something of a punt for the studio. That meant there wasn’t the cash to buy multiple cars. So, unusually for a movie car, the Shaguar was on-screen as Austin’s sole vehicle throughout the series.
Austin tries to keep his eyes on the road while driving the Shaguar alongside Madonna in the tie-in music video for Beautiful Stranger.
It was also used in the video for the Madonna single Beautiful Stranger from The Spy Who Shagged Me.
The car was given away in a competition by New Line Cinema. When automotive art director Josh Hancock contacted the winner, he found they had no interest in owning Austin’s car. He arranged a more suitable replacement and bought the machine himself.
It has been used by Mr Hancock since then and in occasional promotional events.
The car was completed in December 1967 and rolled off the production line in a more conservative Opalescent Silver Blue.
It has been serviced and restored by Jaguar Landrover.
The car will be sold on January 18, 2025 by Mecum. There is no estimate on the sale. The most valuable recent sale of a 1967 E-Type is $395,000.
But what does the film connection add?
The legendary Bullitt car – a 1968 Ford Mustang GT – sold for $3.7 million in 2020. Hagerty car valuation service puts a price of around $35,000 on the car (without Steve McQueen’s fingerprints on the steering wheel) and records a $452,000 auction sale in the past three years.
Bond cars are iconic, strongly identified with the series and very expensive.
The Spectre car, an Aston Martin DB10, realised $3.5 million in a 2016 auction. The Goldfinger car – a DB5 from the same maker – was sold for $6.3 million in 2019.
Austin Powers is a cult hit and has plenty of fans, but will they desire the Shaguar enough to push it up into this league? We’ll find out in January.
And you can thank us for not using a single Austin Powers catchphrase in this article – please feel free to say your favourite now.
But behave!
