The value of interesting provenance is a tricky one to quantify when discussing secondhand cars. More often than not, we’re inclined to think that seeing a celeb’s name etched into the service history is little more than a novelty. After all, knowing that Jay Kay once owned your V8 Vantage doesn’t amplify its specialness in any real sense (handy, given his Kayness seems to have pre-owned half the cars on PH), it just gives you something to talk about down the pub. Or at Sunday Service. Or when you come to sell it. You wouldn’t necessarily pay extra for it.
But there are obvious exceptions to that line of thinking. For one thing, there is the associated fame (or comparative rarity) of the car itself. Steve McQueen never technically owned the ’68 Mustang GT he drove in Bullitt (though he definitely tried to buy it later on) but his obvious connection with the car - and its singular place in movie history - helped it sell for a scarcely believable $3.7m at auction when it resurfaced not so long ago. For another, there is the zealousness of the famous person’s fanbase to factor in. If a Ford Fiesta pre-owned by Taylor Swift came up for sale, we’re fairly confident that Fiesta would command a sizeable premium.
Who can forget the fuss that occurred when Lady Di’s one-off Escort RS went under the hammer? Even in the PH forums - usually the epitome of shoulder-shrugging nonchalance - it captured people’s attention. The auction house thought they might get £150k for it. When the gavel finally came down it had sold for £650k - meaning that the buyer actually paid £722,500 when all the fees were added. Which is fairly astonishing for an RS Turbo that was probably worth £30k without Diana, Princess of Wales on the V5.
Which brings us neatly to this C7-gen Audi RS6, a car once owned by her youngest son. Now, Prince Harry is probably equally as well-known as his late mother, if not quite as well-liked. He bought the Daytona Grey car in question for a reported £91,530 back in 2017 (including an optional extra spend of £11k) and moved it on a little over a year later - just after he got married to Meghan, in fact. As our seller helpfully suggests, there are plenty of pictures of him driving it to be found on the internet, and Harry is said to have covered 4,464 miles during 15 months of ownership.
So, what’s it worth today? Well, as it turns out - at least to a chap in Grantham hoping to clear some space in his garage - a very reasonable £42k. As you might expect, the six-year-old model has seen a good deal more use since Harry occasionally sat behind the wheel, but no more than average at 68k. It looks absolutely top-notch, too, and is said to boast not only a full manufacturer warranty till May 2025, but also a set of P-Zeroes that have only seen 500 miles of use.
Beyond its ownership history, let's not forget that the C7 RS6 makes for an admirable secondhand purchase based on its own merits. The later Performance derivative might be considered mildly more desirable, but we’re still talking about an all-weather V8-powered fast wagon from the top drawer. It was a prudent investment for a publicity-conscious thirtysomething millionaire back in 2017; for less than half its value when new - and still better looking than its successor - it is a consummate choice. And a quick temperature check of used values suggests you’re paying next to nothing for the pleasure of knowing that the man who currently sits fifth in the line of succession once occupied the driver’s seat. Double bubble, right?
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