A 1966 campervan is heading to auction with a price tag bigger than most new cars.
It belongs to Howard Donald, and he has signed the inside.
Donald, the singer, songwriter and producer who has spent three decades in Take That, has owned the Volkswagen for the last few years.
The signature is his parting gift to whoever takes it on.
A small thing. It will probably add a lot to the final number.
From Colorado to the hammer
The van is a Type 2 T1 split-screen, the model collectors chase hardest.
It turned up in Colorado in 2007 before a previous owner shipped it across to the UK.
A Type 2 specialist later went through it properly, adding disc brakes, a dual-circuit braking system and a straight axle rear conversion.
The original engine made way for an uprated 2.0-litre twin-carb unit. Old looks, fewer of the old problems.
What fifty grand actually buys
The interior matches the original Sundial spec again, right down to the period emblems and Sea Green fabric.
There is a cold-water sink, a compressor fridge and a three-quarter width rock and roll bed.
A 240v hook-up handles the power. A two-person tent folds out of the roof.
Sundial Campers, a California firm founded in 1966, did the original conversion, the same year the van rolled off the line, according to CreatorZine.
Joe Watts, an expert on the sale, called it “a special campervan with real personality.”
Why It Matters
Provenance is doing a lot of work here. A restored split-screen Type 2 already commands serious money.
The Donald signature turns it from a nice van into a one-off with a name attached, and that name is what nudges the estimate upward.
Celebrities and creators worked this out a while ago.
A signature on a panel, a worn stage jacket, a used mic.
The object barely changes. The story is the markup.
Classic VW campers have climbed steadily as nostalgia buyers and collectors fight over clean examples, and celebrity-owned lots tend to sail past their guide prices.
It goes under the hammer with Iconic Auctioneers at Silverstone on Saturday 25 July, estimated at £40,000 to £50,000.
Whether the Howard premium pushes it past the top end is the only question left.
