Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/739032
maltatoday MOTORING Princess Diana's Audi Cabriolet up for auction A British motor show is offering Diana's 1994 Audi convertible, her first car after separating from Prince Charles in 1992 WHEN we think about the B4 generation of the Audi 80, us petrolheads see it as a last hurrah before the first-generation A4 came forth to the party. However, in Cabriolet form, the squarish and stony-faced Audi 80 was a car popular with the rich and the famous, including those born with blue blood in their veins. One of the most affluent owners of the Audi Cabriolet was Diana, Princess of Wales, who owned the car you can admire in the adjacent photographs between 1994 and 1996. The first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, and the mother of Prince William and Prince Harry, the late Diana is considered by many as one of the most influential women in the 20th century. Compared to Her Majesty's Bentley Mulsanne, which was re- cently sold for £199,850, Diana's Audi Cabriolet is estimated to fetch anything between £50,000 to £60,000. The seller, Silver- stone Auctions, will try to vend the ragtop on 14 November at the NEC Classic Motor Show Sale in Birmingham. The teal green convertible machine still has the licence plate that was on when Diana owned it. Bought in London in 1994, three years before the tragic car crash in Paris, Diana is believed to have driven the Audi Convertible 4,000 miles or thereabout. At the present mo- ment, the vehicle shows 21,412 miles on the odometer, which translates to just about 34,460 kilometers. Motivated by a 2.3-liter five- cylinder engine matched with an automatic transmission, the 1994 Audi Cabriolet appears to be in pristine condition inside and out. From the Gomera Pearl paint finish to the Parch- ment leather and cream car- pets, everything looks perfectly fine for a 22-year-old car. After Diana had got bored of the car, the 1994 Audi Cabrio- let was sold to Ian Campbell Dale. Then the third owner bought in 1998, after which the current vendor purchased it in 2013. Other than the car itself, the sale also includes a "his- tory file containing the relevant handbooks and manuals and several good-quality photos of Diana using the car," for added authenticity.