News · 22 Jan 2016 · Car Deal Expert Editorial Team
Originally published 2016-01-22T21:06:44+00:00. This article is part of the CarDealExpert historical archive — see our latest UK car-finance, insurance and used-car coverage in the menu above.
George Clooney is auctioning off his Tesla ‘Signature 100’ Roadster for charity in August. Image: Ed Van-West/Flickr/CC BY-SA
Two top celebrities announced, within days of each other, that they will be auctioning off their personal automobiles for charity. Their cars and their charities are quite different, however, highlighting the ideological differences between George Clooney and Jay Leno.
Celebrity car auction
The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, held in August, is a celebrity-studded automobile event held yearly in California. This year, the event will also feature an auction of celebrity-owned vehicles. The auction will be conducted by the Santa Monica-based Gooding & Co. auction house. It is a firm that specializes in celebrity auctions for non-profit charities.
Jay Leno’s Fiat 500
Jay Leno, comedian and host of NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” is also a well-publicized car collector. Leno announced last week that he will be auctioning off his 2012 Fiat 500 Prima Edizione at the event.
The Fiat 500 Prima Edizione was created to celebrate the automaker’s 2011 return to the U.S. market. Only 500 of them were built, and Leno’s is the second of the run.
The sale of Leno’s Fiat will benefit the Fisher House Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization providing support for American soldiers who were wounded in the line of duty. It is hoped that the vehicle will fetch $25,000 to $35,000 for the cause.
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George Clooney’s Tesla Roadster
Meanwhile, movie superstar, producer and director George Clooney, announced that his 2008 Tesla “Signature 100” Roadster will also see the auction block at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance event.
David Gooding, president and founder of the auction house, said:
“We are overjoyed to present George Clooney’s Signature 100 Tesla at Pebble Beach because this is an incredible opportunity to purchase a modern collector car with all the right elements: one-owner, celebrity provenance, historical significance, limited-edition rarity and philanthropic ties.”
Clooney’s all-electric Roadster was only the eighth one build by the California-based automaker. It is a high-end luxury green car, and it has been driven only 1,700 miles. It is hoped the EV will fetch $100,000 to $125,000 for Clooney’s charity.
Clooney, a well-known human rights crusader, has all the money earmarked for the Satellite Sentinel Project. The nonprofit was founded in 2010 by Clooney himself and fellow activist John Prendergast. Its goal is to curtail civil war in Sudan by using satellite imagery to monitoring its borders for violent activity.
Other vehicles at auction
The auction will also feature the late Andy Warhol’s Scaglietti, as well as an ultra-rare 1928 Bentley valued at over $5 million.
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