CONCORDE NOSE-CONE FETCHES STRATOSPHERIC PRICE

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Concorde Nose-Cone Fetches Stratospheric Price

LONDON (Reuters) - A nose-cone from Concorde, the world's only supersonic airliner until it was retired in October, fetched a stratospheric 320,000 pounds ($551,600) at an auction on Monday -- nearly 10 times the expected price.
In frantic transatlantic bidding, the trademark droop snoot was bought by Hungarian born but U.S.-based civil engineer Ferenc Gaspar, a self-confessed Concorde fanatic who said he had got a bargain.

"It was an incredibly competitive auction. Pieces were being snapped up. Concorde fever is far from over. Everybody wants a piece," a spokesman for auction house Bonhams said.

The nose-cone was the star item among 128 lots of Concorde memorabilia ranging from a cabin trolley which went for 5,000 pounds to the captain's seat which sold for 26,000 pounds.

The Machmeter which registered when the delta-winged queen of the skies had hit double the speed of sound was knocked down for 28,000 pounds, and a scale model of the plane itself went for 17,000 pounds.

"Multiples of 10 times the estimated price -- and sometimes more -- were the norm today," the spokesman said.

In total the auction raised a little over three quarters of a million pounds which will be donated to a number of charities.