Peking to Paris vintage car sells for £17,400

The 1939 Bentley still has its Peking to Paris race plates

An 85-year-old car that once took part in a globe-spanning rally has been sold for £17,400 at auction.

The 1939 Derby Bentley was auctioned in Scunthorpe after lying unused in storage for almost two decades.

The car completed the 2007 Peking to Paris Centenary Rally – a five-week, 8,000-mile (12,900 km) re-enactment of the world’s first transcontinental rally in 1907.

It had been estimated to fetch between £10,000 and £15,000.

The auction house said the sale attracted bids from all over the UK and Ireland, with the winning bid coming from someone in Hounslow, west London.

According to the auctioneers, the Bentley was driven by owner Digby Leighton-Squires and his friend Neville Burrell during the rally.

It was one of 106 veteran, vintage and classic cars that completed the challenge, achieving a respectable 65th place.

Speaking ahead of the sale, Paul Cooper of Eddisons auctioneers said: "There could even be a bit of Gobi desert sand in there."

Adam Martin, of Eddisons, sitting in the Bentley ahead of the auction

Bentley Derbys were made by Rolls-Royce after the luxury car manufacturer snapped up its rival in 1931.

The first Derby rolled off the production line in the city of Derby in 1933, with the model being made until 1939.

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.