Comedy cars that could be wise investments: Eric Morecambe's Jensen Interceptor and Only Fools and Horses Reliant three-wheeler up for grabs

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A pair of cars steeped in British comedy folklore are to be sold at auction next month.

Eric Morecambe's Jensen Interceptor, which is the very car in which he suffered a heart attack while driving just two months after buying, is expected to sell for £110,000 when it sells to the highest bidder in Birmingham a few week's time.

Demanding just as much interest - if not a similar fee - is a genuine Only Fools and Horses Reliant Regal three-wheel van that starred in 2001 Christmas special episode 'If They Could See Us Now'. 

Both will go under the hammer at the Silverstone Auctions NEC Classic Motor Show sale taking place on 11 and 12 November.

The price is no laughing matter: This Jensen Interceptor MkI, bought new by comedy icon Eric Morecambe in 1968, is expected to sell for a staggering £110,000 when it goes under the hammer at a classic motor auction next month

Eric Morecambe (right), half the Morecambe and Wise comedy duo with Ernie Wise (left), suffered a heart attack while at the wheel of the Jensen just two months after buying it

Eric Morecambe's 1968 Jensen Interceptor

On 23 September 1968, Eric Morecambe handed over £4,500 for this MkI Interceptor coupe  - roughly double the price of a Jaguar E-Type and more than an Aston Martin DB6 at the time. 

While it might not be worth quite the same as its two British counterparts today, Silverstone Auctions still thinks it will sell for more than 20 times its original value next month.

Mint Interceptors are currently valued at around £72,000, according to Hagerty's classic car insurance, but this one is expected to swap hands for between £90,000 and £110,000 when the hammer falls.

It's the very car that the comedy star was driving towards Leeds when he was struck down with his first heart attack in November 1968 at the tender age of 42 after appearing at Batley variety club with Ernie Wise.

Four years later during an interview with Michael Parkinson in 1974 he recounted the near-fatal moment, in which he described having to pull to the side of the road at 1am to ask a member of the public - Walter Butterworth - to drive him to Leeds Infirmary so he could check himself in.

In a classic moment of '70s TV history, Morecambe's punch line detailed the moment the broad Yorkshireman asked for his autograph while he lay on a stretcher.

And now the very car the comedian had to be chauffeured to the hospital in could be yours.

The Interceptor is just one of 923 Series 1 Interceptor coupes ever built, with less than 30 believed to be in existence today

After being sold from the comedian's estate following his death in 1984, the car ended up in Belgium, where it fell into a state of disrepair 

Silverstone Auctions owner Nick Whale traced the car and bought it for £28,400 in September 2014. He then funded a painstaking restoration that was completed by the start of 2016

Nick Whale, owner of SIlverstone Auctions, tracked the car to Belgium in September 2014, finding it in what was described as a 'sad-looking' state years after it was released from Mr Morecambe's estate following his death in 1984.

Believed to be one of less than 30 of the 923 Series I Interceptors in existence today, Whale purchased the car for £28,400. Now fully restored by UK-based Jensen specialists, it's almost quadrupled in value in a little over three years.

The car even has its own website that documents the vehicle's restoration before it featured in an ITV documentary about the comedy duo earlier this year where it was revealed to Eric's son Gary and good Samaritan Walter Butterworth.

The Interceptor even has its own website that documents the full repair work that took place to return it to its former glory

The car went on display at a classic motor show last year, but the November sale in Birmingham marks the first time it will be available to buy at auction

‹ Slide me ›

Before and after: While the restoration might have taken over a year, the financial reward is that it could quadruple in value when it sells next month

Speaking about the soon-to-be-sold car, Nick Whale said: 'It's a great car to drive. We went to enormous trouble to preserve as much of the original car as possible. 

'This specifically includes the dashboard and steering wheel as I wanted to enjoy the same special view and experience the same atmosphere in the driving seat as my all-time comedy hero. 

'To meet the family and restore part of their history, which actually is also part of our National heritage, has been a real pleasure.'

The 6.3-litre V8 coupe, which carries the original registration number 'FJH 5G' it had under the comedy star's ownership, is available to purchase at auction for the first time. Given its painstaking return to health and celebrity background, it is almost certain to appreciate in the future.

This Reliant Regal is the very car that appeared in the 2001 Only Fools and Horses Christmas special episode, 'If They Could See Us Now'

Only Fools and Horses 1968 Reliant Regal

This is the genuine Reliant Regal three-wheeler used in episode 62 of the Only Fools and Horses series.

Registration number 'BWC 94F' appeared in the episode 'If They Could See Us Now' - the first of three Christmas specials to air after the turn of the century that was viewed by 21.35 million on December 25 2001. 

The 1968 car, acquired from a Bonhams auction in 2008, has been reconditioned to celebrate its famed appearance and also has a few unusual retrofit features.

The three-wheeler is synonymous with the comedy series, though this version might be the best runner of all the models to appear in the show

It has a reconditioned engine, new gearbox, keyless ignition, DVD player and cassette radio - all sounds pretty normal so far, right?

But it also has a smoke machine which emits plumes from the exhaust when a valve is opened on the dashboard - good job it's over 40 years old and won't need to be MOT tested from April next year.

No expense has been spared to bring it up to Del Boy and Rodney spec - this includes the tiger skin print interior

The car even features a smoke machine that can spew clouds of fake fumes out the exhaust pipe. Inflatable dolls are included

Other Only Fools and Horses themed additions include a tiger skin print interior, rubber mats with 'Del Boy' on the driver's side and 'Rodney' on the passenger side and inflatable dolls that pop up up in the back window harking back to the 1989 episode 'Danger UXD'.

The restoration also included the addition of a roof rack and suitcase as well as air horns.

It has just under 72,000 miles on the clock and is being sold without reserve. Cushtie! 

On a budget? Jimmy Tarbuck's Volvo is up for grabs too 

Jimmy Tarbuck's Volvo P1800 has an estimate of £15,000 to £18,000

The TV quiz show host has a long history of owning desirable cars. Left: pictured with his Aston Martin. Right: The same 'COMIC' number plate adorns a Mercedes SL

You don't have to pay six figures for a car owned by a British comedy legends.

This 1973 Volvo P1800 is also being sold at the same NEC Classic Motor Show Silverstone Auctions sale next months, with an estimate of £15,000 to £18,000.

The stylish three-door shooting brake might just be one of the best looking Volvos of all time, but it also has a celebrity connection.

It was formerly owned by Jimmy Tarbuck and would have been driven by the TV quiz show host during his time on Winner Takes All.