Henry Cooper's 1973 Ferrari 365 GT under the hammer at COYS

Henry Cooper's 1973 Ferrari 365 GT under the hammer at COYS

BOXING LEGEND HENRY COOPER’S FERRARI TO GO UNDER THE ’AMMER AT COYS AUCTION IN LONDON

The Ferrari comes with pair of gloves signed by him and could fetch £70,000Model statue of Henry Cooper to be auctioned to raise funds for the London Ex-Boxers AssociationOver 40 classic and sports cars on sale at Coys auction

International auctioneers Coys are putting under the hammer a Ferrari owned by British boxing legend Sir Henry Cooper OBE along with over 40 classic and sports cars at their yearly True Greats auction on 5th December at the Royal Horticultural Society in London.

The 1973 Ferrari 365 GT 2+2 was owned in the early 1980s by Henry Cooper, famous for the power of his left hook, “Enry’s ‘Ammer“, and his knockdown of a young Muhammad Ali on 18th June 1963.

Coys took the car to the Fellowship Inn on the Bellingham estate in South London, where local boy Cooper lived and trained before the fight with Ali, and caught the attention of locals who turned out to see it, take pictures and share stories about the boxer.

Enry later became friends with The Greatest, who admitted he was hit so hard that fight that “his ancestors in Africa felt it.” Following his retirement from the sport, he continued his career as a television and radio personality and to date remains the only boxer to be awarded a knighthood.

Chris Routledge, CEO of Coys, said: “He loved his cars, was a great motorsport enthusiast and at one point even did some club racing alongside his great friend Graham Hill. Known as Enry’s Ferrari by various marque specialists, the provenance of this car makes it a sound investment and could be the ideal Christmas treat for discerning collectors.”

The Fellowship Inn, now in semi-derelict condition, is set for a £4m restoration with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to bring it back to its former glory. The grant was secured by Phoenix Community Housing.

Councillor for Lewisham Alan Hall said: “The project will secure the future of the community pub while creating more than 70 jobs and lots of training and volunteering opportunities. Henry Cooper is a Bellingham local legend, it was great to see the car back in the area where he grew up and the interest it created amongst locals - hope it’s a knock out sale!”

The Councillor brought a model of a statue of Sir Henry Cooper that the Members of the London Ex-Boxers Association are planning to erect in Bellingham in 2017 in recognition not only for what he achieved in boxing but for the great contribution he made to many charities and more important as an example to young people. Coys will auction the model statue to raise funds for the London Ex-Boxers Association. The reserve is £1,000 - dig deep, it’s for charity!

The car is one of only 55 right hand drive examples produced. Under the bonnet, Ferrari squeezed in their 4.4 litreV12 unit producing 400 bhp at 7,000rpm, making it, at the time, the world’s most potent full four-seater. Despite its 1,450kilos, the car sprinted from 0 to 60 mph in just 5.4 seconds and was capable of a top speed of 165 mph. The V5 shows Henry Cooper as the keeper, listing his home address in Hendon, North London. It is estimated at £55,000 to £70,000.


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