The Porsche 911 from The Bridge was only ever going to sail through its pre-auction estimate. The question was, by how much?
The answer is a cool £120,000.
With all proceeds going to WaterAid, actress Sofia Helen – who played Saga Norén in the hit TV series – was present at the Bonhams sale to encourage bidders to dig deep. Within the last hour, bidding closed at £141,500 (including premium), far exceeding the pre-auction estimate of £20,000-£30,000.
Actress who drives this ‘77 Porsche 911 in ‘The Bridge’ urges market to bid high in favour of Water Aid. It works – car estimated at £20-30k in the Bonhams catalogue actually sells for £125,000. pic.twitter.com/XDnB2Z3bp5
— Steve Cropley (@StvCr) July 13, 2018
The famous Jäger Grun Porsche was deemed surplus to requirements following the end of the final series, so the production company donated it to charity. Sofia Helen, an ambassador for WaterAid, said: “Saga’s Porsche is not only a big part of my own acting life, but has also become part of Swedish TV history. I’m so pleased the sale of this car will go to such a good cause.”
Goes back to the beginning
The Swedish actress, who has become a household name thanks to her role in the Scandi-noir drama, will be delighted with the final price. She’ll also be pleased to see the back of it. Speaking to the Independent in 2015, Sofia said: “All I can say is that it’s very hard to drive. It’s so old.”
With the 911 leading a tough life on set, the winning bidder will need to spend more cash returning the car to showroom condition. Alternatively, the plan might be to retain the car’s patina, perhaps heading home via the iconic Oresund Bridge, which connects Copenhagen with Malmo.
Spoiler alert: The Bridge concluded with Saga driving over the bridge, stopping in the middle to throw her Malmo CID badge into the Oresund strait between Denmark and Sweden. The series was left open for a potential return, at which point the producers might want to borrow the car for future filming.
Because everything goes back to the beginning.