Great Baddow man's 'once in a lifetime' car collection to be sold
An auctioneer stumbled across what he described as a "once in a lifetime" collection of cars while clearing a man's estate.The vehicles - including a 1962 Lotus Elite and Connaught L2 - were found in a barn in Great Baddow, Essex.Motor enthusiast Frank Lugg owned them until his death in 2024 and wanted the trove to be sold for charity."This clearly was his life's passion, he even had a motorbike in his dining room," said Paul Stacey, who will auction the vehicles on 28 February.
He estimated the collection could fetch more than £140,000 when it went under the hammer at Stacey's Auctioneers in Rayleigh.
A coffee table made from a car engine was also found during searches of Mr Lugg's home.Mr Stacey said: "It became very clear he was one of those special kinds of people who were passionate about cars, motorbikes and all aspects of engineering."There were three cars stored in his garage and quite obviously these hadn't seen the light of day for many years."Mr Lugg had requested his estate was left to the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institute, a farming charity, after his death.He lived on his own and did not appear to have any close family, Mr Stacey said.
The Connaught L2 was given a price estimate of between £60,000 and £100,000, while the Lotus Elite Super 95 could fetch £20,000.A 1927 Diatto Type 30 and a 1989 Honda VFR750 were among the other vehicles discovered."This is a once in a lifetime find and, as auctioneers, we feel privileged to have the opportunity to sell them," Mr Stacey added.
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Scottish Sun
16 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
‘I still have shards in my leg', says ex-Rangers supremo Sir David Murray as he breaks 50-year silence on car crash hell
Sir David Murray is speaking in detail about the nightmare for the first time 'THE UNTOLD STORY' 'I still have shards in my leg', says ex-Rangers supremo Sir David Murray as he breaks 50-year silence on car crash hell SIR David Murray has revealed how he still has shards in his leg from the wreckage of the sports car that nearly killed him in a horror crash almost half a century ago. The ex-Rangers owner was just 24 when he had both legs amputated after the flash motor careered into a tree following a tyre blow-out in 1976. Advertisement 10 Sir David Murray has broken his decades long silence on his horror car crash 10 Ex-Rangers owner pictured with then-manager Walter Smith Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd 10 Sir David Murray shared the details in his new book, Mettle Despite the horrific accident, he refused to let the ordeal define him and went on to become a towering figure in Scottish society through his metals business and Ibrox tenure. But everything could have been very different had medics not been able to save his life after he crashed near Longniddry, East Lothian, while driving home in his purple Lotus Elite after playing rugby. Speaking in detail about the nightmare for the first time in new book Mettle: Tragedy, Courage & Titles , he said: 'As I made my way along a dual carriageway, the front left tyre just blew. 'There was nothing I could have done. Advertisement 'The car lurched to the side, I left the road and smashed headlong into a tree. 'Memories of the exact moment are hazy. 'The vehicle was made of fibreglass and the impact forced the engine block right through the facia and into the driver and passenger seat. 'I was immediately shunted right through the door and lay unconscious and bleeding next to the wreckage. Advertisement 'A number of rugby supporters who had actually been at the game stopped their cars and raced to my side. 'There was lots of blood and they applied tourniquets with their ties to try to halt the flow. 'They somehow kept me alive and even though I can remember nothing about it, an ambulance was called and arrived quickly to take me 18 miles to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.' 10 A newspaper clipping from the time of Sir David's horror crash Advertisement 10 Sir David had his legs amputated following the crash Credit: Times Newspapers Ltd 10 The ex-Rangers supremo was able to phone his late wife Louise to tell her he was 'in a bad way' Despite his life hanging in the balance, Sir David was able to phone his late wife Louise from a payphone while on a hospital trolley and said 'you have to come. I'm in a bad way.' Incredibly, he lost 13 pints of blood on the first evening and medics immediately amputated parts of his 'mangled' legs through the knees. Advertisement Tragically, he then caught an infection which forced the docs to take off even more of his shattered limbs. He said: 'Louise, my family and friends took turns to sit by my bedside during the following days as I struggled to recover. 'The anaesthetist Ned Trench and a surgeon fought to give me a better chance of a partial recovery, but five days after the accident they were finally defeated after an infection set in. 'I ended up having a further nine inches of my legs removed.' Advertisement SIR DAVID MURRAY: A TIMELINE 1951 - Born in Ayr 1974 - Founds Murray International Metals aged 23 1976 - Loses both legs in a car crash 1984 - Awarded Young Scottish Businessman of the Year 1988 - Buys Rangers FC for £6million 1989 - Rangers win the first of a record-equalling nine successive league titles and buy first high profile Catholic, Maurice Johnston, for £1.5m from under the noses of Celtic. 1991: Walter Smith succeeds Graeme Souness as manager. 1992 - Wife Louise - mum of their two sons - dies after a cancer battle. 1993: Rangers sign Duncan Ferguson for a record transfer fee between British clubs of £4million. 1995: Paul Gascoigne signs for a club record £4.3m. 1998: Dick Advocaat is appointed manager and club break their transfer record three times that summer by signing Arthur Numan (£4.5m), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (£5m) and Andrei Kanchelskis (£5.5m). Murray declares that for 'every £5 Celtic spend, we will spend £10.' 2000: Rangers smash transfer record by signing Tore Andre Flo from Chelsea for £12m. 2001: Murray Park is opened at a cost of £14m. 2007 - Knighted for services to business 2009 - Sir David steps down as Rangers chairman and as a member of the board, with the club having won 15 titles and 21 cups during his tenure May 2011 - He sells his controlling interest in Rangers for £1 to Wavetower Limited, owned by businessman Craig Whyte. Incredibly, Sir David said he still has some of the purple bodywork from his Lotus embedded in his upper limb - and the tree that took the brunt of the crash also still has the marks almost 50 years on. He said: 'How that tree is still standing I don't know, but remarkably it is. I recently stopped at the same spot again and nearly 50 years after the accident, there are still marks on the base of the tree. 'Equally amazingly, there are also still purple shards of the car's bodywork embedded in my upper leg. 'Revisiting the scene much, much later, I realised that just a few yards before the tree and a few yards after it, there was nothing but open fields.' Advertisement After he was stabilised, Sir David - who was once estimated to have a £500m fortune - was transferred to the Princess Margaret Rose Hospital in Edinburgh for ten weeks of intensive care. The budding entrepreneur was left pondering his future over and over again - but his inner steel drove him towards recovery and, ultimately, huge success. And he now uses his experiences to offer advice to others at their lowest ebb. 10 Under Sir David's stewardship, the Ibrox side saw a period of unparalleled success Advertisement 10 Sir David saw a period of great success along with manager Graeme Souness Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd He said: 'I must have spent days and hours wondering how I might cope with the rest of my life. 'I was still a young man, with a wife and young family and I was passionate about business and playing sports.' 'In life, I never try to look back. Advertisement 'We all have decisions to make – some of them big, reflective moments – and I am a great believer in the fact that you either turn left or you turn right. 'If anyone I know is ever in trouble or facing adversity, I always tell them that every problem has a solution and to always look ahead. 'Be decisive. Stay positive. I had no intention of quitting.' Sir David, 73, became a millionaire with company Murray International Metals and purchased Rangers for £6million in 1988. Advertisement INSPIRATIONAL LETTER AN inspirational letter from hero World War II pilot Sir Douglas Bader helped in the ex-Rangers chief's remarkable recovery from his double amputation hell. Sir Douglas wrote to the then 24-year-old Sir David as he faced up to a lifetime without his limbs following the horror crash in 1976. He still treasures the note sent to him out of the blue nearly 50 years ago and has it framed in his home. Bader was a highly decorated flyer during WW2 despite losing his legs during aerobatics in 1931. The letter read: ''I gather that you have got hold of the problem and decided to get on with life which is the only thing to do. 'Well done. 'That is the only attitude of mind to adopt. 'I just wanted to write to you and tell you how much I admire your courage and to wish you well.' Sir David added: 'I would later telephone the number he had left at the top of his letter to thank him for his encouragement and tell him exactly what it meant to me… and still does. 'Almost two months earlier, I had what Douglas Bader might enthusiastically have described as a rather miraculous escape. It was certainly life-changing.' Under his stewardship, the club embarked on a period of unparalleled success with iconic managers Graeme Souness and Walter Smith - and fan favourites Paul Gascoigne and Brian Laudrup. He was also instrumental in the club smashing their sectarian signing policy by buying their first high profile Catholic player Mo Johnston from under Celtic's noses in 1989. Sir David faced further tragedy in his personal life when beloved first wife Louise - mum to their sons David and Keith - died from cancer in 1992. Dad Ian was also locked up for a spell before dying at 50. Advertisement 10 Sir David pictured with Richard Brandson 10 Sir David pictured with his mum, second wife Kae Tinto and son after being knighted by the Queen in 2007 Credit: Andrew Barr - The Sun Glasgow He split from second wife Kae Tinto in 2018 after seven years of marriage and is now understood to split his time between Perthshire and France, where he owns vineyards. He remains the chairman of Murray Capital Group and his sons play key roles in the running of the business. Advertisement - Mettle: Tragedy, Courage & Titles by Sir David Murray, is on sale Thursday July 3 from Amazon and all good bookshops. Preorder on Amazon here. Sir David is donating his royalties to Erskine Hospital.
Daily Mail
19 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Death threats, a few regrets... and my bid to replace Sir Alex with Souness: Former Rangers chairman SIR DAVID MURRAY reflects on a rollercoaster journey through life in his new autobiography
Sir David Murray recently revisited the spot where a tyre of his purple Lotus Elite blew, sending him smashing into a tree and lying unconscious next to the wreckage, his legs so mangled by an impact which forced the engine into the driver's seat that they would be amputated. The marks are still there at the base of the tree, nearly 50 years on, just as there are still purple shards of the car's bodywork embedded in his upper leg. It struck him, for the first time, that he'd so nearly avoided that life-defining catastrophe, on an overcast Saturday afternoon on a dual carriageway in East Lothian, after playing in a rugby match in 1976.
Daily Record
21 hours ago
- Daily Record
Ex-Rangers owner Sir David Murray says losing legs after horror crash inspired life of courage
Murray was left fighting for his life when a tyre blowout sent his high-powered sports car careering off the road. March 13, 1976 - little did he know it but Sir David Murray was speeding towards a crossroads. Driving home having just played in a rugby match on the outskirts of Edinburgh, the then 24-year-old future Rangers owner would be left fighting for his life when a tyre blowout sent his high-powered sports car careering off the road and into a tree. The burgeoning metals tycoon was able to be cut free from the devastated wreckage but the damage inflicted upon his mangled lower limbs gave surgeons no other option but to amputate his legs below the knee. In the days after as he began a gruelling recovery process, Murray realised he had only two directions in which to turn. He could point himself down a path of self-pity and despair. Or he could steer himself along a more productive and determined road, one where he would not allow his life-changing injuries to define him as a person nor a businessman. Now 50 years on, Sir David has opened up on the thoughts and emotions that inspired him to choose courage over resignation. And the four words that he chose to rebuild his life around. While recovering in the hospital, Murray received a letter from hero pilot Douglas Bader who lost both of his legs in an air crash in the 1930s but recovered to fly missions for the RAF during World War two. Recalling the events of that fateful day, he writes in his new autobiography: 'On an overcast Saturday afternoon on March 13, I drove my then two-year old son David to Musselburgh after gently persuading him that a nice thing to do would be to buy a bunch of flowers for his mum, Louise. "It wasn't a special occasion but he was happy to go along. 'I dropped him off back at home in Longniddry, East Lothian, then drove the 10 miles to play stand-off for Dalkeith against North Berwick. 'I kicked three conversions in a 16-9 victory and then began to make my way home. ' The car – a purple Lotus Elite – had been serviced just 24 hours earlier and unbeknown to me at the time, the tyre pressures had been inflated to almost twice what they should have been. 'I also didn't put my seatbelt on – it wasn't a legal requirement back then. 'As I made my way along a dual carriageway near Longniddry, in East Lothian, the front left tyre suddenly blew. 'There was nothing I could have done. 'The car lurched to the side, I left the road and smashed headlong into a tree. 'Revisiting the scene much, much later, I realised that just a few yards before the tree and a few yards after it, there was nothing but open fields. 'How that tree is still standing I don't know, but remarkably it is. 'I recently stopped at the same spot again and nearly 50 years after the accident, there are still marks on the base of the tree. Equally amazingly, there are also still purple shards of the car's bodywork embedded in my upper leg. 'Memories of the exact moment are hazy. The vehicle was made of fibreglass and the impact forced the engine block right through the facia and into the driver and passenger seat. 'I was immediately shunted right through the door and lay unconscious and bleeding next to the wreckage. If I'd been wearing a seatbelt, I'd have been stuck in the car – things might have been much worse. 'A number of rugby supporters who had actually been at the game stopped their cars and raced to my side. There was lots of blood and they applied tourniquets with their ties to try to halt the flow. 'They somehow kept me alive and even though I can remember nothing about it, an ambulance was called and arrived quickly to take me 18 miles to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. 'That night, I lost 13 pints of blood and there was no option for surgeons but to immediately amputate parts of my mangled legs through the knees.' Murray made his fortunes in the metal game. At its peak, his company was turning over £350million and selling 450,000 tonnes of steel a year - equivalent to the materials needed to construct a dozen Forth Rail Bridges. But it was his own iron-clad resolve that proved to be his most valuable personal commodity as he battled back from his brush with fate. He adds: ' My wife Louise, of course, was frantic with worry yet somehow I'd managed to call her from a hospital payphone while lying on a trolley taking me back to the ward. 'I told her, 'You have to come. I'm in a bad way.' I have absolutely no recollection of this. "Louise, my family and friends took turns to sit by my bedside during the following days as I struggled to recover. 'The anaesthetist Ned Trench and a surgeon fought to give me a better chance of a partial recovery, but five days after the accident they were finally defeated after an infection set in. 'I ended up having a further nine inches of my legs removed. Following this I was finally transferred to the Princess Margaret Rose Hospital for 10 weeks of intensive care. 'I must have spent days and hours wondering how I might cope with the rest of my life. I was still a young man, with a wife and young family and I was passionate about business and playing sports. I just felt numb but then that letter arrived and it made me so determined to carry on. 'I admire your courage'… four words that have long had a bearing on so many aspects of my life. It became a blueprint. Four words that a doctor or a nurse at my bedside in the hospital might have been expected to utter and if they had, they might have been referring to the fact that I apparently had never cried. Not once. "The reason I have built so much of my life around those words is that they were conveyed to me – in a private letter – by a man who personified courage: Sir Douglas Bader. "Like millions of others I was only aware of him because of the 1956 British war film Reach For The Sky where Bader was played by Kenneth More. In 1976, at the age of 24, I had just lost both of my legs – in a car crash – and was lying in hospital, a bi-lateral amputee, when the nurse delivered the letter that would act as a motivation throughout the rest of my life.' Former Ibrox gaffer Graeme Souness describes Murray in the book as 'the most competitive human being I've ever met'. It was that defiant streak the millionaire, now 73, leant on as he was forced to to learn to walk again with the aid of prosthetic limbs. And that determination was key to his establishing a billion-pound business empire and footballing dynasty that would see Rangers dominate Scottish football in the 1990s. 'In life, I never try to look back,' he adds. 'We all have decisions to make – some of them big, reflective moments – and I am a great believer in the fact that you either turn left or you turn right. 'If anyone I know is ever in trouble or facing adversity, I always tell them that every problem has a solution and to always look ahead. 'Be decisive. Stay positive. I had no intention of quitting.' Preorder on Amazon HERE
