One of the 20th century’s most controversial and fabled motor cars, a 1981 DeLorean DMC12 Coupé, owned by Miranda Guinness, Countess of Iveagh, is to be sold by Bonhams as part of the Goodwood Festival of Speed on 2 July 2010. The car, which has been on long-term display at the Robert Guinness Steam Museum in Dublin and the Irish Museum of Transport, has attracted a pre-sale estimate of £15,000 – £20,000.

The brainchild of ex-General Motors executive John Zachary DeLorean, the DeLorean sports car project found a home in Northern Ireland following a grant from the British government. Under the helm of ex-Pontiac designer, Bill Collins, the car attracted much attention for its stylish coupé body and doors that opened in a ‘gull-wing’ fashion. The highly anticipated DeLorean, which finally arrived in 1980, quickly ran into quality control problems that were never recovered, in part due to the creator’s indictment on drug charges in 1982. Read the full DeLorean story here.

This left-hand drive example of the car has only 19,400 miles on the odometer and has been maintained to the highest standard. Miranda Guinness has been the only owner of the car.

The Countess of Iveagh, married Arthur Francis Benjamin Guinness, 3rd Earl of Iveagh, in 1963. The family seat, currently home to their son Arthur Edward Rory Guinness, 4th Earl of Iveagh, is Elveden Hall in Suffolk.

Miranda Guinness acquired her 1720 Palladian home Wilbury in Wiltshire in 1996 in a state of severe disrepair. She spent six years renovating it before moving in. Miranda was awarded the Building Conservation section of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors International Building Awards in 2006.