A man has reneged after bidding a record $70,000 for a restored EJ Holden at the annual EJ Whitten Foundation charity auction.
A bidding war for the car broke out at the EJ Whitten grand final luncheon on September 30. The bidders pushed the price to the largest amount raised in the auction’s history.
But the next morning, the winning bidder phoned foundation chief executive Barry Besanko to say he wasn’t going through with the sale.
Ted Whitten jnr, who started the foundation 20 years ago in memory of his late father, said everyone was “completely shocked” when the sale collapsed.
“The loss of the donation is devastating to our foundation,” he said.
“Hopefully, this unfortunate situation can be turned into a positive by taking the car to the Australian public.”
Williamstown’s Bodymaster Prestige Paint and Panel, co-owned by Declan McKearney and partner Samantha Martin, had restored the car to donate to the foundation, with proceeds going to prostate cancer research and men’s health initiatives.
Ms Martin said the car was now on the open market and one lucky buyer would nab a bargain.
“To restore to the standard that this EJ Holden has been restored would set someone back close to over $300,000,” she said.
Anyone interested in buying the ‘EJ for EJ’ should visit restomyride.com
