Antiques Roadshow guest left reeling as he learns truth behind car mascot he was using as paperweight | The Sun

AN ANTIQUES Roadshow guest was left stunned after he found out the incredible value of his car mascots.

Expert Marc Allum welcomed an antiques lover onto the BBC show, and pointed out that he'd seen him before.

Marc told the guest: "It's good to see you back again", before getting into the details.

The guest had brought along two car mascots, and Marc picked up one of them, saying: "What I'm going to ask you is… we've got this particular mascot here, which is an automaton car mascot with flapping wings.

"This particular model was made by Flying Car Mascots Limited at Piccadilly and it dates from the 1930s.

"Put this on the front of your car, and its wings start flapping."

He then moved on to the second mascot, explaining it was very prestigious.

"Now for those that don't know, Minerva were a very prestigious Belgian car company," explained the expert.

He said: "They made cars at the luxury end of the market, and it seems obvious for a company called Minerva that they should have a mascot for their luxury automobiles in the form of the goddess, Minerva."

Despite the car mascots' purpose of being placed on top of a car, the guest revealed he'd been using it as a paperweight.

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Marc then moved on to discuss the value of the mascots, and revealed that the first mascot: "generally make around about £400 to £600 at auction.

"They're great fun and people love them."

However, the second one was worth a lot more, as Marc said: "This one is a very specific mascot, and you're not going to have any change from between £1,500 to £2,500 on this mascot."

"You're joking," the guest said in shock. "I don't believe that. Thank you, very much indeed."

Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

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