Ayrton Senna Airfix model to go under the hammer

A sculpture featuring Ayrton Senna's McLaren MP4/6 from the Brazilian legend's final season as F1 World Champion is to be sold by international car auctioneer COYS at its N?rburgring sale in Germany this weekend.

The gigantic Airfix sculpture was unveiled to the public on 16 July at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, as COYS hosted its annual Concours d'Elegance and auction at the historic venue - and there to see it unveiled was Senna's former team manager, Dennis Rushen.

"I was really impressed with the Senna sculpture," underlined the man who set the late, great three-time world champion on the fast track towards superstardom. "[It's] such a clever idea, and it really stands out as something really different. Often at race meetings, Senna would fly his radio-controlled helicopter. He was really into models, and he would have appreciated the concept."

There has been a renewed buzz around the Senna story since the eponymous movie about his life and career went on general release at cinemas a few weeks ago, and the auction house has received a huge amount of interest in the sculpture since it pictured it in its catalogue.

"It will be sold at our auction at the N?rburgring on 13 August," revealed Chris Routledge from COYS. "It really is a fantastic sculpture that would not be out-of-place in a design or motor museum or on the wall of a corporate office. We believe that it will sell for between ?30,000 and ?50,000."

The F1 car was dismantled by McLaren and given to artist Jay Burridge, who turned it into the gigantic 'Airfix kit' in 1992.