LONDON.- A 1951 Cadillac, formerly the transport of Eva ‘Evita’ Duarte de Perón, will be offered at Bonhams Goodwood Members’ Meeting Sale, taking place 20 March 2016.

María Eva Duarte de Perón, affectionately remembered as Evita, is an icon of popular culture after her life’s story was famously retold in the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musical, ‘Evita’, as well as the 1996 film of the same name, starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas. The film was a big commercial success, for which Madonna won her first Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.

Evita was the first lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She was seen as a champion for the working classes of Argentina, and an active campaigner for women’s rights, founding the country’s first significant women’s political party, the Female Peronist Party.

The Cadillac, an archetypal head-of-state vehicle, was used by Evita and husband, President Juan Perón, for state functions. While Perónists praise the couple for their efforts to eradicate poverty and raise the powers of the working classes, their detractors considered them dictatorial. However, Eva Perón’s efforts to ignite the women’s liberation movement and address the issues plaguing the working classes sees her as an iconic figure in the country’s turbulent history.

Further highlights:

This year’s Goodwood Members’ Meeting sale will be the largest to date, with 99 rare and exciting lots offered. Craft of land, sea and air go under the hammer, led by a rare 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL ‘Gullwing’ Coupe, estimated at £800,000-1,000,000, a 1929 Bentley 4½-Litre Tourer, estimated at £250,000-300,000, and followed by two historic airplanes, a 1959 English Electric Canberra PR9 XH134, estimated at £50,000-70,000, and the 1958 Hawker Hunter T7 XL600, estimated at £8,000-12,000. Also offered, vehicle registration number ‘S5’, only the fifth registration ever issued in Edinburgh, estimated at £150,000-180,000.