A 1954 Aston Martin DB3S will lead Bonhams' Aston Martin works sale at the marque's headquarters in Newport Pagnell on May 21.

It's expected to sell for around £6m-7m ($8.5m-9.9m).

The Aston Martin DB3S belonged to the marque's owner David Brown

The car formerly belonged to David Brown, who ran Aston Martin from 1947 until 1972.

He donated the car to the company's racing wing after three DB3S racers were destroyed in a series of crashes at Le Mans in 1954.

The team made a number of changes to the car to make it race-ready, including swapping out the unique glass-fibre bodywork for aluminium.

It became one of the marque's most successful racers.

Later on it was sold to a private owner, who entered it in the 1958 Gosport Speed Trials. 

Tragically, the mechanic racing it deliberately drove it off a cliff, having just discovered his fiancee was cheating on him - with his boss. 

In 1960 it was rebuilt and starred in classic comedy film School for Scoundrels.

Tim Schofield, Bonhams' UK head of motoring, comments: "Few cars that have appeared in film can also boast an association with so many great names from the heyday of the British racing sports car, but this Aston Martin DB3S does just that.  

"Drivers who raced it include such legends as Peter Collins, Roy Salvadori, and Sir Stirling Moss, competing at world-class level in such gruelling races as the Mille Miglia, the Spa Grand Prix and the Nürburgring 1,000kms."

The lot looks likely to beat the record for the model, which was set at $5m at RM Sotheby's in 2014.

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