Spitfire fuselage kept in garage for 20 years sells for £18,000

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 21 Oct, 20:32 · Archive

A Spitfire fuselage kept in a man's garage for over two decades has sold at auction for £18,000.

A Supermarine Spitfire F Mk 22 fuselage, kept in a garage at a home in Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire for more than 20 years, sold for £18,000 at Dominic Winter Auctioneers in Cirencester on 8 October. The fuselage consisted mostly of replacement panels from other original Spitfires built on wooden formers, with a cockpit window assembly, Perspex canopy and five original Griffon propeller blades.

Peter Arnold, known as 'Mr Spitfire', worked on the fuselage as his final project. According to the Daily Mail, he rescued it after it was deployed on the Salisbury Plain Ranges in 1948. Arnold grew up near RAF Northolt and became fascinated with Spitfires from schooldays, when he would cycle to crash sites within a 50-mile radius. He later had a successful career in automotive engineering, working for Aston Martin, and travelled worldwide to see more than 260 examples of Spitfires. He recorded some 365 extant Spitfire and Seafire airframes in total. Arnold would often bring the fuselage onto his drive for members of the public to view.

Arnold died aged 83 in 2025. The fuselage had been expected to fetch between £20,000 and £30,000 at auction but sold for £18,000.

How it is being reported

• Half a Spitfire sells for £18,000 after enthusiast who worked on it in his garage for more than 20 years dies aged 83Peter Arnold, who came to be known as 'Mr Spitfire', rescued the fuselage after it was deployed on the Salisbury Plain Ranges in 1948.Daily Mail · 21 Oct, 20:19
• Spitfire fuselage that was kept in man’s garage for 20 years fetches £18,000 at auctionPeter Arnold, aka ‘Mr Spitfire’, used to bring the fuselage onto his drive for the public to seeThe Independent · 21 Oct, 16:56

In this story: Peter Arnold · Dominic Winter Auctioneers · Newport Pagnell · RAF Northolt · Aston Martin · Salisbury Plain Ranges

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