Concorde parts go under hammer in French auction

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Most of the 60 pieces sold on the auction's first day attracted around five times the asking price.

The Anglo-French aircraft was withdrawn from service in 2003 after ferrying the rich and famous across the Atlantic for 27 years at speeds up to 2,625 kph.

The auction runs until Monday in the French aviation capital of Toulouse where the sleek, droop-nosed aircraft was assembled in cooperation with Britain.

Items being sold to raise money for a museum include a pair of toilet seats weighing 5.8 kilos and available for auction prices starting at 400 euros ($567.4) each.

For the same asking price, collectors can bid for a Concorde pilot's headset.

A laminated cockpit window panel went for 3,100 euros, 10 times the asking price, at the start of the auction on Friday.

If space is not a problem, the auction includes a couple of one-tonne Concorde landing gears on which the bidding starts at 2,000-3,000 euros - wheels not supplied.

Among the most symbolic items for the plane's many fans, however, will be a "Machmeter" weighing just over a kilo and offered at a suggested price of 1,500-2,000 euros.

The instrument's dial recorded Concorde's speed as it slipped through the sound barrier, known as Mach 1, and is due to be auctioned on Saturday evening.

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