Trekkie pays £45,000 for rusty shuttle

A dilapidated shuttlecraft prop used in the original Star Trek series has sold at auction for $70,000 (£45,000). Some Trekkies have far too much cash in their hands.

As you can see from the image below, the 24ft long shuttle, which had been acquired by a collector years ago, has clearly seen better days. This didn't stop a last-minute bidding war, though, which pushed prices up over three times its original $20,000 offer.

The "partially-restored" Galileo NCC-1701/7 shuttlecraft of the USS Enterprise was up for grabs in an 11-day online auction by Kiko Auctioneers that ended last week.

Employee Brooks Ames said the early bid was pushed up heavily in the last 90 seconds, when three avid collectors locked horns.

According the auctioneer, the new owners plan to restore the shuttle and display it in a museum. Looks like it might require a lot of space… on the vinyl front tier. ®