A giant steel t-rex by Macaulay Metals has been sold for $33,200 with all proceeds going to Te Omanaga Hospice to assist their rebuild.
Colin the T-Rex has been sold to Auckland scrap metal merchant and motor racing identity Clark Proctor for $33,200.
The five-tonne metal sculpture was built and designed by Hutt Valley firms Macaulay Metals and Real Steel for the Hutt City Councils Highlight Festival.
It was put on Trade Me with proceeds from the sale going towards the Te Omanga Hospice rebuild.
The Trade Me auction proved popular with 554 people following the bidding. Most of the action occurred in the final 12 minutes with 20 bids coming in.
Proctor fought it out with bidders from Cromwell and Palmerston North, winning with two minutes to spare.
Macaulay Metals finance and commercial manager Rachel Lavis said it was it was nice to see it go to someone else involved in the scrap metal business.
"He is actually planing to display Colin is his garden. He is building a new home so it must be a pretty big garden."
Made from 100 per cent laser cut Swedish steel plate, Colin is 12.6 metres long from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail, and stands 5.8m tall.
Lavis said getting Colin to Auckland should not be a problem. He was specially designed to be easy to transport and his tail comes off to make him less bulky.
For the next five weeks, Colin will be on display in front of the Dowse Museum in Lower Hutt.
It is not every day that a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex comes up for auction and Lavis was not surprised by the amount of interest.
With Trade Me not charging a fee, all the money raised would be going to the hospice which is currently undergoing a $10m rebuild.
"We are really happy that Colin was sold for a decent amount."
As well as being involved in scrap metal, Proctor has raced stockcars and the Targa Rally, as well as Formula 5000 and the Australasian GT series.
He had always had an interest in metal sculptures and Collin appealed because he was very well made.
Although Proctor had only seen pictures of the sculpture he got a friend to check it out and send him a video.
He is building a three-storey beach house in Cockle Bay, Howick and was looking for something eye catching.
"I hope families and children will get a real buzz out of getting their picture taken with it."
He subsequently found out that a friend was also bidding on Colin to put it on Hampton Downs Motorsport Park.
"I would not rule out that it will turn up there one day."
Story Credit - Stuff.co.nz