Sir Michael Caine's first Rolls Royce sold for £120,000

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Rolls Royce, the first car bought by Italian actor Job Sir Michael Caine, sold at auction for £120,000 pounds sterling, writes BBC.

Sir Michael paid £10,511 for a 1968 two-door Silver Shadow Drophead Coupe in the year it was built — just when it became a household name.

The hand-built car was one of only 506 cars of its type ever made and has been meticulously restored prior to its current sale.

It was purchased by an anonymous buyer over the phone at an auction at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford.

Behind the wheel of Michael Caine's 1986 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. How cool would it be to cruise around the city in the very first car the South London icon bought. The car is set to go up for auction on March 15, estimated to be worth between £100,000-£150,000. pic.twitter.com/VSzuE6FWwI

— Gentleman's Journal (@thegentsjournal) February 16, 2023

According to the documents, the car was built by Rolls Royce's own coachbuilder, Mulliner Park Ward, in 1967.

Its original price in the year it was built was £147,709 in today's money.

It has been described as “finished with a superb combination of sumptuous leather hides, rich wood veneers and deep lambswool rugs.” and was considered “as luxurious as it is expensive.”

At the time, 35-year-old Sir Michael called himself “a real bourgeois nightmare — cockney smart and a million dollars” after his fees began to rise in the late 1960s.

The actor allegedly wandered into the Jack Barclay showroom in Berkeley Square in London with a handwritten shopping list, which read: “Milk, bread, newspaper, cigarettes, Rolls-Royce”, but he was refused because of his untidy appearance.

He then bought a Silver Shadow from another Rolls Royce dealership, HA Fox in Mayfair, and hired a chauffeur to drive past the original showroom to show off, the auctioneer said.

The car was among 121 classic, collectible and a sports car, which were auctioned off in Cambridgeshire on Wednesday.

Two years later, Sir Michael sold the car to nightclub owner Jack Leach, who owned the car for 43 years until his death in 2013.
Damian Jones, Senior Car Specialist at H&H Classics, said: “Sir Michael Caine — a true British icon, so I'm thrilled to be able to put his first car up for sale, which is another great British classic in its own right.”

universally admired, so the combination of both in one fantastic car is really incredibly rare,” Jones added.

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