Bonded to a Rolls

1959 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I drophead coupé owned by Bond set designer Sir Ken Adam to be auctioned at RM Sotheby’s Battersea sale tonight

Sir Ken Adam was born in Berlin in 1921 and fled Germany for England with his family in 1934 after the Brown Shirts forced his family’s successful high-fashion shops into bankruptcy. He was educated at St Paul’s School and University College London and then became famous for designing sets for the James Bond films of the 1960s and 1970s. A Rolls-Royce owned by the 94-year old since 1975 is to be sold at the RM Sotheby’s London sale tonight.

The 4,877cc car, a 1959 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I drophead coupé adaptation by H.J. Mulliner, was one of just thirteen of its type produced and one of just three made as right-hand-drive cars. It was delivered new to a London based Rolls-Royce enthusiast named A. Robert Gooda of Goodhale Engineering and featured “several bespoke options”.

Sir Ken, the car’s second owner, purchased the Silver Cloud I in 1975 and has “used it all over the world” according to the auctioneers’ catalogue entry. It is “presented today as wearing an older but presentable Porcelain White repaint, as well as a lovingly much-patinated red leather interior with wool carpeting and exquisite wood veneer trim, all of which is believed to be highly original”. They add: “It is an honest automobile that looks exactly like what it is: a Rolls-Royce that has been owned and used for enthusiastic touring all over the world by the same owner for the last four decades”.

Aside from working on Dr. No (1962), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967) and Diamonds Are Forever (1971), double Oscar winner Sir Ken’s career has encompassed credits numbering The IPCRESS File (1965), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), Barry Lyndon (197) and The Madness of King George (1994). He also designed the famous car for the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) and received the Art Directors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002.

RM Sotheby’s have set a guide price of £175,000 to £200,000 ($267,000 to $305,000 or €239,000 to €273,000) for the car. It will be offered by auction at their annual Battersea sale, which commences at 6pm tonight, 7^th September 2015.

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