Customised Pontiac Bonneville once owned by Roy Rogers to be auctioned complete with a 6-foot wide pair of Texas longhorns and a saddle over its transmission tunnel
There are many unusual lots in the RM Sotheby’s Driven by Disruption sale this week, but one of the most bizarre has to be a 1963 Pontiac Bonneville that was customised by ‘Nudie the Rodeo Tailor’ and later owned by Roy Rogers.
One of eighteen cars custom built by Nudie Cohn for his best clients between 1950 and 1975, the Pontiac on offer is described as “a classic example” of his work. Cohn installed custom tooled leather and decorated the steering wheel, dashboard, and virtually every other surface with silver dollars. A saddle for a third passenger was mounted over the transmission tunnel, between the front bucket seats, and decorated with silver, rhinestone, and an additional 150 silver dollars whilst a six-foot-wide pair of genuine Texas longhorns adorn the front of the vehicle.
Featuring some fourteen guns as decorative art, Roy Rogers purchased the car directly from his favoured tailor and frequently used it for parades and at special occasions at their ranch in Apple Valley, California. It was later retired to the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum and then sold to its current owner – who now offers it as “looking for a new home on the range”.
The Pontiac will be auctioned on the 10th December at Sotheby’s in New York. A guide of £166,000 to £232,000 ($250,000 to $350,000, €231,000 to €324,000) has been set for the car.
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