Rolls-Royce One-Off

Information

This car was designed as a Perspex top saloon and was built for Gulbenkian’s time on the Cote d’Azur, with air conditioning installed and a television fitted in the rear compartment, so his guests were both cooled and entertained simultaneously. It was also fitted with his signature speedometer in the rear part of the cabin, so he could keep an eye on his chauffeurs driving.
The car was sold by Gulbenkian in the early 1960’s and then featured in the 1964 movie Les Félins which starred Hollywood legends Jane Fonda and Alain Delon.
In the late 1960’s it was sold to Monsieur René Gourdon of Nice, who repainted the car bright yellow and placed the car in the centre of his nightclub, where it remained for almost forty years becoming the centre piece of his establishment and a place to sit and enjoy a cocktail.
In 2004 it was discovered, verified and then purchased by Frank Dale and removed from its long-term location with a wall needing to be knocked down to get access to the car.
The job of restoring it then began over several years, with paint, chrome, mechanicals and a re-trim all carried out, returning the car somewhere near to its original appearance.
It was then sold by Frank Dale to a collector who kept his cars in central London.