√Billionaire project car? One-off Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit Convertible up for auction
An icon of ’80s oil-boom extravagance, this yellow-on-yellow customised Silver Spirit four-door convertible has a remarkable history, but does need a little TLC…
Fancy something a little different, but a lot yellow? Bonhams may have just the answer…
Reportedly costing over £200,000 to build in 1986 (A$915k equivalent today), on top of the car’s purchase price, this bright yellow 1984 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit Convertible was built by a famed Italian engineer for a Saudi Arabian customer who wanted to fly under the Rolls-Royce radar by using a 24-carat gold-plated Bentley grille in place of the ‘regular’ Spirit of Ecstacy item.
Subtle.
Commissioned by the Saudi Arabian importer of Rolls-Royce, Al Ajda Motoring, the yellow ragtop was constructed by Autocostruzione SD in Turin, Italy.
Autocostruzione was run by famed Italian coachbuilder and engineer Salvatore Diomante, who is most well known for his involvement in bespoke Italian muscle-car brands of the 1960s and ’70s, Bizzarrini and ISO.
During the 1980s his work included engineering input on the Bugatti EB110 prototype but was primarily focused on ultra-expensive customization jobs.
If you needed a Lamborghini LM002 ‘ute’ or ‘wagon’, he was your best contact. If you’ve seen the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger blockbuster ‘The Running Man’, you’ve seen one of Diomante’s creations by way of the stretched Maserati Quattroporte ‘Allungata’.
He even made a one-off GC8 Subaru Impreza two-door convertible!
You can read a bit more on the encyclopedia of all things awesomely tasteless, 1000sel.com.
The Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit available from the Bonhams Auction was one of four four-door convertible conversions created, but the yellow car was also used as a showpiece for what
Autocostruzione could do.It features a Clarion G80 ‘component’ sound system, all chrome trim elements and switch surrounds (including the door handles) ‘gilded’ in 24-carat gold, and has a tennis-court sized powered yellow soft top.
Speaking of yellow… it’s very yellow.
The paint, the wheels, the roof, the leather seats, the door cards, the inlay of the walnut picnic tables, the roof lining, the boot lining… it’s all yellow.
Time hasn’t been kind to the big Roller either, as it sits low on the rear air suspension (expensive) and shows wear and tear in the custom soft-top (really expensive) and degradation of the gold lilt on the trim (horrendously expensive).
According to the Bonhams listing, the car has traveled under 6,000 miles (around 9500km) in the 35-odd years it has graced this Earth. The listing notes the car is currently in Switzerland, having been acquired from a Dutch dealer in 2009.
With no reserve, but an estimate of €30-40,000 (A$45-60k), we think this represents a bargain opportunity for someone with deep project-car pockets to bring back to its ‘decade of decadence brilliance.
If you like yellow, it would make one hell of a statement parked outside the local coffee shop on a Sunday morning.
The auction runs until 31-March 2022 and at the time of writing, bidding is at a very reasonable €5000.
The post Billionaire project car? One-off Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit Convertible up for auction appeared first on Drive.
Post a Comment for "√Billionaire project car? One-off Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit Convertible up for auction"