Oldest Surviving Rolls-Royce Sets 2 New Records

In our blog dated November 12th, we were very excited to report that Bonhams, one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques, was chosen to sell world's oldest surviving Rolls-Royce at their annual Olympia Motoring Sale in London on December 3rd, 2007.

They were expecting bids in excess of one million pounds when it went under the hammer at Bonhams’ London sale, but we’re not sure anyone thought the excess would be an additional 2.5 million pounds and break two sales records. "They opened the bidding at one million and it soared from there. In the end it came down to a battle between two telephone bidders," a spokeswoman for auction house Bonhams said.

The BBC UK reported that the world’s oldest surviving Rolls-Royce sold to a private British collector who paid 3.5 million pounds ($7.22 million) for it at auction. This price makes the veteran vehicle not only the most ever paid for a pre-1905 car, but also the most for a Rolls-Royce. The previous record for a veteran car was the 1.76 million pounds paid for an 1884 De Dion Bouton, while that for a Rolls-Royce was the 1.48 million pounds paid for a 1912 Silver Ghost Double Pullman Limousine.

Tim Schofield, head of UK motor sales for Bonhams, told the Reuters news agency "The purchaser could get in and drive it away. You would just need to tickle the carburetor, make sure the battery has a bit of life in it, remove the sleeve from the starter handle and give it a couple of turns."

The BBC UK has a great video showing the oldest Rolls-Royce on display prior to the auction - you can view it here.

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Photo Credit: ©Bonham