All Entries in the "ROLLS-ROYCE" Category
1965 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud “Chinese Eye” Drophead Coupe. And it’s for sale.
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img Cooper Classics Collection ::: Rolls-Royce Chinese Eye Convertible
IN the (swinging) Sixties, horn rimmed glasses were all the rage.
So, too, were fins, rockets, and a zest for the unusual. Elvis, anyone? Rolls-Royce wasn’t immune to experimentation that stuck an impertinent tongue out at the staid status quo. Hence – the 1965 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud “Chinese Eye” Continental Drophead Coupé.
Powered by the exceptionally long-lived V8 (powered the Bentley Arnage) and shifted by a four-speed autobox, the Chinese Eye weighed in at a rotund 4,558 lbs, every bit as stout as the Silver Cloud III saloon.
That said, in every way that the sedan’s rolling fenders conveyed a billowing ball gown, the Chinese Eye seemed a trim, lean skirt that cut tight across the lady’s legs – like some Oleg Cassini number that Jackie O. would wear.
Mulliner Park’s straight edged body gave a lightness to the DHC while the diagonal sets of sealed beam Lucases and tri-tail lamp clusters added that jolly bit of sport.
Chassis No. LCSC35B on offer by NY’s Cooper Classics Collection, lived its entire life as an East Coast ride; calling Park Ave and Easthampton home. Eighty-six thousand miles seem just right for a collectible in near-original condition that’s eclipsed the half-century mark.
That the terribly un-PC “Chinese Eye” moniker does little to restrain the $195,000 ask, stands as testament to the rare Silver Cloud’s enduring appeal. At least for some, that is. Not everyone’s a fan of horn rimmed shades.
[Linked: CCC]
No Limits: Rolls-Royce Yas Eagle Edition
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img ADC via Autoblog ::: 2010 Rolls-Royce Phantom Yas Eagle
ROLLS-ROYCE has a storied history of bowing to the customer’s every wish. It’s part of a beautifully old school way of conducting business – namely, the customer is always right. And with no limits set to the imagination, for some that means there’s, well, no boundaries to taste either.
[Linked: Autoblog]
eBay Watch: Rolls-Royce Corniche
By Gunnar Heinrich :: IMG :: eBay Motors
STRAIGHTLINE motors is, I have it on good word, an exotic epicenter of Texan magnitude.
Based in greater Dallas, their inventory extends from Bentley and Rolls-Royce through to Mercedes-Benz and Porsche of all vintages. So, it’s not surprising that the auto group should include a mint 2001 Rolls-Royce Corniche convertible with a mere 18,000 miles on the pampered clock.
Fitted with chrome Bentley rims (original to the Continentals), this Roller is, like the drink, in black on tan. The last of the Crewe built Royce convertibles, at more than 6,000 pounds the Corniche is an exquisite barge and, by virtue of its graceful stature, a truly elegant car.
[Linked: eBay]
Keeping It “Low Key”: New S550 In Lieu of a Phantom?
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG RR NA and MBUSA
APPEARANCES, it would appear, still matter.
And in such times when the public’s hatred toward banks takes on visceral tones, those loved ones at home who benefit from such banking largesse (read: bonuses) are keen on moderating their former flamboyance.
Take, for example this tasty tidbit from McClatchy that hit the web today:
With many formerly high-flying residents still out of work, there are signs that the financial crisis has chastened Greenwich, but they’re subtle.
“Modesty is in, for the first time in a while,” said Ron Arbusman, who runs Viggi, one of about a dozen jewelry shops along the avenue.
One of Arbusman’s clients buys his wife a Rolls-Royce every few years, and she was angling for a new one. “But he did not want to be flashy,” Arbusman said. The woman settled for a Mercedes S550 sedan, which starts at $91,600
“Settling” never sounded so good.
Rolls-Royce Opens Kuala Lumpur Showroom, Brings Worldwide Dealership Count to 83
By Gunnar Heinrich
AN interesting bit of news recently from Rolls-Royce.
The company reported last week that they granted their own royal warrant to Quill Motor Cars of Kuala Lumpur to be Royce’s official sales presence in Malaysia.
Asian Tiger economies and all that…
This addition lifts the marque’s global sales force to 83 official dealers. In the US, Rolls-Royce is present in 18 states with 12 dealerships split evenly between California and Florida, alone.
By contrast, divorced other-half Bentley has 40 dealerships in America and continues to enjoy its own presence in Kuala Lumpur.
On YouTube: Curbside With The Rolls-Royce Ghost
By Gunnar Heinrich | YouTube
IT’S challenging to really know how a car will look “on-the-street” without, well, on-the-street shots or seeing it first in the flesh. In it’s unaltered conceptual form, yours has seen the Ghost in the confines of the IAC center in New York.
Not curbside.
And sure, we’ve all had a good gander at the Rolls-Royce Ghost, in all it’s silken splendor through the super polished lenses of paid-for videography and photography, but not nearly enough in terms of real-world takes on Rolls’ latest chariot sans test-mule cladding.
Well thanks to this video-picture montage of a Rolls-Royce Ghost (replete with glum looking driver) in London, we can now say that we have a better idea of how the car looks from the bystander’s P.O.V.
Quick verdict: in external grace, Ian Cameron’s Ghost has carried forward the best aspects of the Phantom while softening some of the edges. In presence, I’d say the W221 Mercedes-Benz S-Class (0:17) is now a true rival for street gravitas.
Lasting First Impression: Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph
Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph 1998-2002
By Gunnar Heinrich
SEEMS like yesterday.
In point of fact, it was at least 11 years ago when I first spied the Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph. An early June day in New York, the sun shone on the spring green trees that tickle the townhouses lining 64th and Madison.
My perch, the sill of a tall French casement window on the fourth floor provided visibility for the street’s length. I was waiting and my fascination for cars passed the time.
Once in a while, a Town Car from some consulate would pass by. There were any number of yellow Crown Vic taxis. The odd Suburban. And then…
The light caught this chariot; shimmering. Its movement -majesterial. That paint was so rich that I couldn’t initially make out the color! It turned out that the coat was silver.
Having read a Forbes review previously, I knew instantly what I was watching: it was the new Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph.
The graceful Silver Seraph was something of a big deal for Royce aficionados. It ended the Silver Spur’s marvelous, if seemingly interminable reign. The Seraph also marked the start of a beautiful relationship with BMW and featured a smarter 0-60 time thanks to the E38 gen. 750iL’s 5.4 liter, V12.
For a few brief months the spotlight would be on the Silver Seraph. And then Bentley won hearts and minds with the nearly identical Arnage.
With the advent of VW buying the marque in 1999 and managing both labels, for the first time in decades, marketing funds were lavished on Bentley at Rolls’ expense.
And without so much as an epitaph, the Silver Seraph faded into Rolls-Royce history. Little more than fifteen hundred units sold.
Some time later, perhaps the winter of 2005, I spied another Silver Seraph parked anonymously behind an old Accord somewhere along 6th near Bleecker . This car’s white coat and gold (gag!) Spirit of Ecstasy was covered in NY grit. A somber sighting, to be sure.
But I promised myself that like so many other great cars that tarnish with time and neglect, I wouldn’t let this one poor example affect the golden cast of my original memory. And so, it hasn’t.
What graceful charitos, those Silver Seraphs.
