Ken's Korner: Most expensive Rolls Royce ever sells for $7.1M

Ken’s Korner: Most expensive Rolls Royce ever sells for $7.1M – The Journal of Antiques and Collectibles – September 2012

A 1912 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost – also known as The Corgi, for a line of toys modeled after the car – has sold for $7.1 million at Bonhams auction house’s Goodwill Festival of Speed on June 29 in London, making it the most expensive Rolls Royce ever sold at auction. The buyer wished to remain anonymous. The car was sold by the heirs of its late American owner, John Quinn. Bonhams reports two determined bidders slugged it out for the car, driving the final hammer price way beyond the pre-sale estimate of $3 million.
First manufactured in 1906, the Silver Ghost had a 40/50hp engine and was capable of reaching speeds of 60 miles per hour and got about 15 miles to the gallon. The car sold had the headlights, carriage lights, rear lights and inflatable tires all intact. It was first purchased in 1912 by John M. Stephens for $1,500, and was driven by him as his personal luxury car (or Pullman Limousine). Remarkably, many of the models were converted to ambulances during World War I. Bonhams will sell a classic Mercedes-Benz in September.

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