Category Archives: rolls-royce

2022 Villa d’Este Concours d’Elegance Mega Gallery | The show in pictures

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Continue reading 2022 Villa d'Este Concours d'Elegance Mega Gallery | The show in pictures

2022 Villa d'Este Concours d'Elegance Mega Gallery | The show in pictures originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 23 May 2022 11:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Senna director working on biopic about Rolls-Royce founders

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The story of Rolls-Royce could eventually arrive on the silver screen in a film called Silver Ghost from the director of the documentary Senna.

Continue reading Senna director working on biopic about Rolls-Royce founders

Senna director working on biopic about Rolls-Royce founders originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 Jan 2016 19:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Car companies used to cook up sales with recipe books

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Ford cookbook

The evolution of automotive marketing has undergone a number of strange phases. Few, though, match the strangeness of the 1930s to 1950s, when automotive marketers turned to cookbooks as a means of promoting their vehicles. Yes, cookbooks. We can't make this stuff up, folks.

This bizarre trend led to General Motors distributing cookbooks under the guise of its then-subsidiary Frigidaire. Ford, meanwhile, offered a compilation of recipes from Ford Credit Employees (shown above). The cookbook-craze wasn't limited to domestic manufacturers, though. As The Detroit News discovered, both Rolls-Royce and Volkswagen got in on the trend, although not until the 1970s.

The News has the full story on this strange bit of marketing. Head over and take a look.

Car companies used to cook up sales with recipe books originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 08 Aug 2014 08:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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eBay Find of the Day: Andy Warhol’s 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

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1974 rolls-royce silver shadow

Andy Warhol is one of the most recognizable artists of the 20th Century. With hits like his famous Campbell's soup cans and Marilyn Monroe portraits, he is likely the first name you think of in association with the pop art movement. He isn't primarily known for being an auto enthusiast,of course, but maybe that's not the whole story - there was his BMW M1 art car, after all, and automobiles were frequently the subject of his artwork. Now, Warhol's 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow is up for auction on eBay Motors.

According the seller, Warhol never had a driver's license, but he still wanted to own a luxurious car. It's claimed that he occasionally had his famous friends, including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, chauffeur him around in the Rolls. Following Warhol's death in 1987, the car was auctioned for $77,000, and since then it has only been sold to one additional owner.

The Rolls is painted Walnut and Mason's Black, which appears closer to a shade of brown in these photos, with a black leather interior. The engine is the company's' popular 6.75-liter V8 with a three-speed automatic transmission, and there are just 56,000 miles on this luxurious classic. The seller is including copies of original purchase order from Rolls-Royce and the title to Warhol Enterprises to prove the famous artist's ownership of the car, plus all of its service records.

For a Rolls-Royce with as much history as this car claims to possess, it doesn't seem to be inspiring much bidding. As of this writing, there are no bids with the price at $89,000. Too bad Warhol didn't paint it in a similar colorful style as the BMW. Maybe that would make it more popular...

eBay Find of the Day: Andy Warhol's 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 25 May 2014 15:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is your brain predisposed to make you love Rolls-Royce?

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1973 Rolls-Royce Corniche

XCAR has taken a look at what could very well be one of the most quintessential British cars ever built: the 1973 Rolls-Royce Corniche. The question at hand is whether or not expensive luxury items like artisan foods, designer clothing and yes, high-end automobiles are worth their monetary cost. Do they bring some undefined additional value to the table over their low-buck counterparts, or are they simply an excellent way to part a fool from his dollar bills? While the video below can't comment on four-course meals or $400 jeans, our valiant host does have a word or two on the joy a Rolls-Royce can bring to your life.

That's even true of a model like the '73 Corniche. Built during one of the darker days of the company's history, the convertible was designed and manufactured by an automaker on the verge of collapse. Still, it manages to hold on to that essential spirit of luxury so crucial to the Rolls-Royce brand. Check out the video below to see what we mean.

Continue reading Is your brain predisposed to make you love Rolls-Royce?

Is your brain predisposed to make you love Rolls-Royce? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is your brain predisposed to make you love Rolls-Royce?

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1973 Rolls-Royce Corniche

XCAR has taken a look at what could very well be one of the most quintessential British cars ever built: the 1973 Rolls-Royce Corniche. The question at hand is whether or not expensive luxury items like artisan foods, designer clothing and yes, high-end automobiles are worth their monetary cost. Do they bring some undefined additional value to the table over their low-buck counterparts, or are they simply an excellent way to part a fool from his dollar bills? While the video below can't comment on four-course meals or $400 jeans, our valiant host does have a word or two on the joy a Rolls-Royce can bring to your life.

That's even true of a model like the '73 Corniche. Built during one of the darker days of the company's history, the convertible was designed and manufactured by an automaker on the verge of collapse. Still, it manages to hold on to that essential spirit of luxury so crucial to the Rolls-Royce brand. Check out the video below to see what we mean.

Continue reading Is your brain predisposed to make you love Rolls-Royce?

Is your brain predisposed to make you love Rolls-Royce? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rolls-Royce Alpine Trial Centenary Collection celebrates century-old Austrian race

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Among the harvest of premieres at the Shanghai Motor Show was a special-edition Rolls-Royce Ghost to celebrate the 1913 Austrian Alpine Trials. Four Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts entered the race a century ago, and in completing the 1,820-mile challenge flawlessly earned the sobriquet "The Best Car in the World." The new Ghosts commemorating the feat represent two firsts for the brand: Rolls-Royce has never created a bespoke homage to one of its own cars, and it has never released a car with a black grille.

Those two features, as well as blue paint and black wheels, are in tribute to James Radley's privateer entry in that 1913 race that drove alongside the three factory teams. Other special features include the coachline (pinstripe) that evokes the four cars from the 20th-century race, and inside, a color-matched headliner, a clock with the rally stages and times, and topographical inlays on the front fascia and rear picnic tables.

The 20-Ghost Club will be reenacting the event this year, the parade including Radley's 1913 car. It kicks off in Vienna, Austria on June 14. For the time being you can read the press release below and check out the high-res photos above.

Continue reading Rolls-Royce Alpine Trial Centenary Collection celebrates century-old Austrian race

Rolls-Royce Alpine Trial Centenary Collection celebrates century-old Austrian race originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Grey Poupon’s Pardon Me Lost Footage ad airs during Oscars

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Grey Poupon

Those of you that took our tip and tuned in for last night's Academy Awards may have caught the latest iteration of the famous Grey Poupon commercials, featuring a pair of Rolls-Royce sedans and their condiment-loving stewards. The update to the 1981 commercial was only shown in part on television, however, as the mustard company directed viewers to its website to see the entirety of the Lost Footage spot. Of course if you didn't bother then, you can just scroll down to see the full-length two-minute commercial here.

As you're viewing, note that the Grey Poupon marketers did not, it would appear, get official sanction from Rolls-Royce this time around. While the Rollers in the commercial have all sorts of James Bond-like accouterments, they don't appear to have the official Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornaments, for example, and they have restyled lights and grilles. Check out the new spot below, and see if it stacks up to the iconic Pardon Me original.

Continue reading Grey Poupon's Pardon Me Lost Footage ad airs during Oscars

Grey Poupon's Pardon Me Lost Footage ad airs during Oscars originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Man drives Rolls-Royce for 78 years then makes museum donation to ensure its preservation

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Mr. Allen Swift died in 2005 at the impressive age of 102, but his automotive story is even more remarkable. Not only is the gentleman credited with owning a Rolls-Royce automobile longer than anyone else in the world, but he had the forethought and funds to ensure its future preservation after his death.

In 1928, while living in Springfield, Massachusetts, Swift's father gave him a 1928 Rolls-Royce Piccadilly P1 Roadster as a graduation present (Springfield and Rolls-Royce have a history - from 1920 to 1931, the British automaker built 2,944 vehicles in the city as part of its attempt to establish a US plant). The young man was passionate about his green-over-green softtop convertible, not only driving it on a regular basis, but maintaining it meticulously over the decades (the two door-received a complete body-off restoration and engine rebuild in 1988).

Rolls-Royce acknowledged Mr. Swift in 1994, awarding him a crystal Spirit of Ecstasy award for his length of ownership. By 2005, Swift had logged more than 170,000 miles on its analog odometer and he was recognized as the oldest living person to have owned a car from new. He passed away that year.

But the story doesn't end there. Swift left the Lyman & Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History a $1 million gift to create a new exhibition to care for his roadster and tell the story of Rolls-Royce manufacturing in the Massachusetts town. Today, Mr. Swift's beautiful Piccadilly P1 Roadster is prominently displayed in the museum's Transportation Collection.

Man drives Rolls-Royce for 78 years then makes museum donation to ensure its preservation originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 27 Dec 2012 09:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ugur Sahin returns with Rolls Royce Jonckheere Aerodynamic Coupe II design

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The "Round Door" Rolls-Royce Phantom I Aerodynamic Coupe (inset) is a magnificent black beast of a car (and you can see it at the Petersen Automotive Museum for a limited time) as well as a mystery: designed by the Jonckheere Works in Belgium in 1935, all records for the one-of-a-kind coupe were destroyed in World War II, so no one knows who designed it or who commissioned it. What remains of the original coachbuilding company now makes bodies for cars and buses, and has asked designer Ugur Sahin to reinterpret the most fabulous car from its history.

We've written about Sahin often before, recently about his Corvette-based Anandi being shown at Top Marques Monaco and going into production. For a man who favors long hoods and short bodies, this particular Rolls-Royce couldn't be better. Sahin says the word "Respect" guided his lines for the 77-year-old car, the most apparent changes being the front fender treatment, the headlights dropping into the fenders, and the serious downsizing of the fin at the rear. Sahin says that there are talks with potential investors about building a one-off.

You can find out a little more about it in the press release below, and check out the gallery above of high-res images for every angle.

Continue reading Ugur Sahin returns with Rolls Royce Jonckheere Aerodynamic Coupe II design

Ugur Sahin returns with Rolls Royce Jonckheere Aerodynamic Coupe II design originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 15 Dec 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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