1965 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud III Drophead
Rolls Royce has been the embodiment of quality, reliability and the greatest and most outstanding engineering in both the automotive and aircraft worlds since the beginning of the 20th century. With the introduction of the Silver Ghost in 1906, Rolls Royce was a good 20 years ahead of the rest of the world in terms of its design and set the standard for the rest of the automotive industry, even until present day. The Silver Cloud was the first car completely manufactured at the Rolls Royce factory with factory built bodies, the days of chassis only were gone. An instant success, the Cloud was made to incredible quality standards and purchased by many of the most important people in the world. 1959 saw the straight six cylinder engine replaced by the alloy V8 in the Cloud II which was a great improvement in terms of power, but the Cloud III, introduced in 1963, is the last and most refined version of the Cloud series, easily identifiable with the iconic four headlight configuration.
Most Clouds were produced as standard steel sedans, but some were supplied on a long wheelbase and some were ordered as dropheads. The dropheads were not built in house and were not offered by the factory, but were conversions of sedans into a dropped configuration by outside coach builders, the majority done by H.J. Mulliner and James Young at a very high cost, most purchased by famous people such as Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor and Sergio Franchi.
The car offered here is an absolutely beautiful and late 1965 Cloud III drophead, serial #LCGL11, that was originally supplied to dealer Charles H. Hornburgh Motor cars in Los Angeles, California as a long wheelbase saloon, one of only 27 long wheelbase chassis built in the last Cloud III series. Hornburgh sold it to its first private owner, famous movie writer and producer Mr. Joseph L. Hoffman of Santa Monica, California. Three years later in 1968, Mr. Hoffman would sell the car to the famous singer Sergio Franchi who was very popular at the time. For example he was a guest on the Ed Sullivan show 24 times throughout his career! Sergio would keep the car for the remainder of his life. In 1988 Sergio decided that he wanted a drophead for his wife, Eva, so he had LCGL11 sent to England to be converted into a drophead by J.S. Mackenzie Coachwork in London. John Mackenzie (owner of J.S. Mackenzie Coachworks) was responsible as one of the head craftsman for the initial drophead conversions in the 1960’s at H.J Mulliner, Park Ward. LCGL11 was completed by Mackenzie in 1990, shortly before Sergios passing, at a cost of $90,000 at that time, an impressive amount. This is the only conversion done on a long wheelbase chassis (4 inches longer than standard) and honestly a much more pleasing configuration in terms of its proportions. Also long wheelbase cars, although only 4 inches longer, were exceptionally more expensive than standard cars so it makes sense that none were used for this purpose. No expense was spared on this car by Sergio, the power top mechanism is incredibly well built, the beautiful leather interior was done in the most expensive cream leather available and the quality is of the same or better than Mulliner which makes sense as it was done by the same hand.
After Sergios passing in 1990, his wife, Eva, kept the car in her garage and drove it very sparingly in the last 35 years, showing just 35,000 original miles on the odometer. Eva explained that Sergio chose the colors and appointments of the interior and exterior himself finished in a beautiful light cream hue. Upon our acquisition of the car from Eva, we serviced the entire fuel and brake systems as well as installation of brand new radial whitewall tires. This car is also equipped with factory air conditioning. Mechanically it runs and drives beautifully. This is an outstanding Rolls Royce Cloud III drophead, the only on the expensive long wheelbase chassis, with the highest quality no expense spared work performed and wonderful provenance. If you are looking for an outstanding and special Cloud III, it doesn’t get much better. Complete with extensive records pertaining to the work performed by John Mackenzie, even complete with Sergios vanity license plate “SRF 1” and his last Nevada license plates registered to this car. Contact us today for more information.
Rolls Royce has been the embodiment of quality, reliability and the greatest and most outstanding engineering in both the automotive and aircraft worlds since the beginning of the 20th century. With the introduction of the Silver Ghost in 1906, Rolls Royce was a good 20 years ahead of the rest of the world in terms of its design and set the standard for the rest of the automotive industry, even until present day. The Silver Cloud was the first car completely manufactured at the Rolls Royce factory with factory built bodies, the days of chassis only were gone. An instant success, the Cloud was made to incredible quality standards and purchased by many of the most important people in the world. 1959 saw the straight six cylinder engine replaced by the alloy V8 in the Cloud II which was a great improvement in terms of power, but the Cloud III, introduced in 1963, is the last and most refined version of the Cloud series, easily identifiable with the iconic four headlight configuration.
Most Clouds were produced as standard steel sedans, but some were supplied on a long wheelbase and some were ordered as dropheads. The dropheads were not built in house and were not offered by the factory, but were conversions of sedans into a dropped configuration by outside coach builders, the majority done by H.J. Mulliner and James Young at a very high cost, most purchased by famous people such as Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor and Sergio Franchi.
The car offered here is an absolutely beautiful and late 1965 Cloud III drophead, serial #LCGL11, that was originally supplied to dealer Charles H. Hornburgh Motor cars in Los Angeles, California as a long wheelbase saloon, one of only 27 long wheelbase chassis built in the last Cloud III series. Hornburgh sold it to its first private owner, famous movie writer and producer Mr. Joseph L. Hoffman of Santa Monica, California. Three years later in 1968, Mr. Hoffman would sell the car to the famous singer Sergio Franchi who was very popular at the time. For example he was a guest on the Ed Sullivan show 24 times throughout his career! Sergio would keep the car for the remainder of his life. In 1988 Sergio decided that he wanted a drophead for his wife, Eva, so he had LCGL11 sent to England to be converted into a drophead by J.S. Mackenzie Coachwork in London. John Mackenzie (owner of J.S. Mackenzie Coachworks) was responsible as one of the head craftsman for the initial drophead conversions in the 1960’s at H.J Mulliner, Park Ward. LCGL11 was completed by Mackenzie in 1990, shortly before Sergios passing, at a cost of $90,000 at that time, an impressive amount. This is the only conversion done on a long wheelbase chassis (4 inches longer than standard) and honestly a much more pleasing configuration in terms of its proportions. Also long wheelbase cars, although only 4 inches longer, were exceptionally more expensive than standard cars so it makes sense that none were used for this purpose. No expense was spared on this car by Sergio, the power top mechanism is incredibly well built, the beautiful leather interior was done in the most expensive cream leather available and the quality is of the same or better than Mulliner which makes sense as it was done by the same hand.
After Sergios passing in 1990, his wife, Eva, kept the car in her garage and drove it very sparingly in the last 35 years, showing just 35,000 original miles on the odometer. Eva explained that Sergio chose the colors and appointments of the interior and exterior himself finished in a beautiful light cream hue. Upon our acquisition of the car from Eva, we serviced the entire fuel and brake systems as well as installation of brand new radial whitewall tires. This car is also equipped with factory air conditioning. Mechanically it runs and drives beautifully. This is an outstanding Rolls Royce Cloud III drophead, the only on the expensive long wheelbase chassis, with the highest quality no expense spared work performed and wonderful provenance. If you are looking for an outstanding and special Cloud III, it doesn’t get much better. Complete with extensive records pertaining to the work performed by John Mackenzie, even complete with Sergios vanity license plate “SRF 1” and his last Nevada license plates registered to this car. Contact us today for more information.
Rolls Royce has been the embodiment of quality, reliability and the greatest and most outstanding engineering in both the automotive and aircraft worlds since the beginning of the 20th century. With the introduction of the Silver Ghost in 1906, Rolls Royce was a good 20 years ahead of the rest of the world in terms of its design and set the standard for the rest of the automotive industry, even until present day. The Silver Cloud was the first car completely manufactured at the Rolls Royce factory with factory built bodies, the days of chassis only were gone. An instant success, the Cloud was made to incredible quality standards and purchased by many of the most important people in the world. 1959 saw the straight six cylinder engine replaced by the alloy V8 in the Cloud II which was a great improvement in terms of power, but the Cloud III, introduced in 1963, is the last and most refined version of the Cloud series, easily identifiable with the iconic four headlight configuration.
Most Clouds were produced as standard steel sedans, but some were supplied on a long wheelbase and some were ordered as dropheads. The dropheads were not built in house and were not offered by the factory, but were conversions of sedans into a dropped configuration by outside coach builders, the majority done by H.J. Mulliner and James Young at a very high cost, most purchased by famous people such as Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor and Sergio Franchi.
The car offered here is an absolutely beautiful and late 1965 Cloud III drophead, serial #LCGL11, that was originally supplied to dealer Charles H. Hornburgh Motor cars in Los Angeles, California as a long wheelbase saloon, one of only 27 long wheelbase chassis built in the last Cloud III series. Hornburgh sold it to its first private owner, famous movie writer and producer Mr. Joseph L. Hoffman of Santa Monica, California. Three years later in 1968, Mr. Hoffman would sell the car to the famous singer Sergio Franchi who was very popular at the time. For example he was a guest on the Ed Sullivan show 24 times throughout his career! Sergio would keep the car for the remainder of his life. In 1988 Sergio decided that he wanted a drophead for his wife, Eva, so he had LCGL11 sent to England to be converted into a drophead by J.S. Mackenzie Coachwork in London. John Mackenzie (owner of J.S. Mackenzie Coachworks) was responsible as one of the head craftsman for the initial drophead conversions in the 1960’s at H.J Mulliner, Park Ward. LCGL11 was completed by Mackenzie in 1990, shortly before Sergios passing, at a cost of $90,000 at that time, an impressive amount. This is the only conversion done on a long wheelbase chassis (4 inches longer than standard) and honestly a much more pleasing configuration in terms of its proportions. Also long wheelbase cars, although only 4 inches longer, were exceptionally more expensive than standard cars so it makes sense that none were used for this purpose. No expense was spared on this car by Sergio, the power top mechanism is incredibly well built, the beautiful leather interior was done in the most expensive cream leather available and the quality is of the same or better than Mulliner which makes sense as it was done by the same hand.
After Sergios passing in 1990, his wife, Eva, kept the car in her garage and drove it very sparingly in the last 35 years, showing just 35,000 original miles on the odometer. Eva explained that Sergio chose the colors and appointments of the interior and exterior himself finished in a beautiful light cream hue. Upon our acquisition of the car from Eva, we serviced the entire fuel and brake systems as well as installation of brand new radial whitewall tires. This car is also equipped with factory air conditioning. Mechanically it runs and drives beautifully. This is an outstanding Rolls Royce Cloud III drophead, the only on the expensive long wheelbase chassis, with the highest quality no expense spared work performed and wonderful provenance. If you are looking for an outstanding and special Cloud III, it doesn’t get much better. Complete with extensive records pertaining to the work performed by John Mackenzie, even complete with Sergios vanity license plate “SRF 1” and his last Nevada license plates registered to this car. Contact us today for more information.