This week’s offering from the Frank Dale vault is an unusual car to say the least, that has led a very colourful life. Chassis No LELW74 has rarely been referred to as “beautiful” and is more often described as an oddity, but it tells an interesting story, one that comes in several chapters. 

It was originally designed and built by Hooper for Mr Nubar Gulbenkian, who was a tremendously wealthy, larger than life character with an extravagant lifestyle that few could compare to. He was known to keep permanent suites at some of London’s finest hotels, and he regularly indulged in his passion for Rolls-Royce motor cars with custom-built, one-off bodies. By the mid 1950’s he had already commissioned his favourite coachbuilders Hooper to design and build him several Silver Wraiths of varying beauty, including a stylish Sedanca de Ville and the unusual (and often described as hideous) Pantechnicon (Google it, you won’t believe your eyes)

Chassis No LELW74 was designed as a Perspex top saloon and was built for Gulbenkian’s time on the Cote d’Azur, with air conditioning installed and a television fitted in the rear compartment, so his guests were both cooled and entertained simultaneously. It was also fitted with his signature speedometer in the rear part of the cabin, so he could keep an eye on his chauffeurs driving. 

The car was sold by Gulbenkian in the early 1960’s and then featured in the 1964 movie Les Félins which starred Hollywood legends Jane Fonda and Alain Delon.

In the late 1960’s it was sold to its third owner, Monsieur René Gourdon of Nice, who repainted the car bright yellow and placed the car in the centre of his nightclub, where it remained for almost forty years becoming the centre piece of his establishment and a place to sit and enjoy a cocktail.

In 2004 it was discovered, verified and then purchased by Frank Dale and removed from its long-term location with a wall needing to be knocked down to get access to the car. 

The job of restoring it then began over several years, with paint, chrome, mechanicals and a re-trim all carried out, returning the car somewhere near to its original appearance. The major issue was the original Perspex top which had cracked whilst in the ownership of Monsieur Gourdon, so a replacement had to be made. Finding a company capable of doing so was challenging but ultimately successful.

It was then sold by Frank Dale to a collector who kept his cars in central London. I remember delivering it on a dark winter’s afternoon, to the Intercontinental Hotel on Park Lane, driving it through west London with the Lalique mascot illuminated. It caused quite a stir to say the least.

An imposing Rolls-Royce motor car which has had many interesting chapters in its life, with perhaps a few more yet to be written.