Rolls-Royces are built entirely to order and production of the Phantom and its drophead and coupé derivatives has just resumed at a rate of 25 a week after a five-week halt.
Maurice Gatsonides (Independent obituary, 22 December 1998), who drove the car in the 1000km Nürburgring race, said "I was to have the most magnificent car of the whole field, as this Ferrari was bodied by Pininfarina and carried a four-seat drophead coupé with graceful lines, a sure winner at any Concours d'Elegance".
But it looks gorgeous, as both a coupe and a drophead, and that suit is coach-built, more Savile Row than Burton's High Street polyester.
"These are the only cars ever made that overlapped the handmade era and the modern-car era," said Mr. Cory, who brought four cars to the event, including a 1959 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith Limousine and a 1959 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I Drophead Coupe painted deep red, which was originally purchased by the businessman Harry Karl for his wife, Debbie Reynolds, he said.
The police said they seized 6 million New Zealand dollars ($4.8 million) in luxury vehicles, including a Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé and a pink 1959 Cadillac.
Those cars, the Phantom and the Drophead Coupé, have proved quite successful.
The Toronto-based car enthusiast and technology entrepreneur has a new $200,000 Mercedes SLS AMG gullwing, a $420,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe — and for everyday driving, a $90,000 BMW 750Li.
The 1939 Daimler DB18 Drophead Coupe, which Mr. Churchill used during election campaigns in 1944 and 1949, sold for $615,000 in the online auction.
The Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe and Phantom Drophead Coupe are classified by the E.P.A. as compact cars, just like the Honda Civic and Volkswagen Jetta.
The first was a one-year lease for a Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe with embroidered headrests and a brushed steel hood.
Among the cars, whose total value the police estimated at $4.8 million, was a Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe and a pink 1959 Cadillac.
