Michael Caine’s Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow Sells at Auction

There’s not much that’s more quintessentially British than the fantastical image of a Rolls-Royce effortlessly cruising down a country road in the autumn, leaves swirling up around the wheels as they turn. Place this image in the heart of the swinging sixties and we have a moment.

Ok, I might be getting a little carried away here, but then imagine that pristine Rolls was carrying another iconic and cool Brit, Michael Caine. Well, one lucky soul now has the ability to re-enact a little bit of British nostalgia following the recent sale of Caine’s very own Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow for an equally cool £135,000 at an H & H Classics auction. Cheshire-based H & H Classics is a highly esteemed classic car and motorcycle auction house that can proudly boast that it has been in continuous business longer than any UK or European equivalent since 1993.

The 1968 2-door Drophead Coupé Silver Shadow was the first car that Sir Michael Caine CBE was to ever buy and one of only 506 that were ever made. Then a humble pre-honours actor, bursting onto the scene with roles in classic movies such as Zulu in 1964 and Gambit, Caine bought the Rolls – if legend has it – on a bit of a whim while between movies. The actor had by now begun to establish himself as a household name and while considered meagre now, he had earned himself £4,000 for Zulu. The legend that follows makes a nice story; Michael Caine with nothing much to do, writes a shopping which reads ‘milk, bread, newspaper, cigarettes, Rolls-Royce’. I hope it’s true.

Caine planned to buy the Silver Shadow from the esteemed Jack Barclay showroom in Berkeley Square but was allegedly ushered out of the showroom as a bit of a ne’er do well – clearly selling a Rolls-Royce left one with little time to fit in a stint at the movies. Moving on to HA Fox in Dover Street in Mayfair, Caine was fortunate enough to find a vehicle in the showroom that screenwriter Terence Rattigan had planned on buying then cancelled. Still unable to drive, Caine bought the car (and presumably the rest of what was on his shopping list) in May 1968, only to find that the premiums for an L-plate Rolls were, not surprisingly, through the roof. And so began the decades of a chauffeur-driven Caine. Rumour has it that it took until 1883 before Caine would eventually take and pass his driving test at age 50, going on to enjoy a 20-year stint behind the wheel before stopping at the age of 70, and presumably going back to being driven once again.

Caine’s Rolls was hand-crafted by Mulliner Parker Ward and featured an OHV 6230cc V8 engine plus automatic transmission. Naturally, the interior was a feast of opulence with expensive leather and wood veneers along with deep plush carpets. The Drophead Coupé Silver Shadow would have cost the young Michael Caine around £10,511 (without extras).

The Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow would go on to be bought from Caine by Jack Leach, who Caine knew from frequent visits to Leach’s famous Gasworks restaurant which tended to cater to music stars of the likes of The Rolling Stones and movie stars such as Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Leach remained in London and kept and used the car right up until his death in 2013. Since then, the Rolls has undergone a full and expensive restoration which has included a full engine overhaul, retrim and respray. The new owner is certainly getting a driver rather than a museum piece.

The car itself featured in a 1969 documentary called Candid Caine: A Self Portrait of Michael Caine. Speaking of the purchase and lavish spending during the sixties, Caine was to say that he was, ‘the original bourgeois nightmare – a cockney with intelligence and a million dollars.’

Images: handh.co.uk