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Former Princess Diana Rolls-Royce being auctioned for charity [w/video]

While it isn't that uncommon to see cars belonging to celebrities and dignitaries roll across the auction block these days, this car is a little extra special. This particular 1979 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow was the car that Prince Charles and Princess Diana arrived at the White House in during a visit in 1985. As some added trivia, this was also the visit where Princess Di cut a rug with none other than John Travolta.
Volo Auto Museum will be auctioning off this piece of American and British history on November 9th - exactly 27 years from Princess Di's White House visit. According to the auction listing, this armored Silver Shadow was the official car of the UK's embassy, and it has been valued at around $2 million by the Berman Museum of History. The auction will have no reserve with some of the proceeds going to the Children with Cancer UK charity that Princess Diana started in 1988.
Scroll down for more information about this car and its auction as well as a video showing Prince Charles and Princess Diana arriving at the White House in the car back in 1985.

Dubai man shells out $9 million for license plate

An Indian businessman lived up to Dubai's wild reputation last week when he dropped a cool $9 million on a single-digit license plate for his Rolls-Royce. According to the Independent, Balwinder Sahani, an Indian-born property developer living in Dubai, won plate number D5 at a government auction on Saturday, October 29. This isn't the first time Sahani has scored a coveted low-number plate at auction, either. The self-proclaimed 'simple man' spent nearly $7 million dollars on plate O9 at an auction last year for his other Rolls-Royce, and picked up a second, unnamed plate at Saturday's auction for a piddling $272 thousand. Sahani considers the money he spends collecting license plates a form of charity and public service. Dubai has no income tax, and the money spent chasing elite license plates goes directly to Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. "I believe in giving back," Sahani told the Independent. "This city has given me a lot." Single digit license plates are highly sought after as status symbols by the rich and powerful in the UAE, and the lower the number the higher the price. Back in 2008, a businessman named Saeed Al Khouri in Abu Dhabi set a record by paying $14 million for plate number 1. These displays of conspicuous consumption are de rigeur in the Emirates. Earlier this year, a set of gold and diamond encrusted tires certified as " The Most Expensive Tires in the World" by Guinness sold in Dubai for around $600,000 dollars. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: The Independent, FortuneImage Credit: AP Auto News Weird Car News Rolls-Royce license plate dubai

One-off Boat Tail is the tapered tip of Rolls-Royce's coachbuilding iceberg

Rolls-Royce is open to taking additional requests for one-off cars from its wealthiest clients in the coming years. It doesn't plan to make coachbuilt vehicles the norm in order to maintain their exclusivity, however. Rumored to cost nearly $30 million, the Boat Tail (pictured) introduced in May 2021 demonstrated what the BMW-owned British firm is capable of when money is truly no object. It's the product of a four-year development process that presumably cost several million dollars, and it was built at the request of three anonymous clients. It's the first car made since Coachbuild was promoted to a standalone division with the group, and it's very likely not the last. "Our idea is to maybe do one project every second year. Whether it's three cars or one car will hinge very much on the idea of the clients, and also on our appetite for doing it," explained company boss Torsten Muller-Otvos in an interview with British magazine Autocar. He added Rolls-Royce has the luxury to turn down requests it doesn't like. Precisely what will receive the firm's proverbial green light for production hasn't been specified. We're guessing future one-offs will need to adhere to the company's image, so transforming a humble Fiat 500 into a luxury car, Aston Martin Cygnet-style, is probably very low on the firm's list of priorities. Regardless, one-of-a-kind models won't roll out of the Rolls-Royce workshop on a weekly basis. Executives want to keep them "very rare," the CEO added, even if they receive numerous requests. Supply won't necessarily keep up with demand. What comes next depends on what customers request (and are willing to pay for). Rolls-Royce is open to experimenting with different body styles and different powertrain types, including a fully electric system. It's reportedly working on its first electric model, which could be called Silent Shadow when it enters production, and this foundation could be used to make a coachbuilt car if a customer commissions it. "There is no intention to boost any volume, because the intention clearly is to create projects that are significant for the brand's history in 70 or 100 years or so, and that are truly unique pieces. That also fits quite nicely into the heritage of Rolls-Royce with coachbuilding projects in the 1920s and the 1930s," Muller-Otvos concluded. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.