1962 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II 'Adaptation' Drophead Coupé (coachwork by H.J. Mulliner)
- Engine
- 6.2L OHV V8, twin side-draft carburetors, ~220 bhp
- Colour
- Crème over tan leather interior
A left-hand-drive 1962 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II Drophead Coupe with coachwork by H.J. Mulliner, one of just 74 built in that configuration and originally delivered to the United States. Ordered by a Cincinnati family who parted with it after only a few hundred miles, the car subsequently achieved a notable quarter-mile run at an NHRA-sanctioned drag strip in the early 1960s before passing through several American owners and eventually being restored in Europe to a crème-over-tan livery. It later entered a Belgian collection and participated in the 2007 Classic Car Marathon.
Ownership
- 2023-01-27Auction saleSold US$205,000
- 1962-02-22 →Factory deliveryMrs. Allyne W DuBoisfull documentation
Original purchaser, wife of Cincinnati property developer Charles DuBois; ordered the car in Midnight Blue over Beige. Parted with it after very few months and under 500 miles due to the absence of rear power windows, trading it to a Cadillac dealer for a new Eldorado Biarritz Convertible.
- → 1973-09-01Acquisition unknownPatrick Murlowskipartial documentation
Minneapolis, Minnesota-based owner who kept the car through the mid-1960s until at least the early 1970s, after which it was relocated to Long Island, New York.
- 1973-09-01 →Acquisition unknownBayville, New York ownerpartial documentation
Car moved to Bayville on the North Shore of Long Island; subsequent ownership transfer to Europe is noted but details are absent.
- → 2008-02-01Acquisition unknownThierry Dehaeckpartial documentation
Belgian car enthusiast and real estate developer; had the car repainted and retrimmed in crème over tan leather and actively used it for touring, including a classic car event in 2007.
- 2008-02-01 →Private saleCurrent vendorpartial documentation
Acquired at 43,131 miles and added only about eleven miles over roughly thirteen years of ownership, keeping the car in essentially static storage.
- Date unknownPrivate saleCincinnati-area Cadillac dealershippartial documentation
Accepted the virtually new Rolls as a trade-in and was left unable to move it, with the car sitting on the used-car lot for roughly eighteen months before arranging an informal sales arrangement with a college student.
- Date unknownAcquisition unknownJack Dillardpartial documentation
College student enlisted by the dealership to generate buyer interest; drove the car and famously ran it at a local drag strip. His account of this period was later published in a 2017 enthusiast magazine.
Competition
- 2007Classic Car Marathon VI
Car was driven in the event by Belgian owner Thierry Dehaeck as part of regular touring use during his ownership.
- —NHRA / Southern Ohio Timing AssociationBeechmont Dragway quarter-mileDriver: Jack DillardVictory in class D Gas Automatic with an unofficial run of 17.54 seconds at 67 mph
Entry was nearly blocked because Rolls-Royce declined to publish a horsepower figure; officials eventually assigned a classification allowing the car to compete against late-1950s and early-1960s American production vehicles.
Maintenance & restoration
- —Restoration
Complete refinish to crème exterior and retrim to tan leather interior carried out while the car was in European ownership; scope of mechanical work during this restoration is not described.
Work took place after the car left North America but before it entered the Belgian collection; precise date and location are unknown.
- —Service
General mechanical recommissioning advised given the car's extended low-mileage dormancy of over a decade under current ownership.
Noted as a recommendation in the catalogue rather than work already completed.
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