Kenny Jones (b. 1948), drummer for The Small Faces, The Faces and The Who, sold the Rolls-Royce to Greek composer Vangelis (1993-2016), best remembered today for his Chariots of Fire and Blade Runner scores.
The car is an early example of the owner-driver car that Rolls-Royce started making in the 1960s. Before this “they were built as bankers cars for captains of industry,” H&H Classics’ Martin van der Zeeuw tells ATG. “Then in the 1960s, when society is changing, Rolls Royce had to go with the flow and that was the idea of this car.”
The car was designed by the Norwegian stylist Vilhelm Koren and features the straight-through wing line and cut-back wheelarches first tested on Bentleys – always a sportier model.
“This car was definitely more attractive to a new type of clientele such as musicians and actors. It meant a new clientele for RR,” van der Zeeuw adds.
The car also features a cocktail cabinet under the dashboard with crystal glasses and carafe as well as an electrically operated aerial, electric windows and a radio.
Jones bought it second-hand from an owner in London in 1965 and had it re-sprayed blue (from its original ‘Regal Red’) in the ‘80s before selling it to Vangelis in 1993. It is thought that the composer drove it rarely if at all.
The sale takes place on March 29 at IWM Duxford in Cambridgeshire.
