1962 Rolls-Royce II Drophead Coupé Adaptation by H.J Mulliner

For sale by auction on Saturday 12 March 2016 with Historics at Brooklands. Brooklands Motor Racing Circuit. Weybridge. Surrey. Call 01753 639170
Introduced in 1959. the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II set a new
standard for luxury cars. For the first time ever. a Rolls-Royce
was powered by a V8 engine and the chassis and suspension were
significantly updated from the original Silver Cloud. Although the
new Silver Cloud offered a host of innovations. in the traditional
sense. ever-conservative Rolls-Royce still implemented a ladder
frame chassis that allowed for one-off. coach built bodywork.

Unexpectedly. the factory did not offer an open version of their
standard saloon body and customers who desired the ultimate in
top-down motoring had to commission a coachbuilder to create a
custom body on the new Rolls-Royce chassis. Perhaps the most
exquisite Silver Cloud II of all was the Mulliner Drophead Coupé. a
delightful open body and amongst the most elegant post-war bodies
created for Rolls-Royce. design number 7504. The car was known as
an 'Adaptation' and it was created using a factory standard steel
saloon body that had been modified into a convertible by removing
the steel top. fitting two doors in place of the usual four and
adding a modified chromed waistline moulding. So extensive were
Mulliner's modifications that the resulting car was. in its every
detail. essentially a fully custom body and indeed the cars were
available with the same range of bespoke options available to any
Rolls-Royce client - that is to say. anything the buyer
desired.



This fine example. chassis LSAE 281. was delivered new to Albert
Stevenson of Long Beach. California. on 3rd August 1962 via
well-known main agents Peter Satouri Motors in Los Angeles. br/>California. The car was specified from new with an electric hood. br/>aerial and windows. In addition it had Sundym glass. seatbelts and. br/>most unusually. twin cocktail cabinets fitted to the rear
compartment. Sadly Mr. Stevenson passed away some six months later
and the car was sold to a Mr. Alhadeff who used it as daily
transport for several years. When he died in 1968. his wife kept
the car using it mainly for special occasions and she continued to
keep the car fully serviced and maintained at the local main agents
over the next twelve years. Lee Alhadeff. their daughter. inherited
the car from her mother in 1980 at which time the car had covered
40. 00 miles from new. Lee Alhadeff then moved to Honolulu. Hawaii
and the Rolls Royce followed. Without far to travel on the island
the mileage remained low. the car only being used sparingly for
special occasions. During the 15 years spent on Hawaii. only a
further 12. 00 miles was added to the odometer and after 36 years
in the family. the car had covered just 52. 70 miles in
total.

It was at this point. the car left the family for the UK where
it was first registered on these shores in June 1997 and underwent
a restoration with Rolls-Royce specialists. P. J Fischer Classic
Automobiles of Putney. London in 1998 totalling over £26. 00
(excluding vat). More recently in June 2014. a further £7. 09 was
spent at Rolls-Royce specialist Michael Hibberd with the invoices
included in the history file.

In July 1998. the car passed to Felix Dennis. one of three
editors of Oz Magazine who went on to become a hugely successful
magazine and book publisher; by 2013 his Dennis Group was putting
out 70 magazines. plus digital magazines. magbooks. websites. apps
and mobile sites and he became one of the most wealthy men in the
UK. The car is supplied with a V5 document. 13 old MoT test
certificates as well as a current certificate with no advisories
valid until February 2017. a file of bills and receipts including
the aforementioned invoices from P. J Fischer as well a service
booklet and handbook. copies of the build sheets and a typed
history of the car. With only 106 models of design number 7504
built. this Cloud II is a hugely desirable and rare coach built
Rolls-Royce for the discerning collector.

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