Is this the ultimate collectors item? Dave Stewart’s Rolls Royce used to promote Honest was sold at auction last December

Last December, the Rolls Royce owned by Dave Stewart and once decorated to promote his Spiritual Cowboys album Honest, was sold at auction for just under £11,500.

Sadly it is now classed as a restoration project, and had obviously been painted over at some stage.

Here’s what the auction catalogue said about the car:

Sale Date: 4th December 2013
Lot Number: 26
1956 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud by James Young
1 of just 24 James Young bodied cars

Sold For £11,480

Reg Number:    AOT698A
Chassis Number:    SWA52
Engine Number:    SA-26
Cc:    4887
Body Colour:    White
Trim Colour:    White
MOT ExpiryDate:    Exempt

James Young produced just 24 Sport Saloons based on the Silver Cloud I, their elegant all-alloy bodies and personalised interiors commanding a fifty percent premium over the factory offering. For the past twenty years, chassis SWA52 has been the property of an international rock star. Little used upon acquisition, his subsequent relocation to Los Angeles put pay to its planned comprehensive refurbishment. Left in limbo, the Rolls-Royce has since lain idle in a field under a tarpaulin. According to the vendor, the coachwork remains remarkably corrosion free, but the paintwork has perhaps inevitably not faired quite so well. Having sweated under the cover, it has lifted in some areas – especially the roof, where most of it has disappeared altogether. No attempt has been made to start the engine and this delightfully unmolested motorcar, displaying just 23,812 unwarranted miles, is now more than ready for the long promised restoration it deserves.

PLEASE NOTE: Since the catalogue went to press we have learnt that chassis number SWA52 was commissioned by Jack Barclay for display at the 1955 Earls Court Motor Show. Only the second Silver Cloud to be clothed by James Young to design number SC10, the Sports Saloon was originally finished in two-tone Titanine Grey with Off White leather upholstery. Issued with its factory guarantee on 30th January 1956 and first registered to S. McCrudden Esq of The Watermill, Crawfordsburn, Co Down, the Rolls-Royce had returned to the mainland by the early 1960s. Entering the ownership of musician, songwriter, record producer and Eurythmics’ co-founder David A. Stewart a few decades later, the Silver Cloud was repainted with a flowering rose motif that – whether consciously or unconsciously – echoed the psychedelic pattern chosen by John Lennon for his Phantom V. According to the DVLA’s online database the Sports Saloon’s most recent road fund licence expired on February 1st 1992. A potentially rewarding restoration project that boasts both Earls Court Motor Show and international rock star provenance, this very rare James Young-bodied Silver Cloud is offered for sale with RREC copy chassis cards and sundry paperwork.

Dave Stewart -Rolls-RoyceSilverCloudbyJamesYoung.pdf