Freddie Mercury-owned Rolls-Royce is going Under the Hammer

Freddie Mercury’s 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow is set to hit the auction block next month. The Queen frontman bought the luxury car in 1979 – despite not having a driving license. It is finished in a “factory-correct color pairing of Silver Chalice over Blue,” according to auction house RM Sotheby’s, and is powered by a 6,750 cc V-8 engine.

Mercury owned the car until his death in 1991 at the age of 45. It’s thought he used it as his “personal chauffeur-driven transport” at the height of his and Queen’s fame. Features include a car phone and a cassette deck. The car, which has a pre-sale estimate of between £20,000 GBP and £30,000 GBP, is being sold with paperwork that has Mercury’s name on it and includes paperwork recorded in the name of Mary Austin — Mercury’s former partner, who assisted the singer with the upkeep of the Rolls-Royce.

A letter from ex-band manager Jim Beach further verifies the car’s celebrity ownership. It reads in part: “We filmed the promo video for ‘We Will Rock You’ in the garden of [drummer] Roger Taylor’s new Surrey mansion … and Freddie upstaged everyone by arriving in his brand-new Roller. “Freddie insisted that we sign all of the (EMI/Elektra) contracts, all of us together, in the back of the Roller because this was the first Rolls he’d ever owned.”

Beach notes that upon Mercury’s death in November 1991, the Silver Shadow continued to be driven by the rockstar’s sister, Kashmira Cooke, who subsequently bought the car from the Freddie Mercury Estate in 2003. The Rolls-Royce was enjoyed for many years by Ms. Cooke and her partner until it was bought at auction by its consigning owner in 2013. Proceeds from the auction, on November 5 in London, will go towards Richard Branson’s supported charity Superhumans Center.

It provides aid for war victims in Ukraine and will be used to fund a new hospital in the Ukrainian city of Lviv. “Buyers should note that this car has been kept in storage for an extended period of time and would benefit from mechanical inspection prior to being driven,” the listing reads. “This car represents a serious piece of history,” said Nick Wiles, car specialist at RM Sotheby’s.