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The iconic “Green Goddess”—a 1960 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II that was owned by Elizabeth Taylor for almost two decades—will hit the auction block next month at the Pierre Hotel in New York, where Taylor lived with her then-husband Eddie Fisher when she bought the car, and where it was originally delivered to from England.
The Rolls-Royce will be on display under the hotel’s awning from July 23 until the auction day, Aug. 6, according to Guernsey's, the New York-based auction house handling the sale.
The auction is “without reserve,” meaning there is no minimum bid, and the car will sell to the highest bidder, says Arlan Ettinger, president of Guernsey's.
“Anything can happen at such an auction, which makes it more exciting,” he says.
Taylor had the Rolls-Royce custom-made in 1960, one year after she and Fisher married. The car features left-hand drive and “smoke green” exteriors, and leather seats to match the actress’s favorite color dresses, according to Ettinger.
The car was shipped from England to the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan, where the couple lived, right before Christmas. In 1962, when Taylor traveled to Rome to film Cleopatra, the car was shipped there to be with them.
Taylor fell in love with her co-star Richard Burton while filming the movie, which was the biggest budgeted movie production up to that point. Upon divorcing Fisher in 1964, Taylor kept the Rolls-Royce and it stayed at her Beverly Hills home, according to Ettinger.
The car was featured on the covers of many magazines, including Vanity Fair.
Taylor advertised the sale of the Rolls-Royce in The Wall Street Journal circa 1979. And Karl Kardel from Oakland, Calif., a fan of Elizabeth Taylor and a Rolls-Royce devotee, purchased the car for an undisclosed amount.
Kardel, who was not immediately available for comment, has kept the car for the past 40 years, “maintaining it properly and beautifully,” according to Ettinger.
“The collectible car had only two owners in 60 years, that’s remarkable,” he says.
In addition to its provenance of ownership, the Rolls-Royce is a rare find because the company only made 20 convertibles yearly, out of its production of 2,000, Ettinger says.
A green Gianni Versace silk evening dress, which sold from the collection of Elizabeth Taylor at Christie’s for US$1,375 in 2011, will be displayed alongside the matching Rolls-Royce, Ettinger says.
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