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Rolls-Royce built 374 Phantom VIs between 1968 and 1990, and almost all of them wore the same stately Mulliner Park Ward coachwork. This one did not. A 1971 Phantom VI with custom Frua bodywork is live on Bring a Trailer through Friday, October 23 at 2:00 p.m. ET, and it has a better backstory than most cars that sell for ten times as much. Bidding sat at $2,077 on Thursday morning. Check the listing for the current number.
A Rolls-Royce That Took 22 Years to Finish
The car started life in 1971 as a commission from British property developer Robert "Bobby" Buchanan-Michaelson, who wanted a Phantom bodied by Pietro Frua in Turin. Frua designed a four-door all-weather cabriolet, but the build dragged. In 1977, the unfinished project went to American Rolls-Royce collector James Leake, and Frua produced new drawings for the body. Then Pietro Frua died in 1983 with the car still not done.
Somebody kept the project alive anyway. The listing says Royle Cars of Durham, England, completed the work, and the finished car appeared at the 1993 Geneva Motor Show, 22 years after it was started. Gooding and RM Sotheby's, which both offered it at auction in the last decade, describe it as the final Phantom VI completed for a customer. Only two Phantom VIs ever received true Frua coachwork. The other was a two-door cabriolet delivered in 1973.
What Is Actually for Sale
This is a big machine at roughly 21 feet long. Power comes from the 6.2-liter V8 with twin SU carburetors, linked to a four-speed automatic, and the odometer shows 292 miles. The paint is Claret with cream pinstriping, topped by a red three-position soft top that can be set up in sedanca de ville, landaulet or convertible configurations. Retractable B-pillars make that trick possible.
The cabin is where the money went. Both the front and rear compartments are trimmed in champagne Connolly leather, with burl walnut and sterling silver inlays on the dash, doors and console. Behind a power-operated divider window, rear passengers get jump seats, writing trays, a cocktail cabinet and a period TV and VCR. The seller reports April 2026 service that included a new battery, new bias-ply tires and a rebuilt brake master cylinder. It is offered on dealer consignment out of San Diego with a clean Oregon title.
The Auction Record, and What We Could Not Confirm
This car has been on the block before. It did not sell at Gooding's Pebble Beach sale in 2016, where it carried an $800,000 to $1.2 million estimate, then sold for $385,000 at RM Sotheby's Monterey in 2017. It was shown at the 2024 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, though it did not place in the Frua class. Bring a Trailer's listing history shows a May 2026 attempt that was bid to $251,160. Today's $2,077 bid is the early-auction starting point, not a market price.
One claim deserves caution. The seller says the car sold new for 2.1 million pounds, a record at the time for a new car. We could not find that figure in the independent sources we checked, so treat it as the seller's claim and not established history.
If You Like This One
Motorious has followed the Phantom VI for a while, from a 1970 car once owned by Engelbert Humperdinck to London's ceremonial 1973 Phantom VI that went fully electric. If Frua's coachwork is what caught your eye, take a look at the 1969 AC 428 by Frua, a one-of-four 1953 Nardi 750 with Frua bodywork, or the Frua-bodied Chevy Camaro Europo Hurst. For another reminder that custom coachbuilding never really went away, see the Rolls-Royce Sweptail.
Auction details, bids and end times can change, so confirm everything on the Bring a Trailer listing before bidding.
