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Some cars take a few months to build. This 1971 Rolls-Royce Phantom VI took 22 years. The Frua-bodied all-weather cabriolet, chassis PRH4643, passed through the hands of a property developer, an American collector, and a Durham coachbuilder before it finally debuted at the 1993 Geneva Motor Show. It is live on Bring a Trailer right now, with the auction scheduled to end on the afternoon of Friday, October 23.
One of only two Phantom VIs bodied by Frua
The Phantom VI arrived in 1968, and just 374 were built, according to the listing. Only two were sent to Pietro Frua in Turin, the stylist better known for Maserati, AC and Glas designs. Frua's work on the AC 428 shows how far that sensibility sits from Crewe's usual taste.
The first car was a two-door cabriolet for a Swiss diplomat, Simon van Kempen. Classic & Sports Car reports it was delivered at the end of 1973 and that van Kempen kept it until 1997, covering more than 300,000 km. This is the second car, and it had a much rougher road to the finish line.
Twenty-two years in the making
According to the Bring a Trailer listing, construction began in 1971 when British real estate developer Robert "Bobby" Buchanan-Michaelson commissioned the car. It was first drawn as a Sedanca de Ville before being revised into an all-weather cabriolet. In 1977 he sold the unfinished build to American collector James Leake. Pietro Frua died in 1983, and the listing says the project later passed to another owner, who hired David A.C. Royle and Co. of Durham, England, to complete it. It was shown at the 1993 Geneva Motor Show as the last Phantom VI delivered to a customer.
The broad outline is backed up independently. RM Sotheby's described the car the same way when it offered it at Monterey in 2017, naming Buchanan-Michaelson and Leake, noting Frua's death, and placing the finished car at Geneva in 1993. RM reported a $385,000 sale. The sources differ on some of the middle chapters. RM says Leake kept the work going with help from Rolls-Royce and new drawings from Frua, while the listing says Leake sold the project on. Anyone serious about bidding should ask the seller for the paper trail.
What you get
The car is about 21 feet long and finished in Claret with cream pinstriping. Power comes from a 6.2-liter V8 with twin SU carburetors, paired with a four-speed automatic. The soft top has three positions and can be set up as a sedanca de ville, landaulet or full convertible, with retractable B-pillars that keep the lines clean when it is open.
The cabin is where this Rolls stops being subtle. Both compartments are trimmed in champagne Connolly leather, with burl walnut capped in sterling silver inlays. The rear compartment has a glass divider, jump seats, writing trays, a crystal decanter set and a cocktail cabinet, plus a television and VCR. The odometer shows just 292 miles, and the listing says the car was shown at the 2024 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. One quirk the seller confirmed in the comments: there are no seat belts, front or rear, and there never were. Another Phantom VI with a famous name attached is the one tied to Engelbert Humperdinck, which went to auction in Europe this spring.
Where the bidding stands
As of Friday morning the high bid was $15,000 with four bids placed, so the real action is still ahead. The same dealer listed the car on Bring a Trailer in May 2026, when bidding reached $251,160. The 2017 RM Sotheby's result gives some context for what collectors have paid for it before. None of that guarantees where this one will land, and the seller will be fielding inspection requests all week.
It is the kind of car that makes you wonder who decides a project is worth 22 years. If you like your Rolls-Royces with a story, Richard Harris once forgot his for 25 years, and if Frua-bodied oddities are your thing, the Frua-bodied Camaro "Europo Hurst" is a good rabbit hole. You can view the full listing and follow the auction on Bring a Trailer.
