PAST IMPERFECT:The Rolls-Royce collections of Middle Eastern aristocracy would put Scrooge McDuck to shame, writes Bob Montgomery
THE LATE Shah of Iran had an astonishing collection of Rolls-Royce cars which included an example of virtually every model of Rolls-Royce ever made. Amongst the collection’s numbers were a Phantom I,II, III, IV, V and VI, a Twenty, a 20/25, 25/30, a Corniche and the first left-hand drive Camargue.
As if that wasn’t enough, in October 1971, the Shah commemorated the 2,500th anniversary of the Persian Empire by throwing an extraordinarily lavish party. The guest list included nine kings, five queens, 16 presidents, two sultans, an emperor (Haile Selassie), Marshal Tito, Princess Grace and Prince Rainier.
The whole affair was held on a 160-acre site filled with 61 air-conditioned Persian carpeted tents supplied by Maxim’s of Paris. One hundred and sixty-five chefs prepared 7,700lb of meat, washed down with 25,000 bottles of vintage wine.
And guess what make of cars ferried the party-goers from tent to tent? Yes, you’re right – they weren’t Fords!
As a footnote to the Shah’s excesses, when his regime was overthrown in 1979, his Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and one of his Phantom Vs were in Britain for servicing by Rolls-Royce and became the subject of a bitter legal dispute between the Shah’s estate and the new ruling Ayatollahs of Iran, who had a clear appreciation of fine car building.
Not to be outdone by the Shah, in 1984 the Sultan of Brunei threw what The Times described as “the party to end all parties”. The occasion was to celebrate Brunei’s independence and no less than 4,000 guests were invited.
What set this bash apart from every other were the 110 Rolls-Royce cars from the Sultan’s personal stable of cars which were provided to ferry guests around during the event.
And the Sultan? No ordinary Rolls-Royce for him. Instead, he had created for his own use a long-wheelbase, six-door Rolls-Royce – the only one of its kind in the world. Actually, he ordered two – one for his own use and one for his wife at the then (1984) staggering price of £140,000 each, which was roughly the equivalent price for each Rolls-Royce of 40 of the then current Austin Metros!
These icons of excess were 20 feet long, weighed 2.5 tons each and were built in just 12 weeks by Robert Jankel Design of Weybridge, who converted them from standard Silver Spur limousines. Each car included two separate air-conditioning systems, colour television, a video recorder and a two-way communication system so that the bulletproof glass between the driver and passengers didn’t have to be lowered.
By way of complete contrast, only one American president, Woodrow Wilson, is known to have owned a Rolls-Royce. President Wilson’s Rolls-Royce was a gift from friends shortly before his death. This most un-American of cars was a handsome Oxford Tourer in the President’s Princeton colours.