A car collector from the United States just bought a unique Rolls-Royce 40/50 HP from Volkswagen AG. According to anonymous sources, the transaction amount was as high as $75,000,000 USD.
The car with the chassis no. 60551 was built in a single copy for Claude Johnson, then the managing director of Rolls-Royce, in 1907. Johnson nicknamed his silver-tinted ride ‘The Silver Ghost’ and often compared it to a yacht to emphasize the smoothness of its movement.
Reportedly, the Rolls-Royce 40/50 HP was incredibly sturdy and reliable. Straight after the assembly, the company put it to an endurance test which it passed effortlessly. It has traveled 1,200 kilometers with no major breakdowns, save for the occasional flat tire and a single case of choked fuel valve.
Some sources claim the rarity went for $61,000,000, while others say the collector paid $75,000,000 for it. In any case, this is more than the $48,000,000 of the Ferrari 250 GTO sold at an auction a year ago and just five million bucks short of the $80,000,000 of yet another GTO sold in a private transaction some time before.