Record-breaking Rolls Royce fetches almost £5million

A bidding frenzy over a 100-year-old Rolls-Royce has left onlookers stunned and a world record smashed with a car known as the Silver Ghost being sold for almost £5million.

The Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost was put up for auction at Bonhams at the Goodwood Festival of Speed after the previous owner was tragically killed in a road accident. Still said to run almost silently, the vehicle is in immaculate condition, manages about 15 miles to the gallon and can ‘cruise’ at 60mph.

The car has been labelled as ‘one of the finest ever built’ and had two car fanatics battling in a theatrical performance during the drawn-out auction. Bids were being raised by £100,000 a time until the hammer finally went down at the price of £4,705,500, making the car the most expensive Rolls-Royce ever sold at auction.

The car is also known as ‘The Corgi’ after it was reproduced for a toy collection in the 1960s and was initially sold in 1912 for around £1,000 (equating to approximately £93,000 in today’s means).