By the mid-1960s, the art of the coachbuilt car was not exactly the ‘cutting edge’ of automotive design, but the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III still forged itself a strong place in the Crewe manufacturer’s catalogue. Its exceptionally robust cruciform-braced box section chassis supported a two-door saloon body created by HJ Mulliner Park Ward Ltd to Norwegian Vilhelm Koren’s design. Its ‘straight-through’ wings and ‘cut-back’ wheel arches gave the car a sleek, modern feel and the twin headlamps, positioned at a slightly slanted angle, provided a very distinctive look that earned it the ‘Chinese Eye’ moniker. Just 101 of the two-door drophead coupes were built to order for wealthy clients by Mulliner Park Ward, in addition to a number of two-door saloons. Mechanically identical to the Bentley S3 Continental, the ride and handling provided serious road presence though independent coil and wishbone front suspension, a leaf-sprung semi-floating back axle (complete with hypoid bevel final drive), hydraulic shock absorbers (adjustable at the rear), power steering and servo-assisted drum brakes. Powered by a 6230cc OHV V8 mated to four-speed automatic transmission, it also had the benefit of near 120mph performance.

Even though it was the world’s most expensive Convertible when new with a price tag far in excess of Ferrari’s 250GT SWB California Spyder (or later 275 GTB/4 NART Spider), demand for the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III Mulliner Park Ward Drophead Coupe comfortably outstripped supply. Each of the forty-nine, right-hand drive examples bodied to Design Number 2045 took some six months to complete and, patience not always being a virtue among the uber rich, it was comparatively common for cars to change hands at least once before the ‘end user’ actually took delivery. The order for chassis SHS349C was originally placed by the infamous disc jockey Jimmy Saville. However, it seems uncertain that he ever sat behind the wheel (albeit he was photographed with a white MPW soft-top bearing the number plate ‘JS 954’ around the same time). According to its accompanying paperwork, the Rolls-Royce was initially road registered as ‘EVN 734C’ on January 23rd 1965.

However, it was whilst bearing the number plate ‘KPK 386C’ that the Silver Cloud III became famous as the automotive star of the 1966 motion picture, ‘Blow Up’. Owned by one of the film’s co-producers, Pierre Rouve, at the time (who is also thought to have been its first true custodian), the four-seater was filmed being driven through a cornucopia of London’s streets – showcasing everything from squalor to splendour – by Thomas, the main protagonist. Reputedly modelled on David Bailey and Terence Donovan, the lead character accidentally photographs what may or may not be evidence of a murder prompting all manner of angst. Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, ‘Blow Up’ garnered two Oscar nominations and won the Palme d’Or at the 1967 Cannes International Festival. The critic Arthur Knight went as far as to claim that it was “as important and seminal a film as Citizen Kane, Open City and Hiroshima, Mon Amour – perhaps even more so”. It certainly had a profound effect on David Hemmings, the actor playing Thomas, who reputedly took to sleeping in the Rolls-Royce to protect it. A prank played by the props department whereby they simulated an engine blow-up had previously failed to amuse either Antonioni or Rouve!

Finished in Dark Blue with Light Grey leather during filming, the Silver Cloud III is understood to have migrated overseas thereafter. Issued with a series of interesting number plates since returning to these shores including: ‘1 HUC’, ‘KS 1’ and ‘150 XKE’, the Drophead Coupe is said to have been thoroughly gone through by renowned marque specialist P&A Wood shortly before entering the current ownership in 2007. Domiciled in Porto for much of the past eighteen years as part of an impressive collection, chassis SHS349C remains something of a celebrity. Invited to attend the 2018 Goodwood Revival where it graced the March Motor Works display and the 2024 Salon Prive Concours d’Elegance, the four-seater was the subject of a flattering article by Marin Buckley in Classic & Sportscar magazine earlier this year. Mr Buckley commenting thus: “Fast corners are swept around with little body roll and the light steering has genuine feel, castoring back beautifully, so you can place the car accurately and delicately, with minimal concentration and effort. It begins to feel quite compact, and you can see how our protagonist would have soon become used to threading it through the London thoroughfares and back streets. The brakes are magnificent, and the third-gear hold on the Hydramatic ’box adds interest to driving on twisty roads, where speed is gathered sweetly and silently”.

Any Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III Mulliner Park Ward Drophead Coupe is a special car but only chassis SHS349C can claim to have had such an important role in a 1960s’ cinematic masterpiece.