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For Sale: 1979 Rolls-Royce Corniche in Volo, Illinois
One of the most infamous cars on the planet, the Rolls Royce owned
and driven by one of Hollywood's biggest Diva's, Mrs. Zsa Zsa
Gabor. If you were alive in 1989, you couldn't escape the story...
You know the one, the one that involved a Beverly Hills officer and
the palm of Zsa Zsa Gabor's hand.
June 14th,1989, Zsa Zsa Gabor was pulled over in Beverly Hills for
expired tags, she became quite frustrated when the officer didn't
recognize her Hollywood status and provided her with no special
treatment. This lead to Zsa Zsa slapping the officer and ultimately
to her arrest. The story made headlines around the world. Zsa Zsa
took full advantage of the incident booking interviews including an
appearance on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Phil Donahue and
more. The incident even made a cameo on the big screen in the
blockbuster movie Naked Gun.
A 1979 Rolls-Royce Corniche convertible, the ultimate status symbol
of its time. Bought new by Zsa Zsa Gabor but what really makes the
car special is how long she owned it. Typically the rich and famous
do not keep their cars for any substantial period of time. Almost
all of the car's miles were put on by her, only about 300 have been
put on after she sold it. It is still titled in her name and is
wearing her personalized plate. Zsa Zsa knew that it was a good
time to sell her car because of all the publicity it was getting.
Taking full advantage of the situation she decided to send it to
auction which she attended and represented the car personally. It
sold for top dollar at the time to a very delighted collector of
celebrity owned cars. The car was proudly displayed in his
collection from 1990 until 2012. We acquired the car from him and
put it on display in our museum. The car has been a huge attraction
to our museum gaining attention from the public, media and even Zsa
Zsa herself when she learned the car was on display in our museum.
It's time to rotate the car for new exhibits and let another
caretaker enjoy it.
Picture #4 depiction: "Zsa Zsa Gabor sits in her Rolls-Royce
Corniche convertible as she leaves court at a lunch break of her
cop-slapping trial on Sept. 28, 1989, in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Gabor threatened to call police on a mob of reporters who
surrounded the car as she awaited a jury verdict. "Don't scratch
the car," she told the media mob."
Arguably the ultimate 1970s and 1980s status symbol of wealth and
success, the Rolls-Royce Corniche was a car sought after by many
but one only the fortunate few could afford. Designed and intended
to be enjoyed by their lucky owners in warm-weather climates, each
Corniche took four months to be hand built, with two weeks spent on
the convertible top alone. With a list price of well over $100,000
each car utilized only the finest materials Britain had to offer,
including Wilton wool carpeting, Connolly leather, and carefully
selected burl walnut veneer. First introduced in 1971, the Corniche
remained in production for nearly 25 years and over this time,
these cars were periodically updated to keep them both modern and
relevant. In 1977 new rack-and-pinion steering, alloy and rubber
bumpers which replaced the earlier chrome bumpers, along with an
oil cooler, aluminum radiator, and bi-level air conditioning
system. This car is a very well reserved example. It lived a plush
life in Beverly Hills and has only 49,300 actual miles. other than
maintenance it is all original. The cars shows really well. No rust
or accident history. Overall it runs and functions very well. It
has been on display in climate control environment since 1990, it
may need some service to be a regular driver. We did rebuild the
carbs, set the timing and replaced the fuel sending unit. Our
mechanic recently put a few miles on it and said it drove fine.
These are not considered an outdated car, they are now nostalgic
collectables going up in value. Especially the ones that have
something special about them which this one certainly does!
ZSA ZSA personalized plates
Her car phone
Lambs wool rugs
Dual zone climate
Power accessories
Connolly leather
Copy of original title
Vehicle Details
1979 Rolls-Royce Corniche
Listing ID:CC-1767498
Price:$79,998
Location:Volo, Illinois
Year:1979
Make:Rolls-Royce
Model:Corniche
Exterior Color:White
Interior Color:Blue
Transmission:Automatic
Odometer:0
Stock Number:20235
VIN:DRK502
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