A 1974 Rolls-Royce, once owned by Queen singer Freddie Mercury, fetched 286,250 pounds (more than 325,000 euros) at an auction in London on Saturday. The money will go to a Ukrainian foundation that is committed to building a new hospital in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.
It is the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow. The British pop idol bought the limousine in 1979, but allowed himself to be driven around in it because he did not have a driver’s license. After Mercury’s death in 1991, the Rolls came into the possession of his sister Kashmira, who sold the car in 2013. She got just over 85,000 euros for it at the time.
Its last known owner was Ukrainian comedian, actor and singer Andriy Danilko, better known by his stage name Verka Serduchka. He actually wanted to donate the car to the Queen museum or make it part of a major exhibition in Ukraine, but eventually decided to make the Rolls available for a good cause in his own country.
RM Sotheby’s, which charged no fees and commission, has not disclosed who the buyer is. The auction house had previously estimated the proceeds at 20,000 to 30,000 pounds.
