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Still, the rocker was inordinately proud and fond of his car, the first Rolls that he owned and one that he kept for 12 years. According to news
reports when Mercury took delivery, he was driven to a location where record contracts were being signed and reportedly insisted that all
the members of Queen get in the car and sign the documents whilst sitting inside the Silver Shadow. Although the original owner of the car
in 1974 was not identified, after Mercury's death, his sister owned the car after Mercury's death and sold it on in 2003. It was sold, again, in
2013 at auction and at the time of the Sotheby's London event, the Silver Shadow was owned by Andriy Danylko?s (Verka Serduchka) , a
Above and right :
Ukrainian celebrity. Put on the block with no reserve, Danylko said that the proceeds from the car would be directed to the Superhuman
Father Christmas came
Center, a medical program and charity that offers support and medical treatment to the victims of the war in Ukraine. The intent is to build a
early for a Ukrainian
new hospital in Lviv to aid victims in that country.
charity when Freddy
The Silver Shadow featured the original Silver Chalice factory paint with a pale gray leather interior, blue carpeting, and just over 62,000 Mercury's 1974 Silver
miles on the clock . The car was fitted with a 6,750 cc V-8 engine. The catalog reported that the Rolls was in "excellent condition", having been Shadow exceeded
stored for a lengthy period of time and would need recommended recommissioning before being put back on the road. According to Sotheby's expectations at public
the sales price was £286,250 ($325,681 at today's exchange rate, the equivalent of 11 million in Ukrainian hryvnia. auction in London on
November 5th. Images
Mercury was not the only person associated with Queen that was apparently besotted with a car. Jonathan Harris, the band's sound man,
via Sotheby's. .
was reportedly so proud of his TR4 that Queen's drummer wrote and sang a song about the car. Titled I'm in Love with My Car on the band's
1975 album A Night at the Opera. In a companion video Mercury was at the piano as Taylor played the drums and sang the song with black
and white videos of classic cars flashing by. Go to Youtube, find the video, look closely and you'll see an Alvis passing through at speed, twice.

The Beet le, Not Just a Favorit e Christ mas Ornament

According to Andy Wakeman, writing for the Hagerty Price Guide, the benchmark for values in the Classic Car
fancy, it was " the indefatigable VW Beetle that posted gains" in the most recent guide while other components of
the Affordable Car index lost ground. According to Wakeman, for the past 24 months the collector car market has
been on an upward charge, good news for sellers but putting previously affordable vintage cars out of the reach of
average buyers. That trend may have peaked as data gathered by Hagerty's for the past three months, while
showing some cars still on the rise, also notes a noticeable cooling off in the market.
The Price Guide uses seven indices to arrive at its projections: Blue Chip, British, Ferrari, Muscle Car, Postwar
German, 1950s American and Affordable. While six of the indices experienced growth, with four achieving an all
time high rating, 1950s American cars remained flat. The affordable indices remains the most consistent gainer.
Wakeman wrote, " Some cars are staying within reach? like the 1949 Buick Roadmaster Sedanette, or the 1972
Triumph TR6? while others are still climbing. Playing ?what if? here, had Beetles not posted such substantial gains,
the Affordable Index could very well have seen its first loss since 2011. The takeaway here is that the lower
echelons of the market may be softening. Caveat: It is unreasonable to expect these cars to take a big enough step
back to erase the regret many of us feel at not buying a 240Z, Beetle, or a TR6 back when they were dirt cheap. But
maybe some sanity is returning into the market for the collector of more ordinary means. "
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