Only 15 or 16 of the cars were made during their initial production run, with other owners including members of European royal families and fellow singer Sir Tom Jones
File photo of Engelbert Humperdinck outside his home in Leicestershire(Image: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire)
A Rolls-Royce Phantom VI once owned by Engelbert Humperdinck is to be auctioned ahead of the singer’s 90th birthday next month.
The 1970 car is one of 14 collected by the singer through the years. It will go to auction from April 10 to April 26 on Dutch online site Catawiki, where it is expected to fetch between 165,000 and 185,000 euros (£143,685 to £161,102).
Arjan Rietveld, Catawiki’s expert on classic cars, said: “With just 374 produced over more than two decades, the Phantom VI is already a rare sight.
“When you combine that with nearly 40 years of ownership by a globally famous musician like Engelbert Humperdinck, you’re looking at a car that sits at the intersection of automotive history and pop culture.”
The car comes with documentation confirming previous ownership by the singer, who was born in India and grew up in Leicester, including a UK registration certificate issued in his name.
Humperdinck owned the car, which has a blue velvet interior, for four decades until 2009, and it is now located in Slovakia.
Only 15 or 16 of the cars were made during their initial production run, with other owners including members of European royal families and fellow singer Sir Tom Jones.
Humperdinck, whose real name is Arnold Dorsey, began his career in the 1950s and has had eight UK Top 10 singles and two UK No 1 albums.
He is best known for songs such as Release Me, The Last Waltz and There Goes My Everything.
The singer, below, who divides his time between homes in Great Glen and Los Angeles, has seen a revival in popularity in recent years, thanks to his 1968 song A Man Without Love featuring in an episode of BBC drama Call The Midwife and Marvel series Moon Knight, the latter of which prompted a TikTok trend.
Last year, Engelbert said he was planning to keep touring the world “for as long as God keeps my voice in shape”.
READ MORE: When Leicester’s Engelbert Humperdinck served up a pint at his mansion in 1990
