Royal family’s 1953 Land Rover will be up for auction

MANILA: Silverstone Auctions will be offering another royal vehicle at their upcoming sale, Race Retro, on February 25, 2023. The latest royal car sold by Silverstone was Princess Diana's black Ford Escort RS Turbo, which fetched a record-breaking £730,000 (approximately P49 million) at auction.

This royal 4x4 was manufactured in late 1953 and registered under the royal number sequence NXN 1 in early 1954. This historically significant vehicle will go up in auction in excellent shape. Despite having a production chassis number, this Land Rover is considered a pre-production build. Distinctive features include doors, body, roof, bumpers, and twin-rear doors. On July 3, 1953, the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II had the Land Rover sent to her beloved Balmoral Estate from Stratstone, London. NXN 1 was exclusively used by Their Majesties Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother along with HRH Prince Phillip, The Duke of Edinburgh, and Prince Charles, The Duke of Rothesay until 1966 when it was bought and re-registered LXC 894D by the vendor in the nearby town of Ballater.

“It’s not often that a vehicle with such impressive royal provenance like this is offered publicly for sale. Its special features and royal connections make it exceptionally interesting. This Land Rover would doubtless have been used extensively on the Balmoral estate where we know the royals loved to picnic. It would have been a familiar and much-loved part of Her Majesty and Prince Philip’s private lives,” Silverstone Auctions Sales Director stated.

The vendor stored the Land Rover in their family garage for a while. It was rumored that  King Charles III (then the Prince of Wales) recognized the special Land Rover and paid and encouraged its meticulous restoration as a gift. His Royal Highness seemed pleased with the outcome in the photo taken with the Land Rover during its competition.

Because of its notable appearance on BBC's Antiques Roadshow and its leadership of the Land Rover parade at the Queen's Jubilee Pageant last year, it is likely one of the most photographed Land Rovers in the world.

Silverstone Auctions, founded in 2011, is a premier, specialized auction house for the sale of classic cars, modern supercars, all types of competition cars, modern and vintage motorcycles, as well as automotive memorabilia. In 2020, Silverstone Auctions became the UK's market leader in the classic car auction sector.

Photos from Silverstone Auctions

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