Gucci Osteria da Massimo, Beverly Hills, Ca., Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, aka Rutherford RollsCoco, aka Malibupom, posing with the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow on a palm tree lined street in Beverly Hills.Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, Beverly Hills, Ca.Interior, Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, Beverly Hills, Ca,Binge Network TV, Host Romi Cortier, When a car’s more than just a car.
This beautifully restored 1976 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow is a rare bird. For starters, the color palette makes the car hard to miss when rolling down the road. While the color scheme isn’t new for Rolls Royce, it is striking and dramatic with the highly contrasting color selection. I’ve seen this color scheme used on Rolls Royces over several decades, and it always makes a statement.
The car has belonged to the same family for over 40 years, having passed from one generation to another. There’s something very special about handing a prized possession from one generation to the next. Having them value it so much that they’re willing to restore it, is a whole new level of respect… because when you’re talking about a vintage Rolls, it won’t be cheap. And you’ll also need to find someone who specializes in that. Fortunately here in Los Angeles, that isn’t a problem.
This car has been featured in two episodes of Artful Living. The first episode, the original 28 minute pilot, is about the mid-century movement, which does include this luxury car from the mid 1970’s. The second episode is a stand alone segment telling the very personal story of this car. You can watch the segment below, or click on this link for BINGE NETWORK TV, to see this and other videos with host Romi Cortier.
If you’re an Instagramer, you can follow the Silver Shadow at @RutherfordRolls, Romi at @RomiCortier, and Artful Living with Romi Cortier at @Artful Living with Romi Cortier.
The Spirit of Ecstasy, 1976 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, Beverly Hills, Ca., Photo Romi Cortier
I was recently asked to car sit a 1976 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow…. say what? Yes, it’s true. She said to me, would you mind car sitting for me, for an entire month… but you must promise to drive it at least once a week. Well, I’ll do my best. Can I take a few photos and maybe some video footage? Sure she said.
During that month I booked up every weekend with activities for this gem. I did a professional photoshoot, a casual shoot with a friend for our social media (seen below), a pro video shoot for our tv pilot Artful Living which took an entire 12 hour day to complete, not to mention the slew of still photos I snapped for this article. I can’t wait to get the video footage to our editors so that I can share more of this cars fascinating history with you.
There’s something so Dynasty-esque about this era of Rolls Royce, especially when driving through the streets of Beverly Hills. If I could tell you the amount of times tourists stopped to take photos and video of us while filming, especially on Rodeo Drive, it was totally surreal. And while we were parked and shooting video at the Beverly Hills Hotel, four different tour busses stopped to take photos and chat us up. Talk about feeling like a movie star, this car is a total head turner.
Lets be honest, it’s all about the dynamic paint job on this car, it’s so gangster. It looks the same way that It did when it rolled off the showroom floor in 1976. The car has been fully restored, including its paint job and upholstery. Only 2,000 Rolls Royce’s were built in 1976. The gentlemen at Charles Agapiou, LTD. in West Hollywood told me that there might have been a couple more produced with the same color palette, but through all of my online searches, I can’t find a single one. So I wanted to put this pristine beauty on full blast for your viewing pleasure.
If you happen to see this beauty rolling around the streets of LA or Beverly Hills, be sure to wave and say hi to the owner. She will absolutely love it!
Melanie Engle and Coco, aka Malibupom, 1976 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, Beverly Hills, Ca., Photo Romi Cortier
Romi Cortier and Coco, aka Malibupom, Beverly Hills, Ca., Photo Melanie Engle
Romi Cortier and Coco, aka Malibupom, Beverly Hills, Ca., Photo Melanie Engle
1938 Delahaye, Type 135M, (Collection of the Mullin Automotive Museum) Peterson Automotive Museum, Photo Romi Cortier
1938 Delahaye, Type 135M, (Collection of the Mullin Automotive Museum) Peterson Automotive Museum, Photo Romi Cortier
1938 Delahaye, Type 135M, (Collection of the Mullin Automotive Museum) Peterson Automotive Museum, Photo Romi Cortier
1953 Delahaye, Type 178m (The Margie and Robert E. Petersen Collection) Petersen Automotive Museum, Photo Romi Cortier
1953 Delahaye, Type 178m (The Margie and Robert E. Petersen Collection) Petersen Automotive Museum, Photo Romi Cortier
1939 Delahaye, Type 165, (Mullin & Peter Mullin Automotive Museum Foundation) Petersen Automotive Museum, Photo Romi Cortier
1939 Delahaye, Type 165, (Mullin & Peter Mullin Automotive Museum Foundation) Petersen Automotive Museum, Photo Romi Cortier
1939 Delahaye, Type 165, (Mullin & Peter Mullin Automotive Museum Foundation) Peterson Automotive Museum, Photo Romi Cortier
The Delahaye is the epitome of Art Deco on wheels, particularly the two models shown above from the late 1930’s. Those voluptuous fenders known as the French curve reflected the periods fascination with flight, strongly resembling the fairings on the wheels of Rene Couzinet’s Rainbow Plane.
Emile Delahaye founded his automotive manufacturing company in France in 1894, creating vehicles for 60 years until they closed their doors in 1954. It’s remarkable that a company could produce such stunning cars for over half a century, and yet be unknown to the general public by the turn of the millennium. It seems the French government levied punitive taxes aimed at luxurious non-essential products after World War II, making life very difficult for all luxury auto-makers in France. Thus most Delehaye autos were allocated for export to French colonies, including those in Africa. The exception to the rule being military vehicles, which they also produced. During the early 1950’s a jeep-like vehicle known as the VLRD was created to compete with the ‘traditional’ American jeep built during the same period…. we all know how that turned out. By the way, the American Jeep was founded in 1941 and has continued to be a strong brand for 75 years, with a little government help during the great recession of 2008.
As I’ve mentioned before, Art Deco is the celebration of speed and joyous movement, particularly in regards to planes, trains and automobiles. The stunning red Delahaye above personifies art deco, and if I were to place money on the one car in the museums collection that could have inspired the exterior of the new Peterson, this would be the car. The bold candy apple red color combined with voluptuous curves and strong visceral bands of chrome, make a strong argument for the sexy exterior of the museum.
The Peterson Automotive Museum, Los Angeles, Photo Romi Cortier
Check out this great video I found with British sex symbol Diana Dors, posing with her Delahaye, as well as footage that lets you hear how amazing this car sounded.
1938 Hispano-Suiza, Dubonnet Xenia, Peterson Automotive Museum, (Collection of the Mullin & Peter Mullin Automotive Museum Foundation) Photo Romi Cortier
1938 Hispano-Suiza, Dubonnet Xenia, Peterson Automotive Museum, (Collection of the Mullin & Peter Mullin Automotive Museum Foundation) Photo Romi
1938 Hispano-Suiza, Dubonnet Xenia, Peterson Automotive Museum, (Collection of the Mullin & Peter Mullin Automotive Museum Foundation) Photo Romi
1933 Duesenberg, Model SJ Arlington Torpedo Sedan, (The Nethercutt Collection) Photo Romi Cortier
1933 Duesenberg, Model SJ Arlington Torpedo Sedan, (The Nethercutt Collection) Photo Romi Cortier
1933 Duesenberg, Model SJ Arlington Torpedo Sedan, (The Nethercutt Collection) Photo Romi Cortier
1937 Horch, 853 Sport Cabriolet, (Collection of Robert M. Lee Trust) Photo Romi Cortier
1937 Horch, 853 Sport Cabriolet, (Collection of Robert M. Lee Trust) Photo Romi Cortier
1937 Horch, 853 Sport Cabriolet, (Collection of Robert M. Lee Trust) Photo Romi Cortier
1937 Horch, 853 Sport Cabriolet, (Collection of Robert M. Lee Trust) Photo Romi Cortier
1937 Horch, 853 Sport Cabriolet, Peterson Automotive Museum, (Collection of Robert M. Lee Trust) Photo Romi Cortier
Precious Metal at The Peterson Automotive Museum is a special exhibit focusing on the luxurious use of silver for the creme de la creme of cars. These gorgeous beauties above were my favorites of their collection.
The 1938 Hispano-Suiza was custom built by Andre Dubonnet, heir to the Dubonnet aperitif fortune. Dubonnet, a French flying ace and race car driver, built this to showcase a new suspension of his own design called the Xenia. The avant-garde tear drop body was designed by Jacques Saoutchik and features an aircraft inspired interior. I must point out how stunning the chrome tipped exhaust is, as well as the hinged drivers door windows that open outwards.
The 1933 Duesenberg Model SJ Arlington Torpedo Sedan was an extraordinary car for it’s time, and has undoubtedly withstood the test of time. Built for the 1933 Century of Progress exposition with the sole goal of outclassing every other car then available, it featured sleek Rollston coachwork with a staggering price of $20,000 at the height of the Great Depression. Todays equivalent would be a price point of $359,000. That said, current auction records put this stunner at a value of about $1,410,000. If you had ‘Twenty Grand’ in 1933, this would have been a great return on your investment.
The 1937 Horch 853 Sport Cabriolet by Voll & Ruhrbeck has to be one of the sexiest, and also one of the most elegant cars of it’s era. Its proportions are both streamlined and voluptuous with extraordinary chrome details. Horch merged with DKW, WAnderer and Audi in 1932 to form the Auto Union conglomerate, whose four-ring emblem can be seen on both this car, as well as the modern Audi.
My next post will feature the glamorous Delahaye’s of the Peterson, more elegant cars from the late 1930’s.
Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles, Photo Romi Cortier
Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles, Photo Romi Cortier
Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles, Photo Romi Cortier
Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles, Photo Romi Cortier
Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles, Photo Romi Cortier
I’m having so much fun watching the development of the Petersen Automotive Museum in LA’s Miracle Mile. Some of my friends have said, the 90’s called and want their architecture back, or it’s fugly. I however, disagree. I used to live just a few blocks from the museum, and had no idea it even existed. With this new skin, there will be no denying the museums existence.
One of the main arguments I’ve heard levied against this proposed building over the years is: It’s not Art Deco. And the Miracle Mile is about preserving it’s Deco roots. Well, wander down to La Brea and Wilshire and you’ll see how miserably the monstrosity on the southeast corner failed to meet the design standards of Neo- Deco. I’ve written about it previously, and it’s no secret that BRE Properties Essex apartment building is a major design flop. Everyone had to have a say in it’s development that it got so watered down, with no clear vision or point of view. It lacks innovation and is an architectural mish-mash that’s so pedestrian and communal, that it leaves nothing to aspire to. I call it communal architecture, and I don’t mean that kindly.
Art Deco can be defined in many ways: rich colors, bold geometric shapes, lavish ornamentation, an embrace of technology, machine age imagery, the luxury ocean liner and the skyscraper, the fantasy world of Hollywood, a new modernism, a silhouette that’s more horizontal than vertical… a celebration of speed and joyous movement, particularly in regards to planes, trains and automobiles. Doesn’t the structure above meet those definitions in a new and modern way? True, there’s no zig-zag patterns or geometric motifs, but this building certainly looks like a joyous celebration of movement. One of the initial descriptions I read about this building described it as the flames on a 50’s hot-rod, but I think it goes much much deeper. It’s visceral, it’s powerful, and it’s undeniably bold. Yes, maybe it looks a bit like a Diet-Coke can, but I guarantee you there’s no way that you can drive by it and not notice it. If you’re a tourist visiting LA, you’re going to be asking: what’s that? I think ultimately it will be recognized as one of LA’s most outstanding buildings, much like Frank Gehry’s Disney Concert Hall. Love it or hate, you’ll know it’s there. And to quote Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction… I won’t be ignored. So says the new building on the corner of Wilshire and Fairfax.
