The 1965 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III DHC driven by David Hemmings in the famous 1966 Michelangelo Antonioni thriller Blow-Up is to be put up for sale by H&H Auctions in September2025.
Chassis SHS349C is one of 46 right-hand-drive Rolls-Royces built to drop-top design 2045 by Mulliner Park Ward out of 101 in total. It was originally ordered by Jimmy Savile, but it’s believed that he didn’t own it for long – a Classic & Sports Car feature suggests the now-disgraced DJ flipped the car for a profit without driving it, such was the demand for a model that took six months to build. The Silver Cloud’s first proper owner was Pierre Rouve, one of Blow-Up’s co-producers.
Blow-Up captured the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1967 and went on to receive two Academy Award nominations. At the thriller’s centre is a fashion photographer called Thomas – said to be inspired by David Bailey and Terence Donovan – who while developing his work stumbles upon what could be evidence of a killing. Actor Hemmings, who played Thomas, was said to have spent nights sleeping in the Rolls-Royce in order to keep it safe. The props team once staged a mock engine failure as a joke – a stunt that drew little laughter from either Antonioni or Rouve.
The car features extensively throughout Blow-Up – and in one scene it’s used to carry a wooden propeller on the back seat, much to the disdain of a shop-assistant character. “It’s not a delivery van!” she says.
Delivered in Dark Blue with Light Grey leather for its film appearance, the Rolls-Royce later travelled abroad before returning to Britain to be given a string of notable registrations including ‘1 HUC’, ‘KS 1’ and ‘150 XKE’. Prior to joining its current keeper in 2007, the car was comprehensively prepared by Rolls-Royce specialist P&A Wood. It then spent much of the next 18 years in Porto, re-emerging for appearances at the March Motor Works display during the 2018 Goodwood Revival and the 2024 Salon Privé Concours d’Elegance.
The Rolls-Royce is being put up for auction at H&H’s Kelham Hall sale, located in Newark, Nottinghamshire, on October 10, 2025. More details can be found here.
