A classic Rolls-Royce recently broke down and caused huge traffic disruption in central London.
The car broke down right outside the Landmark Hotel in Marylebone on one of London’s busiest roads, which is a main roadway into London from the west. Traffic extended back for miles as the break down caused one lane of the road to be shut and traffic had to make its way around the car. (Picture: Richard Ainsworth)
Pictures taken by passers-by on Harewood Avenue, Marylebone show the Rolls-Royce in its broken down state, bonnet and boot open, with its owners waiting for the break down service to arrive.The car is around 40 years old and deep gold in colour. It came to a stop outside the Hotel in the morning, but failed to restart.
Incoming traffic came to a halt for miles as the car blocked a vital busy junction.
As the owners waited for the mechanic, they were not prepared to talk about the break down, but were happy for passers-by to take pictures.The Rolls-Royce is a Camargue model and is thought to be valued at around £35,000. The Camargue was made in the United Kingdom in the mid-1970s and was popular at the time. Although since then the Camargue has been voted one of the worst cars in the world.
The Rolls-Royce Camargue was built and marketed between 1975 and 1986 and is a two-door car. It was originally designed by Italian car designer, Paolo Martin. Paolo was working at Italian car and coach manufacturer, Pininfarina at the time. The Camargue was the first Rolls-Royce model to be made after World War Two that was not designed and developed by Rolls-Royce itself.
The car’s bodywork was built and created by Rolls-Royce’s coach division, known as Mulliner Park Ward. More than 500 Camargue models were made over around 11 years. The name Camargue comes from the south of France, where the region between the Mediterranean and the Rhône River is known as the Camargue region. (London Evening Standard)
When the Camargue was launched it was one of the most expensive cars to produce in the world. The first model sent to the US sold for around $150,000 in the mid-1970s, but had a mark-up from the European based cars since Rolls-Royce had to compensate for import-export costs. In the UK, a new Camargue was around £29,250.