Rolls Royce Convertible Toy For Barbie

Now up on the eBay: this nice luxury convertible car for Barbie. The toy car is by Zima. It still has it's grille and mascot. It's really nice.

My Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock action figures are too small for this cool looking car or else I'd keep it in my collection!

Check out the eBay auction for more pictures.

Rolls Royce Silver Spur - It's Been Awhile But I'm Back!

It's been awhile since I've blogged about diecast cars, or 1:1 scale (real) cars.

The Bride and I wandered upon a Rolls Royce Silver Spur in need of a new owner. Too bad I already have so many (Matchbox, Hot Wheels, Franklin Mint)Rolls Royce motorcars...I have no room for a 1:1 scale Silver Spur.

But with it's European spec headlamps, she sure is nice!

Hot Wheels Rolls Royce Silver Shadow

This is a cool diecast version of the Rolls Royce Silver shadow. Got this off the eBay. Hot Wheels made this car back in 1979.

Rolls Royce Silver Spirit by Matchbox

Ah yes, this is a sweet diecast of a sweet car...the Rolls Royce Silver Spirit. Got this one off of eBay. Diecast was made back in 1986 and is in really great condition for such an old diecast.

Excellent...if only this were 1/1 scale instead of 1/69 scale.

Rolls Royce Silver Shadow Diecast by Matchbox

This is a sweet 1/63 scale diecast 1968 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow by Matchbox that I purchased from a toy store a while back. This diecast is really old and a bit dinged up but it still looks cool.

If You Can't Afford A Rolls Royce Post of The Day™ - 1976 Chevy Monte Royce

Okay, this ain't a diecast car but it's cool nonetheless. If you can't afford a Rolls Royce - and you don't want a mere diecast replica - how about a replica that you can drive? How about this pimped out 1976 Chevy Monte Carlo?

Found this beauty on the Ebay and the Buy It Now price is $6000.

According to the seller a company called Custom Coach (or Classic Coach) built only 200 of these beauties before Royce successfully sued them out of business.




Also according to the seller someone stole the winged mascot.


This car ain't that bad looking. Kinda looks like that evil car from the classic 1970s horror movie, The Car starring James Brolin.

Rolls Royce of the Day™ - Rolls Royce Ghost

The Rolls Royce of the Day™ is not a diecast model (or a vehicle I shall ever be able to own. ) It is the new Rolls Royce Ghost. It sure looks purty.

The Ghost is slotted in size between the tank-like RR Phantom and the BMW 7 Series.

The Ghost has rear Coach (Suicide) doors like its larger sibling. The Ghost also comes with an optional polished aluminium bonnet like that found on select Phantom Coupes and Phantom Drophead Coupes.

The Ghost has a sleek and more rounded exterior shape than the block-like Phantom. The Ghost is pure elegance on wheels and harkens back to the grand coachbuilt cars like the Silver Cloud.

It's interior is pure Rolls Royce with nary a hint of Germanic interference in its design.

The big difference with the interior is the large transmission tunnel due to this car sharing more of its platform with the brand new BMW 7 series. The Phantom has a near flat floor like the cars from the 20s and 30s.

The Ghost dashboard is cleaner and more elegant looking than the dash in the Phantom.

Read more about the upcoming Rolls Royce Ghost:

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/06/04/hands-on-rolls-royce-ghost-is-100-roller-so-far/

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Secret-new-cars/Search-Results/Spyshots/Rolls-Royce-Ghost-2009-new-spyshots/

Rolls Royce Silver Cloud Diecast by the Franklin Mint

The Franlklin Mint 1955 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud is My Diecast Car of the Day™.

This 1/24th scale model is perfect. The Mint is famous for creating some of the finest diecast models and this Silver Cloud is truely one of the best. The model is solid, heavy. The attention to detail is equal to the attention Rolls Royce paid on the real Silver Cloud.


The Spirit of Ecstacy and the grille look like the real deal. All four passenger doors open to reveal an interior just as detailed as the outside. The dashboard looks like wood, the steering wheel is very accurate, and the picnic tables have a simplified version of the mirrored Burled Walnut veneer found on the real car.


The boot is carpeted and holds a spare tire. A perfect recreation of the straight 6 engine sits in the engine bay beneath the split bonnet. The two tone paint job looks like a million bucks.

The Silver Cloud is one of the most iconic car designs ever. Rolls Royce used the Cloud as inspiration in designing the Silver Seraph and the new Phantom.

The Franklin Mint's 1/24th scale diecast Silver Cloud is a wonderful replica of a wonderful car.

WTF? Chinese Company Geely to Buy Volvo from Ford?

This is a shocker. The company that gave us the concept Geely GE - a really well done copy of the Rolls Royce Phantom - is rumoured to be taking Volvo away from Ford Motor.

What a world. The good thing is if Geely decides to really make the Geely GE it would be a heck of a lot safer than most other Chinese cars out there.

First the Indian company Tata bought Jaguar/Land Rover from Ford, then the Chinese buy Hummer from GM, and now the Chinese are (probably) about to be proud Volvo owners.

What is the Chinese word for yuppie? Do the Chinese listen to Nora Jones and James Taylor?

Read about the rumor here:

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/06/18/report-geely-agrees-to-buy-volvo-ford-silent/

http://www.leftlanenews.com/chinas-geely-to-buy-volvo.html

1992 Rolls Royce Corniche Diecast from the Franklin Mint

The 1992 Rolls Royce Corniche from the Franklin Mint is My Diecast Car of the Day™ .

What a beauty, eh? This Franklin Mint 1/18th scale diecast car is a copy of a limited edition model - only 25 built - offered by Rolls Royce in celebration of the Corniche's 21st anniversary. It is painted Ming Blue and has a beautiful Magnolia interior.

As American luxury carmakers like Cadillac and Lincoln were forced by Government regulations and wacky environmentalists to downsize body styles, engines, and gas tanks, Rolls Royce continued to build oversized, gas guzzlers with monstrous engines.


The real Corniche was powered by a 6.75 litre V8, a massive hunk of metal and aluminium that was on par with 1970s American engines like Cadillac's 7.7 litre V8.

The real Corniche is over 204 inches in length, stands as tall as a truck, weighs in excess of 5400 hundred pounds, and averages about eight miles to the gallon/city. Just like your typical 1970s American car.

My diecast Corniche is only about 11 inches long, a couple inches wide, and gets zero miles to the gallon.

I love the design of this car, the Corniche. I love its sleek, Coke-bottle shape, the perfectly proportioned grille, the long wheelbase.


The car continued the tradition of over-sized luxo-barge convertibles that the Americans were so good at during the 1970s. But, alas, by the early 1990s, classics like the El Dorado and Lincoln Mark Series were reduced to chintzy, ill-shaped shadows of their former selves.

The classic Corniche body style remained virtually unchanged for almost three decades. The car died out in the mid 1990s and was replaced by the beautiful Bentley Azure (also a monstrous gas guzzling behemoth). In 2000 a Corniche convertible was offered as a limited edition model. It was styled after the Silver Seraph/Arnage saloon.

The Franklin Mint did a stunning job with this diecast. The paint is deep and rich. The interior is full of neat details like the realistic looking burled walnut dash. The switch gear in the dash and center stack also look very real. Beneath the bonnet is a detailed miniature version of the classic 6.75 litre V8.




Franklin Mint, I salute you on this fantastic diecast.

Still Can't Afford A Bentley Arnage? No Problem!

This, um, Bentley Arnage was found on Ebay a while back. I gotta tell ya, the front of this beast looks fine.

The proportions are a bit off but so what? The grille and headlamps look like the real thing.


The side view? Starting to get into weird territory. The door panels scream Lincoln Town Car as does the wide C pillar.

The C pillar, though, really isn't a problem, because there have been Royces and Bentleys (back when both companies were the same and shared platforms) with stretched C pillars.


The tail lamps are sort of okay but the light cluster around the license plate area screams cheap!!

All in all, this would be a fun car to have if you knew people would laugh at you or feel pity for you. This is the Borat of luxury cars, the Bruno of limos.

The only truly bad thing about this Lincoln Arnage is the interior, which is the same as your Grandpa's ride.

Yes, the seats have customized leather but the luxo-atmosphere is ruined by the plethora of fake Bentley emblems stitched into the seatbacks and plastered onto the dashboard!!

Verdict? I'd take it. I mean, this is no Geely GE but it'll do.

WTF? Geely GE The Chinese Rolls Royce

Heh Heh, look familiar? Gotta say this about the Chinese auto industry, they got some balls!

In the past they fell into some hot legal water over copying Mercedes and BMW vehicles. In fact, BMW had sued to prevent the Chinese designed Shuanghuang CEO SUV from being sold in Europe because BMW felt it was a copy of their X5 SUV.

Well, a car company going after one of the largest communist countries on Earth in court does seem like a futile exercise. Seriously, think the Chinese government would be scared? Nah. What could BMW do to them?

Well, the Chinese are at it again with the wonderful Geely GE. Will they once again get away with blatantly plagiarizing a beloved and much recognized symbol of the automotive world?

Rolls Royce Phantom, meet your Chinese clone, the Geely GE. The proportions of the two cars are practically the same. Notice the Geely's profile...the length of the hood, the shape of the doors, the smallish trunk. And how can you miss that big ass grille with the winged mascot.

Okay, in Geely's defense, there are some differences. The Geely GE doesn't have suicide doors, and, um, let me think, oh yeah, the Geely GE only has one rear passenger seat.

Yup, one rear passenger seat. Makes you think of Bertolucci's The Last Emperor. Or Al Bundy's dream throne.

But you know, I'm so very broke and desperate that if I could, I'd buy this Geely son-of-a-bitch. I love Rolls Royce motorcars, even took an old Bentley Eight out for a spin once.

The only ones I can afford to purchase are the models from Franklin Mint, Matchbox, Maisto, etc.

For example, this is my beloved 1/24th scale Rolls Royce Silver Cloud I from the Franklin Mint. Beautiful. Handcrafted. But I can't drive it. Believe me, I've tried.

Such is the comedy called life that I can't afford to purchase and maintain a real Royce, let alone a pre-owned model, but can fill up an imaginary garage with 1/24, 1/18, and 1/42 scale replicas. Therefore I'll have to take the Geely GE.

I could love the Geely GE like a Royce. We could make the relationship work, the Geely and I.

Just think of the Geely GE as being a Franklin Mint replica of a Phantom that one could really drive.