The real car fan in Queen was drummer Roger Taylor, but Freddie Mercuryalthough not a great fan of motors, he also owned some luxury models. Of course, he did not drive them himself because he never got his license. His chauffeur did it. His most brilliant car was perhaps a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow de 1974a sales success in its time for the German brand that symbolized quality, comfort, luxury and exclusivity. The curious thing is that this old car was more useful many years later than it ever was: Helping the war wounded in Ukraine.
The exuberant singer acquired it in 1979 and always had a special affection for it. The car was finished in grey silver with a blue-gray leather interior and already had a phone between the front seats, a real rarity in those years. The Silver Shadow was one of the first Rolls-Royce creations with a monocoque chassisindependent rear suspension and disc brakes. It was fitted with a 6.75-litre V8 engine and was capable of developing 189 horsepower.
Legend has it that the car was the place where Freddie had the habit of gathering Brian May, John Deacon and Taylor to sign the contracts of the band during the 80s. The vocalist would keep it until his death in November 1991, when HIV ended his life. After It would be inherited by his sister Kashmira Bulsaraand the model appeared at the premiere of the musical ‘Queen. We Will Rock You’ in 2002. However, for the 2018 film ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, not the authentic Mercury Rolls was used, but a similar one.
The history of this car would take a radical turn when the Ukrainian singer Andrey Danilko, known as Verka Serduchkasecond in the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest and a big fan of Freddie, He bought it for 88,600 eurosHowever, he barely used it. He kept it almost with the little more than 100,000 kilometers it had accumulated since it left the factory. Until he decided to put it to the service of a good cause.
Serduchka he auctioned it off to raise funds to help the wounded in the war in Ukraine. The car was sold on November 5, 2022 for 296,834 euros. Since Sotheby’s waived the management bonus that corresponds to the auction house, a total of 328,900 euros went to the program Superhumans Centerspecialising in the treatment and rehabilitation of war victims with amputations or in need of prosthetics. Undoubtedly the most important service that Freddie Rolls-Royce provided.
