Rare Rolls-Royce once owned by Engelbert Humperdinck to be auctioned

A Rolls-Royce Phantom VI once owned by Engelbert Humperdinck is to be auctioned ahead of the singer’s 90th birthday next month.

The 1970 car is one of 14 collected by the 89-year-old Release Me singer through the years, and will go to auction from April 10 to April 26 on Dutch online auction site Catawiki, where it is expected to fetch between 165,000 and 185,000 euros (£143,685 to £161,102).

Arjan Rietveld, Catawiki’s expert on classic cars, said: “With just 374 of these produced over more than two decades, the Phantom VI is already a rare sight.

“When you combine that with nearly 40 years of ownership by a globally famous musician like Engelbert Humperdinck, you’re looking at a car that sits at the intersection of automotive history and pop culture.”

The car comes with documentation confirming previous ownership by the singer, who was born in India and grew up in Leicester, including a UK registration certificate issued in his name.

Humperdinck owned the car, which has a blue velvet interior, for four decades until 2009, and it is now located in Slovakia.

Only 15 or 16 of the cars were made during their initial production run, with other owners including members of European royal families and fellow singer Sir Tom Jones.

Humperdinck, whose real name is Arnold Dorsey, began his career in the 1950s and has had eight UK top 10 singles and two UK number one albums.

He is best known for songs such as Release Me, The Last Waltz and There Goes My Everything.

The singer has seen a revival in popularity in recent years, thanks to his 1968 song A Man Without Love featuring in an episode of BBC drama Call The Midwife and Marvel series Moon Knight, the latter of which prompted a TikTok trend.

Humperdinck has continued to make music, with his last studio album All About Love released in 2023.