Marlene Dietrich, Andy Warhol Rolls-Royces To Cross Auction Block

Just the Facts:

• A 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Transformal Phaeton once owned by film icon Marlene Dietrich and a 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow once owned by pop artist Andy Warhol will cross the Bonhams auction block this month.
• Dietrich wrote in a letter that a bouquet of flowers and the green Rolls-Royce were welcoming gifts from Paramount Studios when she arrived in Hollywood in 1930.
• Warhol's Rolls-Royce is expected to fetch $40,000-$60,000.

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — A 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Transformal Phaeton once owned by film icon Marlene Dietrich and a 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow once owned by pop artist Andy Warhol will cross the auction block this month.

The two are part of the inaugural Bonhams automotive collection set for auction on January 19 here.

Dietrich's Rolls-Royce is expected to fetch $425,000-$525,000. Warhol's is expected to fetch $40,000-$60,000.

"On April 14, 1930, Marlene Dietrich arrived in Hollywood, to continue making films with (Josef) von Sternberg, who had left Germany a few months earlier to work for Paramount Studios," said Bonhams in the description of the car. "In a letter written that evening, Dietrich mentioned that von Sternberg had greeted her at the train with two welcoming gifts from Paramount — a bouquet of flowers and a green Rolls-Royce.

"That green Rolls-Royce is the very car offered here."

The car appeared in the movie Morocco starring Dietrich and Gary Cooper.

Bonhams says the major body elements of the car are aluminum alloy. It is said to be one of two Transformal Phaetons.

The 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow owned by Warhol is equipped with a 6.75-liter V8 engine and a three-speed automatic transmission.

Bonhams said in the car's description that "Andy never had a driver's license, so he was always a passenger." He paid $9,883 for the car.

Inside Line says: Two Rolls-Royces with significant celebrity provenance are bound for auction.