James May Forced To Sell His Rolls Royce For A Reason That Shouldn’t Surprise His Fans

We always hate to see our cars go. Whether it was involved in a wreck, giving it away/trading it in, or in some cases have to sell it back because of financial problems. James May, one of the three gentlemanly idiots in The Grand Tour trio, was just forced to sell his 1972 Rolls Royce Corniche. But it’s not for any of the typical reasons.

The Rolls Royce Corniche

The Rolls Royce Corniche was once showcased in an episode of the rebooted Top Gear, where Chris Evans’ personal 1976 Rolls Royce Corniche was compared to Matt LeBlanc’s Rolls Royce Dawn. The test was to win the hearts of the people of Dingle, West Ireland, to determine which one can out-Rolls-Royce the other. The Corniche had a distinct smell of high class and aged leather, giving it a very exclusive Rolls Royce feel. And this was the very reason James May was forced to sell his.

And now I’ve decided that my 1972 Rolls-Royce Corniche has to go, because I’ve become allergic to it. And I mean this. If I drive it for more than half an hour I start itching, and then have to boil all my clothes. So it’s going into an auction next month (Bonhams, 19 March at Goodwood) and it’s expected to fetch one-and-a-half times what I paid for it. Maybe twice.

He explained this in his Drivetribe page while he complained about motoring journalists constantly comparing old exotic cars that can be had for a Ford Mondeo. Which he later refuted because he happened to profit off of that same exact advice: The two old cars he bought, each for about the cost of a new Mondeo, APPRECIATED in value.

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We’ll be keeping track of the Corniche’s auction when it happens in the Spring. Given that it was owned by James May and have been infected by his sneezing, there might be some weird Top Gear or Grand Tour fans out there willing to snap this up for twice the money.

Has anyone sold a car that they were allergic to? This has never happened to anyone we’ve known. Please let us know below!

(Source: Drivetribe & Photo Credit: James May)