Robert Redford's Great Gatsby car sells for $238,000
June 11 2009, Published 5:28 a.m. ET
A piece of history was auctioned off this week when the 1928 Rolls Royce Phantom 1 Ascot Tourer driven by Robert Redford in the 1974 movie of "The Great Gatsby" sold to a collector.
Symbolizing the roaring 1920s and Gatsby’s wealth and terrible obsession with materials objects, the car becomes a pivotal character in the film when Myrtle is struck and killed by Gatsby's car.
Reprotedly, Robert Redford was so overwhelmed by women following him whenever he drove the car that he sold it after a few months. A collector, the late Ted Leonard, who owned a car dealership in Seekonk, Mass., bought the car from Redford and kept it as a showpiece.
Leonard's daughter, Cindy, said her father taught Redford how to drive the Rolls Royce, which had a choke and mechanical controls on the steering wheel.
"I think he called him a heavy foot or something like that," Leonard recalled her father saying of Redford. "It is very, very difficult to get used to."
(Photo: Splash News)
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