I discovered the following story on the Yahoo-News Board
and couldn't restist to share it with you.
Best wishes,
Uli Schwaderlap
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Dickie's Passion Wagon
LORD Louis Mountbatten's £100,000 Rolls-Royce is the last word in luxury.
The 1931 Phantom II is fitted with ornate oak panelling and personalised
number plates and comes complete with Mountbatten's crest on the front door
panels.
But there is more to this sleek limousine than meets the eye - a firm of car
restorers have found a cunningly-concealed bed built into the rear seats.
It has been specially-built to accommodate Mountbatten's 6ft 2in frame and
can be pulled out with a gentle tug on a discreet handle.
The discovery backs up claims that Mountbatten - known to his friends as
Dickie - was a serial philanderer who used his good looks, royal connections
and wife's money to attract many beautiful women.
Both he and wife Edwina, who stayed married for 38 years, were the subject
of society gossip and endless speculation about their affairs.
It is rumoured she bought him the Rolls after he found out she had been
unfaithful.
Mountbatten was often rumoured to be homosexual, but by the time he took
delivery of the Rolls, he was having a torrid affair with Yola Letellier,
wife of a French newspaper tycoon.
And he was able to enjoy secret trysts with her in the back of his
customised car.
The bed was discovered when the Rolls, now owned by Lincolnshire farmer
Ronald Duguid, was being renovated at Classic Restorations in Alyth,
Perthshire.
The firm's Charlie Palmer admitted: "I have never seen a car like this
before - and certainly not with a bed in the back. It is unique."
It also features a special trunk on the rear, headlights that turn with the
steering wheel and a drop-down bumper to reduce the length of the car for
boat journeys.
The car cost around £1800, plus £1000 for the special interior, when it was
bought in 1931.
Mountbatten, the Queen's uncle and a mentor to Prince Charles, was a great
lover of cars and never accepted one straight from the factory. They were
all custom-built to his specifications.
The Phantom II has a 7600cc engine, a top speed of 75mph and averages 12
miles to the gallon. Around 700 of them were built between 1929 and 1936.
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