We’ve Found An Actual Rolls-Royce That Costs Less Than This ‘Cameo’ Model

If you’re a typical customer of the British luxury brand, you probably wouldn’t think twice about spending the best part of five large on the new Rolls-Royce Cameo “home interior art piece”. We’re definitely not loaded enough to be in the market for a new Rolls, though, so our first thought was “Can we buy an actual Rolls-Royce for the same money”?

Yes, it turns out. Although the Cameo is listed on the Rolls-Royce site as “price on request,” a few dealers in the US including Miller Motorcars Boutique in Stamford, Connecticut have it up for £4,399. A quick peruse of eBay UK reveals there’s a Silver Shadow listed for £4,350. Bargain.

Granted, you’re going to have to be very brave to spend so little on a real, full-size Rolls-Royce. “Minor welding required on sills, carburettor needs stripping and cleaning,” the seller notes, while the exterior condition is wonderfully described as featuring a “distressed patina”.

A quick MOT check reveals the car hasn’t passed one since… March 2010. The last attempt at getting it through a test was in 2013, at which point it failed on no less than 12 items, three of which are listed as “dangerous”. Oh, and there were a further nine advisories. Yikes.

So, on second thoughts, perhaps the Cameo is a better bet. Yes, you can’t drive around in the thing, but the same can be said of the Silver Shadow – not without spending a significant chunk of cheddar to get it roadworthy again, at any rate.

The Cameo’s body is made from a piece of solid oak and a chunk of polished aluminium. There’s also an aluminium ‘chassis’ which magnetically attaches to the body, designed to echo “a seminal stage in the Home of Rolls-Royce assembly journey known as the ‘marriage’, when the body is mounted to the drivetrain,” the company says.

You even get wheels with self-levelling Rolls-Royce emblems, just like the real thing, and a little driver to slot into the 3D-printed ‘interior’ which features the same sort of leather RR uses in its full-size cars. 

So, which of the two will it be for you…?