My First Car: why film star Sir Michael Caine started with a Rolls-Royce

He bought the Silver Shadow after going out with a shopping list which said “milk, bread, newspaper, cigarettes, Rolls-Royce”.

Now it is to be sold at auction with a guide price of £100,000 to £150,000 on March 15.

Sir Michael, who will be 90 in March and is best known for roles in films such as Zulu and The Italian Job, said: “I grew up in a non-car period, the Second World War, when there weren't a lot of them about.

“And I grew up in London, which had an incredible public transport system - taxis, buses and the underground - so I never knew a person who owned a car until I was about 25."

Sir Michael - who eventually passed his test in Los Angeles – later sold the car to restaurateur Jack Leach.

The Silver Shadow has been treated to an extensive restoration by its current owner and is now refinished in its original colour of black. It was one of just 506 Silver Shadow Two-Door Drophead Coupes that were hand built by Rolls-Royce’s in-house coachbuilder Mulliner Park Ward from 1967 to 1971.

Damian Jones, Senior Motorcar Specialist, H&H Classics, said: “Appearing in more than 160 films across seven decades, Sir Michael Caine is a true British icon, so it’s a pleasure to be able to offer his very first car for sale, which in itself is another great British classic.

“From its original purchase by Sir Michael, and its subsequent 43-year ownership by infamous Gasworks restaurateur, Jack Leach, the car’s history is truly captivating and one which I’m sure will delight and fascinate the new owner.”

In 1968, Caine is said to have wandered into the renowned Jack Barclay showroom on Berkeley Square in London, with a handwritten shopping list which read, “milk, bread, newspaper, cigarettes, Rolls-Royce.” Unkempt and unshaven, he was ushered off the premises, so he journeyed to Mayfair’s other Rolls-Royce dealership, H A Fox on Dover Street, where he found the Silver Shadow which had been taken into stock after the playwright and screenwriter Terence Rattigan cancelled his order for it.

Having bought the car, despite not having his own driving licence, the actor found it was cheaper to employ a chauffeur than pay the premium his insurers quoted. The 35-year-old actor took great pleasure in being driven past the offending Jack Barclay salesman in his new car.

Less than two years later, the Silver Shadow was acquired by John Leonard Ernest Leach (Jack Leach), owner of the Gasworks restaurant in Fulham, which became a notorious hotspot for the rich and famous. A familiar sight on the Fulham and Kings roads for decades afterwards, Leach continued to own the car for the next 43 years until his death in 2013.

“Personifying cool since the swinging sixties, Caine and the Silver Shadow remain instantly recognisable and widely admired,” added Mr Jones. “So, to combine both of these in one fantastic motor car is incredibly rare indeed and we expect significant interest from fans around the world.”

The classic, collector and performance car auction takes place at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford on March 15.