London, Dec. 6: A Rolls-Royce built in 1929 to the personal specifications of Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was to become the last Viceroy of India, was auctioned at Bonhams Olympia sale here.

The elegant grey/black vehicle (picture on right), ?fitted with special seating which folds down into a bed and comes with a letter from Lord Mountbatten referring to this?, fetched ?69,700. It was sold to a museum in Europe.

This is the third example of Mountbatten memorabilia to come on to the market in the past 12 months.

Sotheby?s in London auctioned Lady Mountbatten?s tiara, worn by Edwina when her husband was supervising the transfer of power in India, in December last year for ?149,650.

In October, her Cartier bandeau, encrusted with precious Indian gems, was bought by a foreign buyer for ?300,000. This has not left the country yet as the government has given until December 27 to see if a British buyer will step forward.

In announcing the sale of the Rolls-Royce, Bonhams gave all of Mountbatten?s titles. He has more than even the foreign-educated Bengali doctor with a brass nameplate in Shyambazar ? ?Rt Hon The Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, PC, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, FRS?.

The car also has a few titles of its own: ?1929/30 Rolls-Royce; Rolls-Royce Phantom II 40/50hp Sedanca de Ville; Coachwork by Barker & Co; Registration no. LM 3698; Chassis no. 133 WJ; Engine no. KY 85?.

Like Lakshmi Mittal, who probably has a Rolls-Royce with the personalised registration number ?LM1?, Mountbatten?s LM 3698 refers to Louis Mountbatten and his Mayfair telephone number.

He was nothing if not a vain man and car enthusiasts will speculate why this aristocrat so desired an automobile with a folding bed. His biographers have alleged that he liked pretty girls almost as much as he apparently liked pretty boys, a must have for the British upper classes.

The sale of this car will make traditional Britons sigh nostalgically for an era when they ruled the world, when their team won Test matches and the Rolls-Royce was a Rolls-Royce, a symbol of all that was best about British engineering.

They have beaten the hated Germans twice in two World Wars but have, alas, surrendered Rolls-Royce to BMW and Bentley to Volkswagen.

Lady Mountbatten died in 1960, aged 58, and was buried at sea. Lord Mountbatten was assassinated by the IRA in August 1979. His boat was blown up on a fishing trip off the coast of County Sligo, Republic of Ireland.

The Mountbatten Rolls-Royce lives on with a detailed service history. ?Reputedly the last model that Henry Royce designed himself, the Phantom II was introduced in 1929 as a successor to the Phantom I, deliveries commencing in September of that year.

?Highly favoured by prominent coachbuilders, the Phantom II chassis provided the platform for some of the truly outstanding designs of its day and ?133 WJ? ? second to last built of the first series ? wears versatile yet stylish Sedanca De Ville coachwork by Barker & Co of London, one of the finest of all British coachbuilders and a firm associated with Rolls-Royce from the latter?s earliest days.

?According to an accompanying letter from Rolls-Royce dated 22nd August 1968, the car was completed in May 1930 and fitted with a dashboard higher and wider than standard to the order of the Rt Hon The Lord Louis Mountbatten, KCVO, RN (as he then was).?

?Lord Mountbatten used the car to drive from his ?Broadlands? home in Romsey, Hampshire, to London and back for some seven-or-so years before ? almost certainly ? selling it to C.G. Pullin Esq, of Ampfield, Hampshire, who is listed in Rolls-Royce factory records as owner in October 1946. ?LM 3698? is known to have belonged from circa 1947 to a Lincolnshire farmer. The latter, who never used the car, sold it to the vendor in 1967.

?While in present ownership the vehicle has been restored in two stages, firstly by Wilkinsons, of Derby, who undertook extensive refurbishment of the coachwork and interior while a local engineer overhauled the chassis and electrics, and secondly by Classic Restorations, of Alyth, who rebuilt the engine, fitting a new cylinder head, radiator and clutch. Fewer than 1,000 miles have been covered since the engine rebuild.

?Finished in grey/black with leather upholstery to the front compartment and cloth to the rear, this historic Rolls-Royce is presented in very good condition and offered with a most extensive history file containing correspondence between Lord Mountbatten, his family, Rolls-Royce and the vendor, period photographs, original logbook and numerous restoration invoices. In addition, the vehicle comes with road fund licence to August 2005, MoT to June 2005 and Swansea V5 registration document.?

This means that this Rolls-Royce can be driven straight out from the Olympia auction room on to the road, which cannot be said for most modern cars older than 10 years.