By Fang Block
A Ford Thunderbird owned by Marilyn Monroe from 1955 to 1962 is expected to fetch between $300,000 and $500,000 during a Hollywood-themed Los Angeles auction in November, auction house Julien's Auctions announced.
Considered a powerful car for its time, the 1956 model has a 225-horsepower V8 engine with a top speed of 113 miles per hour. The "personal luxury car" features two doors, a Raven Black exterior, and a black-and-white interior. It came from the factory with both a canvas convertible top and a detachable hard top with distinctive porthole windows.
Monroe's business partner and photographer, Milton Greene, reportedly gave the car to her as a Christmas gift in 1955. It was purchased from Westport Motors, in Westport, Connecticut, in the name of her corporation, Marilyn Monroe Productions.
"Marilyn liked to drive. We'd take the convertible and with the top down, we'd go sailing along the highway. We both liked to feel the wind in our faces and the warmth of the heater on our legs," Amy Greene, wife of Milton, said in a news release.
When Monroe married playwright Arthur Miller in 1956, she might have driven the Thunderbird both to her civil and private wedding ceremonies, according to Julien's Auctions.
Ford Thunderbird owned by Marilyn Monroe for six years JULIEN'S AUCTIONS