Marcello Mastroianni, Italy's best-loved and most regretted actor, liked women and cars.
He knew how to choose instinctively, the former and the latter, with great sensitivity and confidence. A man of great class, he could not but appreciate beauty, charm, uniqueness: exclusive women and luxury cars such as the Flaminia coupé 2.8, the Flaminia Super Sport Zagato, the coffee-coloured Jaguar, and the British ROVER P5 3.5 Litres, created in 1967 by the British manufacturer as a coupé, austere, very classic and comfortable, designed for a clientele of refined Anglo-Saxon style.
It is the typical car that we imagine great industrialists get out of and heads of state climb into, such as Queen Elizabeth II, who has owned two. One example is preserved at the Brithish Heritage Motor Centre.

Compared to previous versions, the 3.5 Litres is distinguished by additional front headlights, new wheel rims and a highly detailed interior.
Marcello Mastroianni bought it in 1969, as its first owner. Now, this car is being auctioned at Aste Bolaffi.
The 1960s, the most creative and brilliant years for Italian cinema, came to an end.

Marcello, a multi-faceted actor, had by then reached such artistic maturity in his forties that he was given a romantic role in Vittorio De Sica's film 'Amanti' (1968).
His partner was the sophisticated and haughty American actress Fay Danaway, an icon of American cinema in those years, with whom our actor fell in love. 
Perhaps, the luxurious blue car, grey interior, with its unmistakable English style, witnessed their brief but passionate love affair.