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A plush 78-year-old Rolls-Royce bought using Nazi money by the fascist husband of silver screen siren Hedy Lamarr has emerged for sale for £500,000.

The Phantom III motor was ordered in 1937 by Austrian arms manufacturer Fritz Mandl, a major supplier to the Nazi regime and a close friend of both Hitler and Mussolini.

Mandl paid for the dark blue convertible Rolls-Royce using money made from lucrative sales of machine gun and rifle cartridges to the Nazis, and it became the couple's main car.

At the time, Mandl was married to up-and-coming actress Hedwig Kiesler, who later found fame in Hollywood under the pseudonym Hedy Lamarr after she escaped his controlling clutches.

The rare motor, which boasts a whopping 7.3-litre 180bhp V12 engine and sought-after Vanden Plas coachwork, is now tipped to fetch £500,000 when it goes under the hammer at Bonhams.