She was the Oscar-winning screen goddess with a beloved Rolls Royce nicknamed the Green Goddess. Now Elizabeth Taylor’s 1960s car, a convertible that epitomes her style and glamour, is coming up for sale.

The Rolls Royce Silver Cloud II has had only two owners in 58 years, clocking up a mere 40,644 miles. Without its link to an iconic star, this rare automobile might be worth around $700,000. Such is Taylor’s enduring fame that it could change hands for as much as $7 million at its auction in August.

This is no ordinary car. It was custom-made for the star of classic films such as Cat On a Hot Tin Roof and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, whose director, Mike Nichols, described her as “one of the greatest cinema actresses”.

Beyond a personalised number plate – LIZSC2 - Taylor had its “smoke green” colour specially created for her. She wanted it to match the shade of the wedding-dress that she had worn in marrying crooner Eddie Fisher in 1959.

The following year, she ordered her Rolls Royce and had it shipped to New York. It came with an American left-hand drive and a green shade that extends to its leather interior. In 1962, she took it to Rome, ahead of shooting her landmark film, Cleopatra, which made her the then highest-paid performer for a single film in the history of Hollywood. She said: “If someone's dumb enough to offer me a million dollars to make a picture, I'm certainly not dumb enough to turn it down.”