This is the 1961 Land Rover Series II that was bought new by legendary American playwright Arthur Miller and his wife, actress Marilyn Monroe. It’s now being offered for the first time out of Miller-family ownership since it was new.
Arthur Miller ordered this Land Rover directly from the factory in Solihull, England finished in the color Sand and optioned with locks, rubber pedal pads, a hard top with side windows, additional windscreen wiper, hand throttle, and auxiliary gauges.
Fast Facts – The Miller-Monroe Land Rover Series II
- This 1961 Land Rover Series II, ordered new by playwright Arthur Miller, was used by him and Marilyn Monroe during their marriage. Finished in Sand and equipped with factory options like a hardtop and auxiliary gauges, it was primarily used at their country estate in Roxbury, Connecticut.
- Miller, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright known for “Death of a Salesman” and “The Crucible,” purchased the Land Rover directly from England’s Solihull factory. The vehicle’s durable 2.25 liter inline-four and 4-speed manual transmission made it ideal for estate use and short trips into town.
- Despite Miller and Monroe’s divorce, the Land Rover remained with Miller for the rest of his life. It was never restored, retaining its original patina, and reflects decades of use by one of America’s most celebrated literary figures.
- Offered for public sale for the first time, this historic Land Rover will be auctioned by Bonhams on January 24th with no reserve. Its provenance, tied to two cultural icons, makes it a rare and valuable piece of automotive and literary history.
A History Speedrun: Arthur Miller
Much has been written about Arthur Miller’s tempestuous relationship and marriage to Marilyn Monroe. Miller was one of the preeminent playwrights of his time and a Pulitzer Prize winner, his most famous works include Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), The Misfits (1961), All My Sons (1947), and A View from the Bridge (1955).
Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller at their wedding from the May 1961 issue of TV-Radio Mirror.
Miller was born into a wealthy New York family that was bankrupted by the Great Depression, by the time he was a teenager he would wake hours before most of his fellow students to deliver bread from his bicycle to help his family financially.
He attended the University of Michigan, working a number of menial jobs to pay for his tuition. He began writing plays at this time and quickly won the Avery Hopwood Award – this was a major encouragement and he changed his major from journalism to English as a result.
After college Miller wrote a number of plays, many radio plays for CBS and a number of plays that were performed on Broadway, including All My Sons which won him his first Tony award and established his reputation.
He would meet Marilyn Monroe in 1950, he was already well-known at this time and she was an up-and-coming star. The two formed an unlikely friendship, Miller would tell friends that Monroe was far more intelligent than many of the characters she played, and he had a deep-seated respect for her.
The House Un-American Activities Committee
Miller would be subpoenaed to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1956, a witch-hunt seeking out communists and communist sympathizers in Hollywood. Marilyn Monroe went with him to the hearing in solidarity, despite the threat to her own career. The two would marry that same year.
Here we see Arthur Miller in 1966, about eight years after the end of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).
He refused to name names in front of the committee, an act of remarkable bravery and a test that many others failed. As a result of this, a judge found Miller guilty of contempt of Congress in May of 1957 – he was sentenced to prison and given a fine, he was also blacklisted from Hollywood, and no longer allowed a US passport.
This conviction would be overturned on appeal a year later, but it affected Miller for the rest of his life. He would return to the public eye, but he seemed to like nothing more than escaping to his private country estate in Roxbury, Connecticut.
Ordering A Land Rover Series II From England
It would be for his country estate that Miller sent his order to Land Rover in Solihull, England for his own Series II short wheelbase model.
He opted for the hardtop version in left-hand drive finished in the Sand color and powered by the famously-durable 2.25 liter inline four petrol engine sending power back through a 4-speed manual transmission and a dual-range transfer case.
Miller and Monroe would both ride around the estate in this Land Rover, and likely used it for jaunts into town also. Miller kept the vehicle after the two divorced and he obviously held no small amount of affection for it, as he kept it for the rest of his life and enjoyed working on it and tinkering with it.
In the two images above we see Marilyn Monroe with a Land Rover, although it’s not the one listed for sale in this article. It’s the Series I Land Rover that belonged to American Poet Norman Rosten and his wife, Hedda. It makes you wonder if Monroe liked the Sand color of this one so much she had Miller order his one and the same shade. Images courtesy of the Arthur Miller Archives.
After his passing in 2005, the vehicle would remain in the care of his family. It has never been restored and now shows the patina earned over a rather interesting life in the ownership of one of America’s most celebrated playwrights.
The Miller family has now decided to place the Land Rover up for public sale for the first time, and it’s due to roll across the auction block with Bonhams with no reserve price on the 24th of January. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bonhams + The Arthur Miller Archives.
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