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Easy to Navigate Vintage Suitcases For Your Car

Vintage leather suitcases for the car: Louis Vuitton, Dunhill, Hermès and Cartier, where to find them, and what I saw at the Goodwood Revival.

By Gracie Opulanza3 min read

Silver Aston Martin seen from the rear, with three worn tan leather suitcases stacked beside the bumper

For those who love beauty as well as function, these luxury vintage suitcases will make a beautiful addition to your car. Vintage leather suitcases are always used in films, such as the James Bond film No Time To Die, with his Aston Martin. The vintage suitcase was a passion already popular in the 60s. Vintage items have nothing to do with air travel. It’s a shopping experience that takes you back to some iconic films of the past, such as Sophia Loren walking the streets of Rome.

Open boot of a silver Aston Martin holding two tan leather vintage suitcases
Silver Aston Martin on a gravel drive in front of a brick country house, two leather suitcases by the rear wheel

Suitcases: it’s a lifestyle

Many people today rent luggage sets as props, or for heading to a hotel for the weekend in the Rolls-Royce. They are a wonderful piece of vintage nostalgia to use as carry-ons, heading into the Hotel Excelsior on the Lido in Venice. This hotel is all about the Venice Film Festival and famous stars arriving in a Riva boat.

You can find leather suitcases on eBay or Vestiaire Collective. I got a red vintage Cartier suitcase at the market in Lucca. It looks divine on a carousel, or heading for train travel.

Iconic names including Louis Vuitton, Dunhill and Hermès are leading the field. Their vintage suitcases remain very collectable items that are functional but also design objects in their own right.

You won’t find these in a thrift store. But vintage streets, like those in Amsterdam, are wonderful places to find these luxury labels.

Christie’s Director of Textiles, Pat Frost, sums it up well:

Harking back to a golden age of travel, vintage luggage encapsulates the glamour and decadence of a bygone era when journeying to a foreign land involved adventure, romance and style.

You can’t replace old luggage when it comes to airline history.

Stack of leather suitcases with brass catches behind the chrome bumper and number plate of a vintage Aston Martin

Goodwood Revival

Whilst at the famous classic car racing event called Goodwood Revival, I noticed many cars with vintage suitcases used as props. Some also had straps, so they could be used as a shoulder bag. Inside there was lovely silk, depending on the manufacturer. Cases like my Cartier one were often used for famous luxury train travel on the Orient Express.

Novelty cake made to look like three stacked vintage suitcases in orange, green and dark brown with metal fittings
Black-and-white Tim Walker shot for Italian Vogue: Iris Palmer almost hidden behind an armful of suitcases

Photo: Tim Walker for Vogue Italia

Mick and Bianca Jagger in 1973, she in a white fur jacket and printed trousers, he in a tweed overcoat and scarf

Travel fashion in 1973: Mick and Bianca Jagger. In the Rolls-Royce, I always had a vintage suitcase to take me back in time.

Vintage Louis Vuitton. Brilliant suitcases for travel, even in 2021. If you are seeking luggage from Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly, Christie’s auctions are a perfect starting point. It gives more meaning when the suitcase has a vintage history. These places are a safe search, knowing it’s all authenticated for resale value.

Vintage Louis Vuitton monogram wardrobe trunk with a red band, brass fittings and leather trim
Heap of brown leather suitcases, a round hatbox, a white sun helmet and a Sprol oil can in an antiques display

Christie’s auction

A Christie’s auction promotion. The cases below are from the 1970s and still look fabulous today.

Four vintage suitcases in brown, tan, pale blue and pink standing on a pavement beside a clothes rail
Cream canvas trolley suitcase with hot pink straps and corners, brass clasps and a pull-out handle

Globe-Trotter still makes suitcases in the vintage leather style. Not practical for an easyJet weekend. But it’s all about driving in your classic Fiat or Jaguar F-Type, reliving the past as they did on a slow countryside tour of the Lake District.

Retro-style travel case on wheels in cream with pink trim, shown against a plain white background
Maroon and black Fiat Balilla with its door open, parked in Tuscany beside a long stone aqueduct
Black 1933 Fiat Balilla on a gravel drive between clipped hedges and stone urns at the Villa Reale

There is nothing like the smell of quality. It’s called classic cars and leather.