Rolls-Royce Phantom II Brewster Town Car, 1933
Rolls-Royce Phantom II
Rolls-Royce Phantom II•
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Chassis No.: 298AJS
Auction: Las Vegas 2018
Auction date: November 17, 2018
Lot No.: S163
$101,750 | Sold
- Exterior: Black/Silver
- Interior: Black/silver
- Body: Brewster Town Car
- Coachwork by Brewster
- 7,668cc/130 HP inline 6-cylinder engine
- Engine no. R75A
- Aluminum cylinder head
- 4-speed manual gearbox
- Front and rear semi-elliptic leaf springs with hydraulic shock absorbers
- 4-wheel drum brakes
- ‘One Shot’ chassis lubrication system
- Two-tone Black and Silver finish
- Flying lady mascot
- Dual side mounts
- Leather-trimmed driver’s compartment
- Gray broadcloth passenger cabin with jump seats
- Luggage trunk
- Fender-mounted accent lamps
Although evolution rather than revolution was the way of Rolls-Royce, Henry Royce soon realized the New Phantom of 1925 (retrospectively known as Phantom I) needed more than a new engine on a chassis inherited from the long-serving 40/50 Silver Ghost to keep up with competition. As he put on record: “I have long considered our present chassis out of date … but I so fear disaster … that I must refuse all responsibility for a fatal position unless these improvements in our chassis are arranged to be shown next autumn.” The result was transformative.
When the Phantom II was introduced in 1929, its new low-slung chassis with semi-elliptic springs and radiator set further back swept away all of the old Ghost influences, creating a platform on which the finest coachbuilders could excel. The Phantom I’s excellent 4-wheel servo-assisted brakes were retained. However, in the Phantom II, the aluminum-headed 6-cylinder 7668cc overhead-valve engine now featured a cross-flow cylinder head among numerous revisions. Factor in more than ample power (Rolls-Royce never revealed the numbers) and a famously flexible top gear, and these are some of the reasons many regard the Phantom II as the finest of all prewar Rolls-Royces.
Following the closure of the Springfield plant in 1931 Rolls-Royce produced a limited number of chassis specifically for the American market, and this example is one of just 125 Phantom IIs produced for the U.S. with left-hand drive and center gear shift. Its elegant Town Car coachwork, in black over silver-gray with dual side mounts, is the work of Brewster, Rolls-Royce’s principal and preferred U.S. coachbuilder. Indeed, Rolls-Royce liked Brewster so much it had bought the company. This 1933 Phantom II benefits from Rolls-Royce’s evolutionary enhancements, such as synchromesh on third and fourth gears.
If Cole Porter had found a rhyme for synchromesh, he might have added another line to his lyric: “You’re the tops, you’re a Brewster body.”
https://www.mecum.com/lots/335049/1933-rolls-royce-phantom-ii-brewster-town-car/
