Rolls-Royce Phantom II Limousine, 1932
Rolls-Royce Phantom II
Rolls-Royce Phantom II•
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Chassis No.: 251AJS
Auction: Houston 2014
Auction date: April 12, 2014
Lot No.: F200.1
$159,500 | Sold
- Exterior: Black
- Interior: Beige
- Body: Limousine
- Left hand drive Rolls-Royce Phantom II Huntington Limousine
- Coachwork by Brewster & Co.
- 1 of 125 left hand drive Phantom II’s built
- 1,680 Phantom II’s built
- Serial No. 251 AJS
- Motor No. E55B
- 150 inch wheelbase
- Rebuilt 7.7 Liter inline six cylinder engine
- Cast iron block with aluminum crank case
- 4-speed transmission, single carburetor
- Masons Black exterior
- Black leather driver’s compartment
- Beige West of England wool interior
- Complete interior upholstery restoration per marque specialists
- Known history from new
- Tool kit included
- Delivered New on Christmas Eve 1932 to Mrs. R Waverly Smith of New York City
New York’s Brewster & Co. coachbuilders were known for their extraordinary quality. After having been a builder of bodies for American Springfield-built Rolls Royces, they were later acquired by Rolls Royce in order to provide additional body styles that the Springfield factory couldn’t produce. When the Depression made it impossible for Rolls Royce to build its new Phantom II in America, they were imported from Derby, and most ended up fitted with Brewster bodies. At the 1931 Chicago Auto Salon, Brewster exhibited four bodies for the Phantom II, including a Huntington Limousine, described in Autobody as “a 7-passenger enclosed limousine…finished in Oxford Blue with black trim.
The passenger compartment will have tan "heathertone" upholstery, a harmonizing rug and laprobe, damascened bronze hardware with tan inlay and Karolith knobs matching the mahogany of the marquetry panels.” By 1932, importation and production had slowed to a crawl, and only 17 Phantom IIs were imported. However, at least one of those was a rare left-hand-drive chassis equipped with the stunningly expensive Huntington Limousine body, for Mrs. R. Waverly Smith, better known to posterity as Jennie Sealy. The name should ring a bell to South Texans, as the Sealy & Smith Foundation is still active in Galveston, where John Sealy’s name is prominently on the local hospital.
Jennie Sealy married Galveston attorney Robert Waverly Smith (and with him and her brother John, established the Foundation), and relocated to New York. Robert Smith had bought his first Brewster in Galveston as early as 1919, so it’s little surprise that his wife ended up with one later on, as well. Although her husband had died by that point, Mrs. R. Waverly Smith took delivery of chassis no. 251AJS, her new 1932 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Brewster Huntington Limousine on Christmas Eve, 1932, at her home at the Ritz Carlton in Glen Cove, Long Island. At her death in 1938, she bequeathed the bulk of her estate to the Foundation, and it was sold on December 1, 1939 to Mr. F.B.
Pratt of Long Island. By 1955, it had passed into the hands of one Robert Wilbur of New York, who advertised it in The Flying Lady for $1,200, a reasonable price for a then-outdated limousine. His advertisement showed the car much as now, in black with blackwall tires and steel disc wheels. By the '70s, the car was in Florida, where it was acquired by the consignor in 1977. It has undergone continual mechanical and cosmetic refurbishment in the subsequent years. The odometer reads 66,428 miles, likely reflecting original miles, with approximately 2,000 miles since a rebuild of the 7.7-liter engine by Dale Powers Automotive of St. Petersburg, Florida.
More recently, a summer 2011 service included valve adjustment, replacing the electrical fuel pump system, and cleaning and repairing the original starter. The autovac unit has been cleaned, repainted and reinstalled; however, fuel is delivered through the electrical pump system. The engine bay has been detailed, and a restored interior includes the original wood trim. Body and chassis have been correctly and sympathetically restored. A vanishingly small number of important Full Classic coachbuilt limousines have survived. Many were scrapped in the war, while others had their bodies removed as fashions changed.
Chassis no. 251AJS is not only in the same configuration as when it was built, it retains all its original components and has a known history since new. With the outstanding performance of the Phantom II chassis married to the most elaborate and expensive coachwork that Brewster could devise, there are few events at which this car would not be welcome.
https://www.mecum.com/lots/184926/1932-rolls-royce-phantom-ii-limousine/
