Rolls-Royce Phantom III Four-Light Cabriolet, 1938
Rolls-Royce Phantom III
Rolls-Royce Phantom III•
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Chassis No.: 3DL94
£89,125 GBP | Sold
- Unique coachwork
- Sole Phantom III equipped with a central gearchange
- First owner 1938 to 1962
- Single family ownership 1962 to 2017
"The most captious critic is obliged to admit that a Phantom III provides all that can be wished for in a large luxury motor-car. The comfort, silence and road-holding with really impressive acceleration and maximum speed made a combination of virtues which few cars of the time could equal." - Anthony Bird, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
, 1964.
Perhaps the most outstanding luxury car of the 1930s - certainly to have been built in the United Kingdom - was the Rolls-Royce Phantom III. Introduced in 1936, the 7,340cc V12-engined Phantom III succeeded the Phantom II, the six-cylinder engine of which was considered to be at the end of its development life. The choice of a V12 configuration was a logical one for Rolls-Royce, the company already having had considerable experience of manufacturing V12 aero engines such as that used in the record-breaking Supermarine S6B seaplane. No doubt another consideration was the need to match the multi-cylinder opposition, notably the V16 Cadillac and V12 Hispano-Suiza.
A state-of-the-art design employing advanced materials and techniques such as 'skeleton' cylinder blocks with wet liners and aluminium alloy cylinder heads, the PIII V12 produced 165bhp in its debut form. The maximum output was subsequently raised to 180 brake horsepower, which was sufficient to propel later examples to 100mph, earlier models being capable of around 90. Its engine configuration aside, the Phantom III represents an important milestone in the history of Rolls-Royce cars, being the first with independent front suspension. A total of 727 had been manufactured when WW2 halted production, of which around 300 exist worldwide today.
By the late 1930s, the fashion for sporting coachwork had changed, the open 'Torpedo' bodies of the 'Roaring Twenties' having been largely supplanted by more refined two-door drophead coupé designs. Some of Rolls-Royce's customers commissioned 'all weather' bodies on the Phantom III chassis; the numbers built were certainly modest, and survivors such as this are even fewer.
Bodied as a four-light cabriolet (design no. 1971) by Freestone & Webb, chassis '3DL94' was delivered new to K L Bilbrough of Chislehurst, Kent, a wealthy businessman who by then was chairman of the shipping and marine insurance business his father had founded in 1862. Formerly a Packard devotee, Mr Bilbrough was concerned that the Phantom might not fit in his garage, and stipulated that the completed car should not exceed 17' 7" in length, even with its bumpers fitted. Mr Bilbrough also requested other special features; in order to match the central gear-change lever he was used to in his Packard, he specified this for his Phantom III, which is the sole example of this model so equipped. It is also the only PIII all-weather tourer with a four-piece windscreen.
White-faced instruments were specified with black numerals and bezels, and they were to be on a dash panel rather than in the standard cluster. No clock was fitted, nor was a 'Spirit of Ecstasy' radiator mascot. Furthermore, Mr Bilbrough required that the car be registered for the road with a registration he would be unlikely to forget - 'FKN 1' - and when it was delivered to him it must have its odometer zeroed. There were a number of somewhat anachronistic items specified, including a bulb horn and the four-piece windscreen harking back to the coachwork of the 1920s. '3DL94' is pictured in Lawrence Dalton's Coachwork on Rolls-Royce (page 79) and is the penultimate Phantom III bodied by Freestone & Webb, '3DL154' being the last.
Freestone and Webb's design drawings and in-period photographs confirm that the car was completed pretty much as specified. In fact, it must have made quite an impression, as Autocar magazine featured the finished Phantom in July 1939. It can be safely assumed that Mr Bilbrough was happy with his purchase, as he retained the Phantom for more than 23 years until his death in 1962 at the age of 90. At this point the Rolls-Royce was sold from his estate, having covered a little under 34,000 miles by that time.
The immediately preceding owner's father was the purchaser, bringing the car to his home in Missouri where it would remain until his passing in 2007 after some 45 years of custodianship. The son retained the PIII for another seven or so years before offering it for sale at Bonhams' auction at the Simeone Automotive Foundation, Philadelphia in October 2013 (Lot 551). At that time it was stated that the car had covered only 34,640 miles and that in more recent times it had been sympathetically maintained by the very capable local expert Tim Jayne of West Chester, Pennsylvania.
The current vendor purchased the Rolls-Royce from the USA in 2017 and reimported the car to the UK. The original registration 'FKN 1' was re-assigned to the car. Since then it has formed part of his private collection and been used sparingly on special occasions. This rare and wonderful open Phantom III is indeed worthy of the closest inspection.
Стоимость
438 071 AED
