Footnotes

• The Phantom II Continental was the last Rolls-Royce to be designed under the personal supervision of Henry Royce, before his death in 1933. As its name suggest, this new Rolls-Royce was intended for fast continental touring; indeed, there were few roads in Britain where its outstanding performance - the top speed was around 95mph - could safely be exploited to the full. Highly favoured by prominent coachbuilders, the Phantom II chassis provided the platform for some of the truly outstanding designs of its day, getting off to a flying start when a pre-production model ('26EX') designed by Ivan Evernden and made by Barker & Co (Henry Royce's favourite coachbuilder) won the Grand Prix d'Honneur at the Biarritz Concours d'Elegance in September 1930.
  
  Produced for a relatively short period, during which time only 281 examples were completed, the Phantom II Continental typically sold for around £2,500 (more in some cases), a quite staggering amount to ask for a motor car and equivalent to the cost of no fewer than six or seven average-priced houses in the UK at that time! The Continental's - necessarily wealthy - owners included such famous names as the racing drivers Sir Malcolm Campbell and Woolf Barnato, Prince Ali Khan, Princess Alexis Midvani, the Prince of Nepal, Lord Londesborough, the Earl of Warwick, the Earl of Roseberry, Lord Doverdale, Lionel de Rothschild, Anthony de Rothschild, the Maharaja of Bahawalpur, the Maharaja of Jodhpur, N S Gulbenkian and Noel Coward.
  
  Lawrence Dalton's authoritative work, 'Rolls-Royce- the Derby Phantoms' states that chassis number '2PY' was exhibited at the 1933 Paris Salon. A patinated car in very useable condition, it has just undergone a full engine rebuild at considerable expense and is currently being run in. The engine work was undertaken by marque specialists Ristes Motors of Nottingham and included a re-bore, new oversized pistons, a new cylinder head and just about everything else one might imagine necessary for a full rebuild. A vast accumulation of bills comes with the car attesting to the work carried out, which also included a radiator re-core completed recently by Vintage Wings & Radiators, making for cool summer running.
  The grey and black paintwork is described as in generally good condition and is said to present well. There is some age related cracking to the japanned leather roof covering but it is still in serviceable condition. Coachwork is by Barker in the form of a sedanca de ville allowing for pleasant alfresco motoring. Two arms fold in from the sides enabling the cover over the driver's head to be rolled up and stowed away behind a door in the roofline. A large metal motoring trunk is fitted to the rear.
  
  The interior is upholstered in medium grey hide to the front and grey velour to the rear, while the woodwork displays influences of Art Deco and is in good order. Vanity alcove mirrors are fitted, together with a rear privacy blind. The cars is offered with the aforementioned bills, owner's handbooks, current MoT certificate and Swansea V5 registration document.
  

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Category: Motoring / Motor Cars

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