Footnotes

• Generally considered to be Rolls-Royce’s pre-war masterpiece, the Phantom II Continental, the last car to be designed under the personal supervision of Henry Royce prior to his death in 1933, followed a distinguished line of six cylinder cars headed by the 40/50hp “Silver Ghost” which had enjoyed a hugely successful 18 year production run prior to the introduction of the “New Phantom” in 1925. The Phantom II, unveiled at the Olympia Motor Show in London in 1929, answered all the critics and was technically up to the minute in design while retaining all the standards of mechanical excellence shared by its predecessor. The new car featured unit construction of engine and gearbox, improved ride and handling characteristics and better braking. It was powered by a 7.7 litre, six cylinder, pushrod overhead valve engine which ran almost in silence and yet provided more than ample power to carry the most flamboyant of coachwork provided by the proliferation of bespoke coachbuilders in Great Britain and mainland Europe.
  
  The Phantom II Continental was the ‘flagship’ model designed for high speed touring and found favour with such celebrities and aristocracy as Sir Malcolm Campbell, Woolf Barnato, Prince Ali Khan, Lord Londesborough, the Earl of Roseberry, various Indian Maharajas, Neubar Gulbenkian and Noel Coward. Writing of the Phantom II Continental in 1934 The Motor described it as “powerful, docile, delightfully easy to control and a thoroughbred, it behaves in a manner which is difficult to convey in print without seeming to over-praise.”
  
  50GX was the sixteenth Phantom II Continental to be produced, constructed to the order of J.A.Fletcher Esq., a wealthy brewer from Walsall with a shooting estate in Shropshire. Fletcher favoured Barker & Co. with instructions to build a touring saloon on almost identical lines to the celebrated pre-production Continental 26EX which had carried off all honours at the Biarritz Concours d’Élégance in 1930. With a top speed of 95mph it is doubtful whether Fletcher found many opportunities to exercise 50GX to its full outstanding performance, however it is known that he used the car regularly on shooting and fishing expeditions, returning on one occasion with a large salmon strapped to the running board. Following Fletcher’s death in 1940, 50GX was laid up during the war years and later saw service delivering bread in Yorkshire, before finding a more sympathetic home with an owner in Florida, USA. Before returning to the UK 50GX spent many years in a motor museum in Michigan.
  
  Upon acquisition by the present owner, a keen collector and driver of Rolls-Royce motor cars, Ristes Motor Co. of Nottingham were instructed to undertake a full restoration to return the car as closely as possible to the condition it was in when Fletcher took delivery in 1931. A four year restoration ensued, starting from a highly original baseline and retaining that originality wherever possible. 50GX’s demanding owner insisted on the car’s original and gently understated colour scheme of grey over black. Total expenditure exceeded £300,000 for which most invoices are available.
  
  Testimony to the restorers’ skill and the owner’s attention to detail throughout the restoration is its outstanding concours record - Best of Show and First in Phantom II Class, RREC Annual Rally, 1994 - First in Class, Pebble Beach, USA, 1994 - First in Masters Class, RREC Annual Rally,1996 - Vainquer de Concours de Restauration at the Xe Rallye Monte Carlo de Voitures Anciennes, 1996 - Winner at the 1999 Annual Concours, 20 Ghost Club, UK. In 1996 this car was chosen to be the centrepiece of the 65th anniversary celebrations of the Dorchester Hotel in London, as the car most appropriate to represent the extravagant style of the 1930’s era.
  
  Since restoration 50 GX has been driven some 16,000 miles, completing three rallies to Monte Carlo and a RREC rally to Jordan where it was clocked on the desert road at the magic 100mph, assisted of course by the overdrive wisely fitted during restoration. Always fastidiously maintained, 50GX is perhaps best summed up by its owner in the following terms - “it was made to be driven fast to the South of France and that’s precisely what it does – and it makes quite a statement parked outside the Hotel de Paris”.
  
  50GX comes with a Swansea registration document, current licence and MOT and presence and style second-to-none.
  

Saleroom notices

• V5 to be forwarded post sale