1931 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Town Car

Coachwork by Brewster & Co.

7,668cc OHV Inline 6-Cylinder Engine
Single Jet Rolls-Royce Carburetor
120bhp at 3,500rpm
4-Speed Manual Transmission
4-Wheel Servo-Assisted Drum Brakes

*Attractive Brewster Coachwork
*1 of 125 Left hand drive Phantom II built
*Delivered new to Grosse Pointe, Michigan
*Documented by copies of its original build records

THE ROLLS ROYCE PHANTOM II

Reputedly the last model that Henry Royce designed himself, the Phantom II was introduced in 1929 as a successor to the New Phantom (retrospectively Phantom I) with deliveries commencing in September of that year. Unlike its predecessor, which inherited its underpinnings from the preceding 40/50hp model, the Silver Ghost, the Phantom II employed an entirely new chassis laid out along the lines of that of the smaller 20hp Rolls-Royce. Built in two wheelbase lengths - 144" and 150" - this new low-slung frame, with its radiator set well back, enabled coach-builders to body the car in the modern idiom, creating sleeker designs than the upright ones of the past.

The six-cylinder overhead-valve engine too had come in for extensive revision. The PI's cylinder dimensions and basic layout - two blocks of three cylinders, with an aluminum cylinder head common to both blocks - were retained, but the combustion chambers had been redesigned and the 'head was now of the cross-flow type, with inlet and exhaust manifolds on opposite sides. The magneto/coil dual ignition system remained the same as on the PI.

THE MOTORCAR OFFERED

When the Rolls-Royce Springfield works began to shut down its assembly line in 1930, there was still a demand for new chassis to be built, and Rolls-Royce could not simply allow the US market to be forgotten. So, 125 Phantom II chassis were set aside to be converted to left hand drive with center gearshifts. These cars were referred to as the 'AJS' and 'AMS' series cars- the A prefix standing for American.

This particular Phantom II Rolls-Royce is one of those 125 left hand drive examples. It was delivered new as a bare chassis to Springfield (Massachusetts) Rolls-Royce for onward shipment to Brewster coachwork in the spring of 1932 where the buildsheet only listed the body type as 'roadster' and noted that it was fitted with "springs for a Roadster weighing 910 lbs, maximum seating 4." There are no further details as to whether or not this lightweight Roadster (possibly a Henley) body ever graced the chassis, but the listing on its Schoellkopf card indicates it to have always been with the body it wears today, a Keswick open-drive Town Car, #7350.

The first listed was owner Louis Mendelssohn of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, who acquired the car new on June 3, 1932. Mendelssohn, a successful architect and later executive at the Fisher Body Company, would park his new Rolls at his massive, three-year old, stately mansion at 1000 Lake Shore Rd in Grosse Pointe (William C. Ford would later inhabit the property). Already in his late 70s when he acquired the car, he would pass away in 1935, but the later pre-WWII history of the car is not recorded.

In late December 1951, the car is noted to have been with Michael Vital of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The Rolls would remain in the Keystone state for the next half century, first with S. Howard Brown of Grantsville who acquired the car in March of 1953, and next with Thomas C. Lewis of Bucks County who purchased it in 1961 and would retain the Rolls into the next century. Lewis noted that 279AJS had about 64,000 miles on the clock when he first restored it in 1962 and about 80,000 miles when he restored it again in 1990. In 2002, Lewis's long tenure of ownership ended with the Rolls heading West to join the collection of Dr. Robert Zaitlin of Los Angeles, California.

Purchased by the current owner about 14 years ago, it has been on static display since acquisition. Retaining its now 32-year-old restoration, it shows nicely but mechanical recommissioning it recommended prior to active use.