Model history: The motor car may have been invented by Germans, but it took two Brits to refine the concept; Charles Rolls and Henry Royce. With the Silver Ghost, introduced in 1907, Rolls Royce had set new standards in build quality and reliability. The British manufacturer has never been known for their innovations, but excelled in perfecting well proven principles.
For over 15 years, the '40/50' Silver Ghost was the only model on offer, at a time where many of the competitors offered multiple of models and types. In 1922 it was joined by the Twenty, which was aimed at a slightly wider market. From 1921 onwards, the North American customers were served more directly by a new factory in Springfield, Massachusetts. The 'Springfield' Silver Ghosts were intended to be identical to the British built cars, but after a few cars were built, changes were carried through to comply with the North American's needs.
By 1925 the competition from Hispano Suiza and Isotta Fraschini had grown considerably and work was started on a larger, more powerful version of the Silver Ghost's engine. The longer stroke version of the six cylinder engine, offered a huge increase in torque and horsepower. In good Rolls Royce tradition, the chassis design changed little. First known as the '40/50 New Phantom', this model is now commonly referred to as Phantom I.
Production started in May 1925, but lasted for only four years. Although it was a worthy successor to the Silver Ghost, the new engine proved to powerful for the old chassis. The 'Sprigfield' Phantom made its debut a year later, as it took a little while to modify the British car to left hand drive. With the end of the Springfield production of the Phantom I in 1931, the North American factory shut down.
Chassis: 17EX
Chassis 17EX was one of four experimental Phantom Is built by Rolls-Royce in the 1920s. The others were 10EX, 15EX and 16EX. All four were clothed by different coach-builders so each was distinctly different. 17EX was delivered to Jarvis of Wimbledon where it was fitted with the very elegant 'Torpedo' body it still sports today. The Rolls-Royce test-team racked up over 4500 miles before selling the car in the fall of 1928.
The fortunate owner of the unique Rolls-Royce Phantom I was the Indian Maharaja Hari Singh Bahadur, whose family owned over two dozen Rolls-Royces. The car remained in the area for decades and finally passed into the hands of two Italian enthusiasts in 1976. During the 1990s the car was fully restored in Italy by Gianni Penna. Even before the work was completed, the car was acquired by the current, Dutch owner.
By 2004 the restoration was completed, which conveniently coincided with the Rolls-Royce 100th anniversary celebrations. The Dutch collector brought the car back in Italy for the 2006 Concorso Villa d'Este, where it is pictured above. It was awarded the Trofeo Rolls-Royce for the 'Most Elegant Rolls-Royce'. The owner has now decided to part with his prized possession and he will offer it on October 28th in the RM Auctions Automobiles of London sale. It is estimated to change hands for £500,000-£800,000.
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Phantom I Jarvis Torpedo
The motor car may have been invented by Germans, but it took two Brits to refine the concept; Charles Rolls and Henry Royce. With the Silver Ghost, introduced in 1907, Rolls Royce had set new standards in build quality and reliability. The British manufacturer has never been known for their innovations, but excelled in perfecting well proven principles.