Rolls-Royce Phantom III Saloon by Park Ward – 1938 - Lot 68

Rolls-Royce Phantom III Saloon by Park Ward – 1938 Ducth registration title Sold without contrôle technique SANS RÉSERVE In the early 1930s, luxury car manufacturers competed to outdo each other in terms of both chassis length and engine design. Hispano-Suiza developed its 12-cylinder engine, while Cadillac produced nothing less than a 16-cylinder engine. Rolls-Royce, with its valuable aeronautical experience, did not lag behind in this arms race and also decided to develop a V12 engine. All-aluminium engine, 7,338 cc displacement, overhead valves: with its 165 hp and 4-speed gearbox, the Phantom III was more than a match for the competition. As was customary at the venerable Rolls-Royce company, customers could choose their bodywork from Mulliner, Barker, Hooper, Park Ward or Thrupp & Maberly. 700 Phantom IIIs were produced between 1936 and 1939, and it was not until 1998 that a V12 engine was once again found under the bonnet of a Rolls-Royce. Leaving the factory in July 1938, chassis ##3DL42 was bodied as a saloon with a sunroof by Park Ward, with an incredible razor-edge style expressing an elegance and fluidity unusual for a car of this size. The car was then delivered to its owner, H.H. Harjes, in August 1939. Inside, it is all luxury and refinement, with comfortable beige leather seats, impeccable woodwork and red velvet trim. This car, which appears in Lawrence Dalton’s reference work, Rolls Royce, The Derby Phantoms, entered the collection of the renowned Anton aan de Stegge in 2006. This Dutchman owned one of the largest construction companies in the Netherlands. The car received the best possible treatment, as the golden rule of his garage was that each of his cars had to be ready to travel thousands of kilometres overnight for immediate departure to a country of his choice. Having been little used in recent years, this sublime Phantom III will need to be recommissioned and thoroughly serviced before it can once again take its passengers on a journey of luxury and opulence, in the silence and smoothness of its noble V12 engine.