1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Transformal Phaeton

America became the most significant foreign market for Rolls-Royce, and its product appealed to newly wealthy American financiers and industrialists due to its reputation, reliability, luxury, and quality. After World War I, Rolls-Royce purchased the former American Wire Wheel factory in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1919. Springfield was located along the axis of America's industrial development, known for its machine tool industry and armories. It had a workforce to support the product and a network of suppliers from Boston to Buffalo. Manufacturing began in 1920 using components imported from Rolls-Royce in Great Britain. Soon, they were incorporating domestically produced content, particularly electrical, due to availability, easily serviced, and found to be as good (in some cases better) than the items sourced from Derby.

The 'New Phantom', now known as the Phantom I, was powered by a new engine. It was a straight six, at 7672cc displace, it was slightly larger than the Silver Ghost that preceded it. The company's experience with engines, particularly with aero engines produced during World War I, resulted in a pushrod operated overhead valve head with better cross-flow breathing. Horsepower rose from 86 bhp in the Silver t to 108 bhp in the Phantom. The Phantom I was given a chassis that was developed but largely unchanged, featuring semi-elliptical leaf springs and four-wheel drum brakes with mechanical servo assist. Springfield Rolls-Royces had the U.S. pattern 3-speed center shift gearbox and left-hand drive.

Rolls-Royce produced the new Phantom in Springfield from 1926 until 1931 with around 1,240 examples produced before the world descended into the Great Depression. Most examples wore bodies by Brewster in Long Island City, New York, a Rolls-Royce subsidiary since 1926.

This particular example wears coachwork by Hibbard & Darrin. The Transformal Phaeton was created for Hollywood movie mogul Jack L. Warner.

The Hibbard & Darrin Company was started by American carrossiers, Tom Hibbard and Howard 'Dutch' Darrin. During World War I, Tom Hibbard had learned French with the American Expeditionary Force. Along with Ray Dietrich, Tom Hibbard had left Brewster to establish LeBaron Carrossiers with Ralph Roberts and when New York Minerva agent Paul Ostruk commissioned two LeBaron bodies to be built in Brussels, Hibbard got a ticket to Europe to oversee the project. While in Paris, Hibbard met Dutch Darrin, and the two soon established Hibbard & Darrin with a showroom on the Champs d'Elysees. Hibbard & Darrin would go on to cloth many elite vehicles of the era, including Minerva, Stutz, Renault, Mercedes-Benz, and Duesenberg. On the Rolls-Royce chassis, Hibbard & Darrin provided coachwork for around thirty-five examples.

The Transformal Phaeton is a barrel-side design composed of cast aluminum panels. The close-coupled body employed a Darrin-patented top with triangular fabric roof elements that snapped tightly to the B-pillar between trapezoidal roll-up side windows and a fixed 'dual-cowl' type center division. The design allowed the top to be fully open or fully closed.

It is believed that two examples of this design were produced; S317KP was built for Paramount Studio's Erich von Sternberg, who in 1930 presented it to his newly-arrived star, Marlene Dietrich. The other was S319KP (this example), first owned by Hollywood legend Jack L. Warner, head of Warner Brothers Studio. It was later owned by Matt and Barbara Browning. While in the Browning care, the car was restored to the highest standards in 1991. In 2000 it was purchased by a Scandinavian collection where it has been properly preserved and cared for.

The car is equipped with drum headlights, tubular bumpers, a tan cloth-covered leather luggage trunk located between the rear fenders, a matching soft-top roof, body-color center-lock wire wheels with chrome lock rings, and dual side-mount spares with tan cloth covers and strap-on mirrors. The interior is upholstered in dark tan leather with glass roll-up division, and there is a rear compartment footrest and robe rope. The division and door caps are done in dark wood.

When it was new, the car was purchased for $19,665 making it one of the most expensive cars in the world.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2014