1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Torpedo Tourer

The Rolls-Royce Phantom I Series was introduced in May of 1925. It was a descendent of the famous Silver Ghost and used its chassis instead of creating a new one. Sir Henry Royce chose to use the old chassis instead of creating a new one, much to the displeasure of his engineers, because he felt the old one was still capable of performing the duties required. Instead, the chassis was improved upon and updated where needed. There were two wheelbase lengths available to the customers, a 143.5-inch and a 150.5-inch version. The gearbox of the Phantom I was also courtesy of the Silver Ghost, except that the old cone clutch was replaced with a more modern single dry plate clutch unit. This clutch was both quieter and smoother to operate.

When the Phantom I was put through speed tests, it performance was similar to the Silver Ghosts of the early 1910s. To remedy this situation, a lightweight Barker Tourer body was commissioned in hopes of improving upon the vehicles performance. The goal was to create sporty and streamlined body that still encompassed the luxury refinements and style that were synonymous with the Rolls-Royce name.

Unfortunately, the special Tourer body was not enough. Rolls-Royce designer Ivan Evernden created another Tourer body of his own design. His design still kept with Rolls-Royce luxury standards, but cut as much weight as possible. The result was a vehicle that average 89 mph at Brooklands.

This example shown here is a testament to the work of the Rolls-Royce engineers and designers. It is powered by a 7668cc overhead valve inline six-cylinder engine capable of producing 120 horsepower. The car has a three-speed manual gearbox with servo-assisted two-wheel drum brakes. Many of the mechanical components were still Silver Ghost technology, but it did have a new overhead valve engine, front wheel brakes and many suspension and gearbox improvements which made it a fairly modern machine. This example was shown at the 2006 Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance and then brought back the following year to be auctioned at the RM Auctions at Meadow Brook. The car has a Torpedo Phaeton body with coachwork by Barker. It was estimated to sell between $180,000 - $240,000. It is regarded as one of the best four place sports touring bodies of the time and one of Barker's finest creations.

Rolls-Royce used the car as a company trials and test car on the French Riviera and in London. After testing, it was shipped back to London where it was sold to its first buyer.

The car passed through a few owners during its early life before being exported to the United States in 1945. It was kept in that owner's possession for a very long time, a total of 44 years before selling to a fighter pilot in August of 1989. It passed through a few more owners before making its way to the RM Auction block.

It was originally finished in cream with polished alloy top surfaces and great leather. It was later painted grey, and then white. It has been treated to a very recent restoration (in 2002) that kept it as original as possible. It is now finished in its original colors and the leather was custom dyed to match samples recovered from the bottoms of the cushions.

At auction the car did find a new owner for the price of $154,000. The car did not generate as high of a sale as anticipated, though it still seems a fair price for both buyer and seller.

By Daniel Vaughan | Aug 2019