1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Derby Dual Cowl Tourer

14 Derby Tourer were built and currently, 11 examples survive. Four nearly identical Speedster versions were also constructed. This particular example, a Dual Cowl Derby Tourer, was one of the last Phantom Ones built and the last of the Derby Tourers. Late production features include the C.M. Hall torpedo head and sidelights which replaced the earlier 'drum' design.

The original owner of this example Mrs. Margaret Dunlop of Amsterdam, New York, who received it two days before Valentine's Day 1930 and would retain it for seven years. It then passed to another New York state resident, first with another lady, Mrs. Dorothy Tuckerman then in March 1939 it passed into the possession of Francis DeBeixedon of Easthampton. Its next owner, F. Ryden Skinner of Alta Lodge, Utah, acquired it in 1945 and brought it across the country. The next year it traveled farther, to San Diego, and into the care of Lester P. Wegeforth.

By 1966 it was in the ownership of James Leake of Muskogee, Oklahoma, and remained in his stable until 1990 when it was acquired by Mr. Robert M. Lee at auction.

It currently wears an older restoration that is finished in a chestnut hue, with matched fenders coach-lined in cream and rides on whitewall tires. There is an off-white top and covered trunk. Features include the chrome radiator, dual windshields and the aluminum trim swage molding. The interior is finished in burgundy hides. The 7,668cc overhead-valve inline six-cylinder engine has a single carburetor and delivers 100 horsepower. There is a three-speed manual transmission, four-wheel servo-assisted drum brakes, and a semi-elliptical leaf spring front suspension with a cantilever spring setup in the rear.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2019