1931 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Keswick Open-Drive Town Car

Rolls-Royce's Springfield operation began closing its assembly line in 1930, but understanding there was still a market for their new chassis, the company set aside 125 Phantom II chassis to be converted to left-hand drive with center gearshifts. These chassis were given the 'AJS' and 'AMS' prefix representing the American market.

This particular example is one of the 125 left-hand-drive examples. It arrived in Springfield (Massachusetts) and was sent to Brewster coachwork in the Spring of 1932 where its build sheet indicated it would receive a 'roadster' body. It is fairly certain this Rolls-Royce never received that coachwork, rather it is believed that it was given its current Keswick open-drive Town Car body, number 7350.

This Phantom II's first owner was Louis Mendelssohn of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, who acquired the car on June 3, 1932. At the time, Mr. Mendelssohn was in his late 70s and passed away in 1935. Much of the car's history from that point forward is not recorded.

By late December 1951, the car was in the care of Michael Vital of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and would remain in the Keystone State for the next half-century, first with S. Howard Brown of Grantsville acquired the car in March of 1953, and next with Thomas C. Lewis of Bucks County who purchased it in 1961 and would retain the Rolls into the next century.

Mr. Lewis treated the Rolls-Royce to a restoration in 1962 and at the time it had 64,000 miles on the odometer. When he restored it again in 1990, it had about 80,000 miles.

In 2002, Mr. Lewis's time with the Rolls-Royce came to an end when it was sold to the collection of Dr. Robert Zaitlin of Los Angeles, California. The current caretaker purchased the car in 2008.

The inline 6-cylinder engine powering this Rolls-Royce displaces 7,668cc and delivers 120 horsepower at 3,500 RPM. There is a four-speed manual transmission and four-wheel servo-assisted drum brakes.

By Daniel Vaughan | Apr 2022