1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental Tourer

Upon completion of this Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental Tourer, it was put on display at the Paris Salon de l'Automobile in October 1933 wearing the Nile Green livery it wears today. Its coachwork was created by Barker and the 7,668cc overhead valve inline 6-cylinder engine breathed through a single Rolls-Royce carburetor and developed 120 horsepower at 3,500 RPM. It had a four-speed manual gearbox, four-wheel mechanical drum brakes with servo assist, and a special 58-inch hood, with a long row of louvers extending into the cowl. It has a 28-gallon fuel tank, a speedometer in miles and kilometers, a Dover spring steering wheel, and a chrome-plated dashboard with white instrument dials.

This Rolls-Royce's original owner was Dimitri Alessandro Sursock, Duke of Cervinara who kept it for a little over a year before returning it back to Barker. The car remained with the coachbuilder for a year and in 1935 it was supplied to King George V for use in reviewing planes at the Mildenhall RAF base.

In 1936, this Rolls-Royce passed to the 2nd Baron Faringdon. In 1960, it was imported to the United States; in 1971 it was acquired by Leonard Horwich, and in 1984 it was sold from his estate to William Maxwell Davis. Since then, the car has been driven on numerous Pebble Beach Motoring Classics.

Around the early 2000s, the car was refinished by D&D Classic of Covington, Ohio, in the original Nile Green. Around 2017, the upholstery was redone in the original color by Mike Kiamy and coordinated by noted specialist E.F. Murphy who also fully rebuilt the top, which was also retrimmed. In 2021, around $150,000 worth of work was performed by Butch Murphy.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2022