1931 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Riviera Town Car

After seven years of experiment and testing, the six-cylinder Phantom chassis was introduced in 1925. The New Phantom, as it was called, received the Phantom I designation retrospectively when the Phantom II appeared on the scene in 1930. From 1926 until as late as 1931, the American version of the Phantom I was produced at the Springfield, Massachusetts factory. 3,340 Phantom I's were produced, 1,241 built stateside. Coachbuilder Brewster, located in Long Island City, Queens, New York (and purchased by Rolls-Royce in 1926) provided much of the coachwork for cars built stateside. The New York firm bodied more than 800 Phantom I's, far more than any U.S. coachbuilder including ten Riviera Town Cars like this, who's first owner was Alfred Cleveland Bluementhal, a real estate agent, Broadway and film producer. He was married to Broadway actress Peggy Fears.

This Riviera town car with coachwork by Brewster was among the last cars built at the Springfield Works and was one of ten fitted with this coachwork design. It is both sporting and formal, with a hood and cowl that is carefully blended with the front doors, and minimal ornamentation is used through the exterior, including the lack of any exterior door hardware. The windshield has a slightly angled rake, and there are dual coach lamps near the rear half of the body, along with a more upright passenger compartment and rear-hinged doors. The rear passenger compartment has a blind, and rear quarter panels which provide privacy for its occupants. Additionally, there are decorative landau irons on the exterior.

It is believed that the first owner of this Rolls-Royce was Alfred Cleveland Blumenthal who took delivery on February 1st of 1932, at his address at the Hotel Ambassador in midtown Manhattan. John Eliot Holt of Hampton, Connecticut was its next owner by 1953, at which time the chassis was fitted with a Brewster Kenilworth sedan body. It was sold to David G. Domidion of Bernardsville, New Jersey around 1979. It was later sold to the Imperial Palace Collection in Las Vegas, Nevada, by which time it had once again been fitted with proper Brewster Riviera coachwork. The current owner acquired the vehicle in 1998 and embarked on a no-expense-spared restoration. When the work was completed in 2013, the Rolls-Royce wore a proper period color combination featuring black paintwork accented with straw-colored canework on the rear body and doors. The black-painted wire wheels are wrapped with blackwall tires, and as a late Phantom I chassis, this vehicle has flat-bar bumpers and conical headlamps. The rear compartment contains walnut marquetry trim, beige upholstery, fold-down occasional seats, and a sliding glass chauffeur's division. The front section is done in black leather and has a removable tendelet canopy and side curtains. In the back is a period accessory trunk.

This Rolls-Royce Phantom I has been used sparingly since the restoration was completed.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2022