• Displayed at the 1931 Olympia Motor Show in London
• Superbly balanced sports saloon coachwork by Thrupp & Maberly
• Only three owners in the past 67 years
• An historically significant example of the highly desirable Phantom II Continental

If, during the interwar years, Rolls-Royce could justifiably claim to be “the best car in the world”, the marque’s finest model of the era is without doubt the Phantom II Continental. Powered by a 7,668 cc straight-six, these magnificent leviathans represent the ultimate development of the 40/50 family. They were aimed at a more sporting clientele than the standard Phantom II.

The car offered, chassis number 8JS, is one of the earliest of the type, having been completed in mid-1931. Equipped with an extremely attractive four-door saloon body by Cricklewood-based Thrupp & Maberly, it was originally intended for display at that year’s Paris Salon. A change of plan, however, meant that the car made its debut at the Olympia Motor Show in London from 15 to 24 October. Finished in pale yellow with pea-green detailing and a matching green interior, the Continental was priced at £3,000, making it the most expensive car at that year’s London exhibition. It is thought that this was one of the first Rolls-Royce to feature a black radiator badge, moving away from the earlier typical red, due to the colours clashing with the coachwork.

Registered UG 8, the Phantom was sold to its first owner, JW Hemmingway of Leeds, in November 1931. After changing hands in 1945, and then three more times during the early 1950s, 8JS passed in 1955 to Air Commodore Allen Wheeler, who retained it for 22 years. During Wheeler’s custodianship, the Continental was first repainted dark green and later battleship grey, the latter famously being Sir Henry Royce’s favourite colour. In 1977, the car went to Denmark, where its new owner, Poul Sachmann, embarked on a painstaking body-off restoration to the original Olympia Motor Show specification. It is said that restorers found layers of the earlier paint under the grey, so returned the car’s colour to its correct shade. The Rolls-Royce wasn’t sold again until 1995, when it was acquired by the consigning owner—meaning that it has enjoyed a mere three owners in the past 67 years.

Pictured and described in André Blaize’s reference work, Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental (pages 154 to 159), 8JS is a fine specimen of this extremely desirable model.
To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/pa23.