Rolls-Royce Phantom III
| Manufacturer: | Rolls-Royce |
|---|---|
| Model: | Phantom III |
| Year of Manufacture: | 1936 |
| Coachwork: | Owen-Gurney Nutting |
| Body Style: | Sedanca De Ville |
Restoration is an oft used and much abused term and, as applied to this car, this was certainly the case. Alpine Eagle has been restoring R-R & B for over forty-three years now and has consistently won the highest possible awards for its work. These include not only RREC Annual Rallies but at Pebble Beach, Louis Vuitton and many other similarly prestigious meetings as well. They take their work extremely seriously and can justifiably claim to be amongst a handful of restoration companies that are the World’s finest.
This particular car had been restored in the 1970’s and was rather butchered so it had to be completely stripped and built again! The exterior had been painted in three shades of revolting metallic brown. No panel was straight and no door fitted properly, the front had been badly trimmed in poor quality white leather and the rear seats and headlining in brown striped Dray Lon. The carpets were cheap, brown, rubber backed and vinyl bound and plywood had been fitted into the foot wells so that a single piece only was needed.
It is hard to convey how much, highly skilled work of many different disciplines is required to rebuild any Rolls-Royce properly, let alone a PIII. Alpine Eagle admit that this car has taken longer than any previous restoration; Typically a PII Continental or Derby Bentley is completed in approximately 10 months from arrival at the factory, but this PIII has consumed a further 8! Roy Partridge points out that each time they do a car they strive to raise their standards even further and that he feels this is their best work to date. He is extremely proud of his team of craftsmen and what they have achieved.
ROLLS-ROYCE PHANTOM III
Rolls-Royce Phantom III
The Rolls-Royce Phantom III was the final large pre-war Rolls-Royce. Introduced in 1936, it replaced the Phantom II and it was the only V12 Rolls-Royce until the 1998 introduction of the Silver Seraph. 727 V12 Phantom III chassis were constructed from 1936 to 1939, and many have survived. Although chassis production ceased in 1939 (with one final chassis being built in 1940), cars were still being bodied and delivered in 1940 and 1941. The very last car, though the rolling chassis was completed in 1941, was not delivered with a body to its owner until 1947. The Phantom III was the last car that Henry Royce worked on – he died, aged 70, a year into the Phantom III’s development.
