1936 | Rolls-Royce Phantom III

Rolls-Royce Phantom III ordered by His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester the six light Limousine body by Barker. The second owner after his royal highness was the notable novelist and journalist, Edgar Lustgarten. The car  came to Kent in 1960 and was purchased by its currently long term family owners in 1970 where is has remained, the last member of the family to own the car being a marine engineer and farmer from Sussex, who overhauled the engine in 1970, with Rolls-Royce supplying the parts (invoices present in history file).  Approximately 10 years ago one cylinder head was removed, sadly the owner passed away before he could refit the cylinder head.  The car was stored in a barn until late 2022 with all its parts present and ready to be reassembled.  We have taken the car into our workshops and re fitted the cylinder head with new gaskets, we have also fitted a new carburettor body. We fitted a new battery and the car fired up, the engine runs and is quiet, unfortunately there is water leaking from the exhaust pipe which we believe to be corrosion in one of the exhaust ports, the engine therefore requires further investigation in order for it to run for a long period of time. When starting the car after fitted the new battery, we found the dynamo was charging and most of the dials appear to work with exception of the engine temperature gauge; this is available from Alpine Eagle. We have driven the car in our yard and it seems to drive well, the clutch and brakes seem to function correctly. The interior would benefit from some recommissioning including the polished woodwork being restored, the Brown hide to the front is in good order but the front carpet is missing. In the rear there is a small hole in the headlining but other than this it is good. We have recovered the rear seat with wool cloth which looks quite smart, we have not done the armrests which looks to be an easy job for the new owner if one chose continue with this trim. The two rear occasional seats in the rear are in good order. Drop glasses winding up and down correctly. The exterior paintwork will require some attention, most of this being on the Black areas of the coachwork, this could be easily rectified by an enthusiast, the vinyl roof is in good order. The car retains many of its original features including its scarce on board jacking system.  Although the tyres are old they do have good tread, the Rolls-Royce mascot comes with the car, and the chrome work is in generally good condition. This rare and highly desirable motor car represents a fantastic opportunity for an enthusiast to return her to the road. Several very similar examples are currently on the market for well in excess of £100,000.