Three years after the 1906 founding of Rolls-Royce in England, a representative arrived in the U. S. to promote sales of the elegant motor car among America’s elite. An arrangement with the Brewster body company to share sales and service space in Long Island City began in 1913, but Rolls imports were shortly put on hold for the duration after total pre-World War I sales of just 100.
After the war, the home company decided the American market justified local assembly, and Rolls-Royce of America began production in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1921. Silver Ghost and, after 1925, Phantom I chassis were shipped from England to be converted to left-hand drive and equipped as Americans liked things, three-speed transmission rather than four-speed, for instance. This example is powered by a 467-cid, 158-hp inline six-cylinder engine. The chassis’ were then fitted with bodies from American coach-makers, made to order for wealthy customers.
By the time it closed in 1931, as even millionaires felt effects of the Great Depression, the Springfield plant had produced 2,944 American Rolls-Royces. Deliveries had fallen from 350 in 1929 to only 73 in 1931.
Though the factory had ceased production, Rolls-Royce of America continued selling off its older chassis inventory in the thirties as well as taking orders to equip some 119 new 144-inch wheelbase Phantom II “Continental” (left-hand-drive) chassis imported from the U.K. All Rolls-Royce cars were to be fitted with custom bodies, in the U. S. mostly but not exclusively by its own Brewster, acquired in 1926. For American appeal, Brewster designs carried such traditional British names as Stratford, Piccadilly, Oxford, Pall Mall and Mayfair.
In 1933, Rolls-Royce filled orders for some 30 Phantom II motor cars such as the gray beauty offered here. Brewster’s town car body types, where the chauffeur steers in the open, carried the names Huntington, Newport, Savoy and Keswick. Of 13 different models sold in 1933, the Newport was the most popular, with eight deliveries, including one to legendary millionaire playboy Tommy Manville.
The 1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom II “Continental” Brewster Newport Town Car offered here, is finished in two-tone gray with light gray pinstriping, was treated to a complete restoration by Classic & Exotic Restorations of Troy, Michigan in 1999, immediately after which it was acquired by a private collection. The car is expected to reach $200,000 – $225,000 at Auctions America’s Fort Lauderdale sale on March 28, 2015.
