To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys' The Guyton
Collection event, 4 - 5 May 2019.
Estimate:
$125,000 - $175,000
- One of the most significant examples of formal coachwork on the
Phantom III
- Coachwork shown at Brussels, Amsterdam, Geneva, and the 1939
New York World's Fair
- Formerly owned by Dr. Samuel Scher and Morton Bullock
- Documented by noted Phantom III historian Steve Stuckey
- Classic Car Club of America (CCCA) Full Classic
Among the most widely shown Phantom IIIs in period was chassis no.
3DL120, a handsome limousine de ville by Hooper & Company of
London. It featured a distinctive long roofline, streamlined
fenders with "spats" over the rear wheels, and an interior trimmed
in fawn cloth and curl walnut. Beautiful touches included
overstuffed swiveling rear jump seats (among the most comfortable
ever seen), Hooper's complexly engineered disappearing metal roof
over the chauffeur's seat, and sliding window shades in the rear
compartment. This was Rolls-Royce's main European show car in 1939,
exhibited on the factory stand at Brussels, Amsterdam, and Geneva,
then in the British Pavilion at the New York World's Fair between
September and November 1939.
In the early post-war years, chassis no. 3DL120 was famously
rebodied by Jean-Henri Labourdette with a wild and distinctive
drophead coupe body for flamboyant furrier, Louis Ritter; this body
remains on the car to this day. The "World's Fair" Hooper body was
sold to Dr. Samuel Scher, a pioneering New York plastic surgeon and
avid early automobile collector, as well as one of the founding
members of the Rolls-Royce Owners Club. In 1947, he mounted the
body on its present chassis, no. 3DL180, a U.S.-delivery car
originally fitted with an Inskip limousine body for Mrs. Edith
Haggin deLong, and acquired by Dr. Scher from her family.
Dr. Scher kept the Phantom III for an unusually long period of
time, until May 1969, when he sold it to Paul Lutey of Freeland,
Wisconsin. Mr. Lutey kept the car for two years, after which it was
acquired by Herb A. Schoenfeld of Washington. Mr. Schoenfeld, in
turn, sold the Rolls to respected longtime Classic Car Club of
America member, Morton Y. Bullock III of Baltimore, in 1978. It
would remain in Mr. Bullock's ownership for the next 18 years.
On a snowy winter day in 1996, Fred Guyton visited Mr. Bullock to
acquire the Hispano-Suiza H6B also offered from the Guyton
Collection. In Mrs. Beverly Guyton's apt phrasing, "In typical
fashion, he went to buy one car, and returned with two." The
Phantom III has been part of the collection since, alongside
several other significant examples of the best coachwork on this
chassis.
Largely maintained in static storage, the car's finishes likely
date to the 1970s, with the paint bearing much patina; the driver's
area was reupholstered many years ago but the broadcloth in the
rear compartment appears original, and may well be worth
preserving. Much of the chrome work is older and may be original,
as well. Importantly the body is very solid, with the original
woodwork, stamped with the body number on the front floorboards. It
is offered with its sets of road and hand tools, copies of its
build documents from the Rolls-Royce Foundation and Rolls-Royce
Enthusiasts' Club, and an excellent history report compiled by the
noted Phantom III historian, Steve Stuckey.
This is among the most significant surviving Phantom IIIs, offered
from the estate of one of the foremost American "PIII"
enthusiasts.To view this car and others currently consigned to this
auction, please visit the RM website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/gc19.
