 When we contemplate this 1925 Rolls Royce Phantom Jonkheere, a certain shudder arises. Its image exudes a special drama. An imposing length, its menacing curves, make the most spectacular pre-World War II automobiles look insignificant. It even stands apart from its marque siblings of the era. If we had to choose a model from the British house that stood radically outside the norms, this “Round Door Rolls” would certainly be a clear candidate. The Anne Dodge commissionIt all starts with Anna Thompson Dodge, in fact, wife of Horace Elgin Dodge Sr. The Dodge brothers, John and Horace, founders of the Dodge brand, died young, within months of each other, in 1920. The brothers left an immense fortune to their widows, a fortune that grew to the point that in 1924 it reached two billion dollars at today's exchange rate. There is no doubt that Anne Dodge would not have much trouble ordering a New Phantom from the Rolls factory in 1925, as it was called at the time before having successors and naming it Phantom I. At this time, the British manufacturer sold naked chassis so that their lucky owners could order bodies to their liking, to different specialized firms. In the case of our protagonist, this order would be for the prestigious firm Hooper, with the order to dress the chassis with a spectacular convertible body. The order was placed by Hugh Dillman, Anne Thompson's second husband. But Miss Anne Thompson Dodge changed her mind and never picked up the car. It remained in the United Kingdom, where it left for India, having been acquired by the Rajah of Nanpara. In BelgiumThe Roaring Twenties and the crisis of 1929 marked the life of this car, which passed through several hands as fortunes rose and fell. In 1932, it was located in Belgium and, two years later, an as yet unidentified owner took the Phantom to the Jonckheere coachwork company near Roeselare, to be renovated. Although Henri Jonckheere built its first luxury car in 1902, the company had moved on to primarily bus and coach bodies by the 1930s. By this time the Streamline movement was in vogue. As a result of this movement we find models with an elaborately streamlined appearance, which is actually more aesthetic than technical, but in any case spectacular. Jonckheere elaborates a coupé with flowing lines and very particular details, such as the flat and very flat windshield, a double glass roof, a particularly shaped radiator (almost a sacrilege, for the purists of the brand) and in a rather low position, the headlights in the shape of a howitzer, and an aerodynamic fin in the center of the descending rear of the body (in the style of an airplane), an element widely used by European coachbuilders in the 1930s and that can be seen in some cars of the time as the 1936 Peugeot 402 Andreau or the Bugatti Type 57 SC Atlantic, among others. But the most characteristic element of the Flemish coachbuilder's work was the round doors that earned this model the nickname “Round Door Rolls”. Incidentally, the windows of these doors split vertically and open like scissors as they retract into the doors. This spectacular Phantom of no less than 6.40 meters long was not liked among the most loyal followers of the brand founded by Henry Royce and Charles Stewart Rolls. However, this would not be an obstacle to win the Prix d'Honneur at the 1936 Cannes Concours d'Elegance. It then passed through several owners before ending up in the United States in the possession of New England light bulb magnate Max Bilofsky. Despite being a difficult car to drive (among other details, it had no rear window), he did use it, but, yes, behind the wheel was his chauffeur. In a junkyardAfter World War II, the car appeared in a New Jersey junkyard in the early 1950s. A pioneering classic enthusiast and entrepreneur named Max Obie discovered the abandoned Rolls, and restored it in his own way. He had it painted with gold flakes, made up a story that it was formerly owned by King Edward, who abdicated to become the Duke of Windsor, and put the gilded “Royal Rolls ” on tour at trade shows and malls, charging a dollar to sit behind its wheel. Final restorationSubsequently it passed through different hands again, without leaving the United States. One of these owners would paint it in an ivory color. At the peak of the collector car bubble of the early 1990s, a Japanese collector paid $1.5 million for it at auction. From there it fell into oblivion until 2001 when the Petersen Automotive Museum , in Los Angeles, purchased it and undertook its restoration to restore it to its 1936 appearance.
Source:
Continue reading:Previous
Soybean CarIn the early 1940s, Henry Ford experimented with the manufacture of plastic parts for automobiles. These experiments resulted in what was described as a "plastic car made of soybeans". Although this car never made it into the museum's collections, it remains a fine example of innovative design. Next
Detroit ElectricCombustion eventually won the battle, but it was not because it was not tried. In the early days of the automobile, electricity was one of the most advanced energy sources with a spectacular potential for evolution; it was the energy of the future and people like Nikola Tesla did everything possible to make it a reality. In fact, all the electrical systems we have today, or at least the basis of their development, were invented in those distant years at the beginning of the 20th century. |
Options
