A Phantom III with provenance from a Swedish actor and an aristocratic Silver Cloud III - two Rolls Royces terminates the year at Bilweb Auctions.
In 1939 the actress Lotten Olsson in Stockholm ordered a Phantom III chassis from the Swedish Rolls-Royce dealer Wiklunds. She was 70 years old at the time, but obviously wanted to continue to be driven around in style.
Mrs Olsson assigned the coach builder Gustaf Nordbergs Vagnfabrik to do the bodywork for her new Phantom. Maybe she had noticed that Nordbergs has provided the body for king Gustaf V’s Cadillac the year before.
She chose an elegant Landaulet body with the roof covering the front seats, but having a retractable soft top over the rear. However, this body style came out of fashion after the war, so the trend conscious mrs Olsson had Nordbergs to turn the Phantom into a saloon.
Rolls-Royce Phantom was the last big pre-war model from the Crewe factory and was equipped with a mighty 7.3-liter, 238 horse power, V12. It was produced from 1936 until 1939 in only 727 examples, out of which approximately 600 is believed to have survived.
Mrs Olsson’s Phantom has been owned by the same family since 1975. It was given a new two-tone paint in yellow - originally it was black. It is an absolutely breathtaking car, a representative for an era when no other car brands could compete with Rolls-Royce.
Bilweb Auctions has estimated the value at between 600 000 to 700 000 SEK.
To the auction
Almost 30 years younger is the Silver Cloud III, which is the second Rolls-Royce in the upcoming auction. This model is considered to be the most beautiful of all from the British brand, especially in this the last version that got quadruple headlights which enhances the elegance in a substantial way.
Its first owner, a mr Matthews from Swansea, also had a sunroof installed in order to make nice summer days more enjoyable.
The Silver Cloud was imported to Sweden in 1987 and has been well taken care off by Rolls-Royce specialists ever since. In 1992 it received a new paint in the original Dawn blue, plus a new exchange engine - the 6.2 liter V8 - directly from the factory. Since then it has just been driven approximately 30 000 kilometers.
”The quality remains long after the price is forgotten”, Sir Henry Royce allegedly said about his cars. This Silver Cloud proves him right.
It has been valued at between 500 000 and 600 000 SEK by Bilweb Auctions.
To the auction
The auction for both these classic Rolls-Royce closes on 7 December.
