8/6/2019 ACC0610 Rolls Royce
1/5
Rolls
Old gold
Words Bn Din
Photos Nn Duff
ausr css cr46
8/6/2019 ACC0610 Rolls Royce
2/5
As you can imagine, thisblazingly bright car dividesopinion. Even owner Alan
Gale concedes he might beinsane although not
because of the paint job
R
olls-Royce. The
merest mention
of this prestigious
name conjures
images of lords
and ladies
gathering on
green lawns for
a game of poloand assorted
frolicking, while penguin-suited
butlers stand holding trays of
champagne and hors doeuvres.
An accurate portrayal it might
not be, but owning this symbol of
wealth has never meant the owner
is short of a few bob. Alan Gale
is one man who has the means
but still describes his love of
Rolls-Royce as economic lunacy.
This doctors particular poison
chalice is a gorgeous 1929 Rolls-
Royce Phantom II that has quite
a remarkable history.
Fate and destinyFortune has graced us in bringing
Alan and his Phantom to our
attention, as it is quite something
to behold. A rare car to begin
with one of 1680 Phantom IIs
produced between 1929 and 1936
it was also subject to a restoration
that has some of the RR faithful
asking if another kind of lunacy
led Alan to his colour choice.
The true Rolls-Royce aficionados
hate it, Alan smiles. I saw the
1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom ii Sedanca de Ville
yellow-black colour scheme on a
Bugatti and knew it would suit
the Rolls.
This reaction to the colour is
quite universal. People either love
it or hate, theres no in-between,
Alan explains.
And then there is the size. The
car is massive, no doubt aboutit, but how it is proportioned is
something Alan took great pains
in deciding, making sure the right
body style was chosen for the
20-odd foot chassis.
Originally he wanted a swoopy
coup-style body, but after seeing
the original Sedanca de Ville
design, by Brewster of Springfield
in the US, he knew it would be
better proportioned.
The nostalgia of the Phantoms
era helped make the decision
easier. With the Sedanca de Ville
body style, Alan could enjoy theelegance of having the ladies sit in
the back and then the men in the
open carriage up front.
Its gargantuan size doesnt
really translate into imperiousness
or arrogance, though. From the
front it almost looks petit and has
a feminine elegance about it from
any angle.
The cabin has adequate room for
two up front and three in the back,
but doesnt have the limousine
spaciousness one might expect.
Interesting features abound, like
www.r..u 4
8/6/2019 ACC0610 Rolls Royce
3/5
CARAMEL AND
WALNUTS Whatever youthink of the Phantomsexterior colour, theres nodoubt the yellow leatherand walnut trim are amatch made in heaven.
The first two owners paid the
princely sum of 1589 for the
vehicle and sometime later sold
the Phantom to a farmer.
The fashion in 1930s and 40s
Australia saw many a Rolls-Royce
pushed into rural servitude its inherent mechanical strength
made it suitable for life as a truck.
The original Weymann body
was turfed in favour of a tray on
the back and simple cab up front,
stripping the luxurious Phantom of
all social status and relegating it
to the role of forced labour.
The Spirit of Ecstasy mascot
has become the most identifiable
feature of the Rolls-Royce brand
(the grille also, but this can often
be confused with a Bentley item
for the uninitiated). Yet for all its
elegance, it has a spicy history.
compartments for champagne
glasses and fold-down tables
just the thing for a Sunday outing
in the country, followed by some
pheasant shooting.
The walnut trim and Connolly
leather make the interior feel evenmore special than the exterior.
Outside, the wooden running
boards feature all the flat-head
screws in symmetrical alignment
along the length of the board. Alan
says this is due to Rolls the man
being a perfectionist.
It is the little things that make
Rolls what they are, he says.
Fresh oFF the boatAlan has documents stretching
back to when the car was imported
into Australia on February 4, 1930,
aboard the SS Fonsdale.
1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom ii Sedanca de Ville
t 1930s 40s sw y Rs pus rur srvu
ausr css cr48
8/6/2019 ACC0610 Rolls Royce
4/5
The story is that early automotive
champion Lord Montagu, who was
also the editor of the fi rst motoring
magazine The Car wanted a
mascot for his Silver Ghost.
Marrying for everything else but
love, Lord Montagus mistress washis inspiration, his muse. Thus he
decided there would be no more
fitting a mascot to adorn the front
of his car than his lover and
secretary, Eleanor Thornton.
The fashion of the time was to
have a mascot on the bonnet to
symbolise traits, real or imagined,
of the car or driver. Lord Montagu
commissioned his friend and
confidant, Charles Robinson Sykes,
to create the adornment.
Sykes used Eleanor as his model.
Originally Sykes Eleanor was a
lady in fluttering robes with a
BACK TO ITS BESTFormer owner and 1960sTV star, Tony Ward, wouldbarely recognise the Rollshad he lived to see it now.
finger pressed to her lips. This
sculpture was named The
Whisper and was a symbol of
Montagu and Eleanors secret love.
Yes a symbol of secret love
that Lord Montagu plopped on his
Rolls-Royce for all to behold!Sometime later, Sykes was
again commissioned to produce
a mascot for an RR, but it wasnt
just for one Rolls-Royce, it was to
be the official mascot for all Rolls-
Royce models.
Eleanor was again drafted as
the feminine form to be used, and
thus the Spirit of Ecstasy was
born to almost universal acclaim.
Co-founder of the company,
Henry Royce, was one man not
enamoured with the sculpture, and
rarely drove a model adorned with
the figurine.
Given the ambiguity in partner
choice by lords of the time it is
lucky that Lord Montagu enjoyed
relations with the fairer sex, as
Rolls-Royce cars could just have
easily been adorned with Roger
in f lowing garments.
Peas in a PodWhat is the ultimate antithesis to
a Rolls-Royce? Why a Datsun 120Y
of course!
Such vehicular extremes would
never usually have a chance to
meet, but destiny works in
mysterious ways. On one of his
many trips to the petrol station,
Alan stumbled upon a missing
piece of his Rolls-Royce puzzle.
Attached by rusty screws to an
even rustier Datsun 120Y was the
period black and white number
plate RR 1929. Alan knew right
away he had found the perfectobject to set off his Rolls.
A brief introduction followed, in
which the 120Y owner relayed that
his father had had the initials RR
and was born in 1929 and that he
had inherited the RR name (Roy
Ratbag, Alan jokes) along with
the plates, and most probably the
ancient Datto.
Alan named his price for the
whole car (plates cant be bought),
which coincidently happened to
be exactly the amount that Mr R
needed to buy a new shotgun.
Alan didnt delay. He went to theRTA with Mr R and transferred the
Datto into his name, exchanged
number plates and sold the car
back to Mr R for $10.
With the deal done and both
parties extremely satisfied, Alan
farewelled the gun-loving Mr R
and attached his new prize to
the Phantom.
LeFt to dieBefore coming to live with Alan,
the Phantom II was rescued from
an early death by vintage Rolls
expert and well-known Australianactor/journalist, Tony Ward.
The star of 60s TV spy show
Hunter, he found the remains
of the Phantom II on a farm.
Realising the cars value, he
quickly bought the chassis and
running boards and made plans
to restore his prize.
Unfortunately for Tony, a messy
divorce saw the end of that dream,
but it let Alan sink his teeth into
his f irst Rolls-Royce experience.
When Alan first took delivery of
the Phantom, he looked through
the endless documentation Tony
YOU DONT GET THAT IN A TOYOTA A fold-down tableand storage cupboards for your crystal tumblers are justthe sort of luxuries that gave Rolls-Royce its name.
www.r..u 4
8/6/2019 ACC0610 Rolls Royce
5/5
a s Pvu r $800,000
besides the paint, that is.
The car has won many awards,
including Australian and
Queensland titles, and it oftentakes the peoples choice award
due to its strik ing hue.
Alan has had the Phantom
valued at circa $800,000, which
understandably put a large smile
on his face, but he has no plans to
sell the yellow apparition just yet.
Alan is in good company, as
Clark Gable and JFKs old man,
Joe Kennedy, also chose this
Phantom model. Being in such
auspicious company is just one of
the many perks RR drivers enjoy. A
less attractive side of ownership is
often visited upon Alan when hesdriving in the city.
The Phantom builds up a lot of
momentum, so I leave a significant
gap in traffic only to have a
teenage girl talking on her phone
in a Korean jam-tin whiz in front of
me and then slam the brakes on,
Alan laughs, but coming close to
a serious accident in the big Rolls
has played out more than a few
times with Alan at the wheel.
Still, with a car as gorgeous as
Alan Gales Phantom II, suffering
economic lunacy has never
seemed so attractive.
1929 Rolls-Royce
PhaNtom II
seDaNca De VIlle
EnginE: 7.7-litre (468ci)inline six-cylinder
Transmission:Four-speed manual
PowEr: 90kW (120bhp)@ 3000 rpm
TorquE: N/A
whEElbasE:3658mm (144 in) /3810 mm (150 in)*
lEngTh:5588mm (220in)
widTh: 1524mm (60)
hEighT: 1369mm (53.9)
wEighT: 1837kg (4050lb)/ 3,500 kg (7,700lb)*
0-60 mPh: (0-96 km/h)16.8 seconds
ToP sPEEd: 140 km/h(87 mph)
*dependent on body style
sPecsThe
1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom ii Sedanca de Ville
made in relation to restoration
advice, parts included and other
useful pieces of information.
Amongst the literature was the
official Rolls-Royce Phantom II fuel
consumption figure, pegged at 55
pints per hour without any engine
speed indicated.Broaching the subject of fuel
consumption Alan is deadpan: We
dont talk about that. A little later
he opens up and reveals that real-
world consumption is around
30L/100km or close to 8mpg.
Alan cites Tony as the first real
enthusiast who knew more about
vintage Rolls than anyone else
and often talked with the veteran
TV man about all things RR. Tony
never got to see the finished
product, though, as he passed
away in 2006.
Alanmayhave skipped over
Tonys notes on how the resto
should be done, and he concedes
the late actor could be spinning in
his grave at Alans colour choice.
economic LunacyThe Phantoms restoration is where
the economic lunacy begins 13years of hard graft and a mammoth
amount of folding went into making
the Sedanca de Ville body and
refurbishing all components.
Having parts made and sourced
burned up a lot of cash, examples
being the six-ply white rubber
Firestone tyres from the US and the
Spirit mascot, which despite being
a reproduction, was a four-figure
outlay but dont tell anyone.
Once you are in so deep,
everything has to be absolutely
concours, which it is, Alan says.
Well... absolutely concours
SHOTGUN SALE The numberplate once belonged to a Datsun120Y and had nothing to do withRolls-Royce. Alan snapped it up.
ausr css cr50
Top Related