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Round door Rolls Phantom aero coupe in Petersen Museum


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I heard this car, which was rebodied in the '30s and then in the 1950s painted gold and shown around carnivals as the Prince of Wales car, has been shown at Pebble but never won

Best of Show because nobody has ever seen drawings of it or pictures of it being built, despite the coachbuilder still being in business all this time. It was reportedly in a junkyard where an American bought it for under $7000 and showed it at the carnivals. His last name was Obie. I was wondering if anybody knows who owned it before it went to the junkyard (it was owned by an Indian royal when it had the original body) and what year Obie bought it and where the junkyard was. I think it's coincidence that the Bugatti Royale found by Charlie Chayne was also found in a junkyard in NJ (maybe that's the place to look!)

The Petersen restored it without the somewhat distracting and overly baroque bumpers being refitted, so I wonder if anyone has a comment on that? It seems to me if that was part of the aero body they should have been put on though it's a more dramatic car without them. That's from a strictly historical point of view, not aesthetics. What say you?

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