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American Rolls Royce (Ghost, PI & PII)


alsancle

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/27/2017 at 2:09 PM, alsancle said:

Looks great John!!!

Thanks, it is getting there - just tinkering with small stuff now (it took a lot of time  to get it mechanically from "long term storage" to "turnkey" and doing a large scale cosmetic pick-me-up so that it can be proudly displayed at any car show or Concours d'Elegance).  And, time for this automobile to find a new owner  - I need to finish the restoration of my 852 Auburn Phaeton, I promised several local groups that I would get a WWII Jeep, I have started a business and also need to find a new role while that business develops over time, and .... 

Edited by John_Mereness (see edit history)
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  • 2 weeks later...
3 hours ago, alsancle said:

John,  the 3 things I have noticed that really can set you back financially are:

 

1.  Having kids.

2.  Starting a business.

3.  Restoring a car.

 

First is getting married

Seconed is getting divorced 

Third is having kids

 

Everything else in life is cheap!

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4 hours ago, alsancle said:

This is a good comp for the LHD PII Town car that we posted from eBay a few pages back.  That car needed everything while this car looks fantastic for 200k.

 

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/rolls-royce/phantom-ii/1983980.html

 

 

59862874-770-0@2X.jpg?rev=1

 

 

 

Wow! Beautiful. Again, I'd like to see it with wheel discs on it. Doesn't look very comfortable to drive, but if I could find somebody to do the driving duties I'd be happy to sit in the back.

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Great car, with the front door having a rear hinge and cut on that angle along the windshield line, it makes getting in and out of the car much easier, even if you are six feet tall. 

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5 hours ago, edinmass said:

 

First is getting married

Seconed is getting divorced 

Third is having kids

 

Everything else in life is cheap!

 

Ed, you're close, but-

 

getting divorced is more expensive than getting married,

and sometimes the grandkid is even more expensive than the kids 

(sometime in private, ask me how I know)

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Probably the best value for your dollar in the hobby today, a factory playboy on a Springfield Ghost chassis. Fantastic car all around, puts almost everything else on wheels to shame, and they sell for what can only be described as reasonable compared to many other cars. Properly restored and sorted, the car will literally last a lifetime with just basic maintenance. 

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16 hours ago, alsancle said:

This picture was taken in Ohio in the late 50s.  Very similar to your car Peter but with earlier details.   I wonder where it is now?

RollsPhantomOneCoupe.jpg

 

Al-

 

Holy Cow!!! I can tell you EXACTLY about both Springfield cars pictured here...

 

This photo must have been taken on or near Al Fiske's house near Cincinnati, Ohio. Al was one of the founders of the RROC. 

 

The Regent Convertible Coupe is car S101FM. Sold new to Pennsylvania after being used by Rolls as a Trials car-probably because it is believed to be one of the first cars fitted with an aluminum head. It was originally sold with a Kennilworth sedan body and was almost immediately returned to Springfield and fitted with the Regent Convertible body. That car was owned by Al Fiske at the time of this photo.  It was later purchased by Dave Noran in Ft. Thomas, KY who restored the car in yellow. Dave sold it to a collector in Michigan in about 2003. I do not know if he still has the car but he showed it at the CCCA Museum meet about five or seven yeas ago.  

 

The sedan in the background is a 1927 Tilbury sedan, S274RM. That car was sold new to New York City to a member of the Vanderbilt family. Al Fiske bought the car from a family storage facility in Long Island in the 1950s and repainted it in its original color after purchasing it. He kept the car until the 1980s when he sold it to Dave Noran in a package with S101FM and possibly another car or two. I bought it in 2003 and so far it has been driven about 15,000 miles during my ownership. Other than the 1950s repaint and lots of mechanical work, it is basically an original car. It has proven to be a  helluva road car. Here it is today....

 

Both cars are pictured in John de Campi's book, Rolls Royce in America.

 

Thank you so much for posting this great picture. I am certainly going to make a print of it and put it in the file for my car. I have a lot of photos from this era but have not seen this one before.

 

 

S274RM2.jpg

S274RM3.jpg

S274RM4.jpg

Edited by motoringicons (see edit history)
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That would be great.

 

Upon closer look at your photo, I believe the third car from the left of the photo (just visible above the rumble seat area of the Regent) may be another one of Al's. I think this might be his Springfield PI town car, but can't be sure. If it is, that car was also purchased by Noran with the Tilbury and Regent and sold about the same time.

 

Apparently, the Anderson Ferry still exists today:

http://www.andersonferry.org/anderson_ferry_information.htm

 

blob.png.0c088d1d103a8e11c9b352c12eb127bb.png

Edited by motoringicons (see edit history)
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I saw the discussion about getting in and out - Dad and I went out for an hour yesterday and I will tell you pretty easy to get in/out and incredible nice seating position.  Dad's comments and I agree are: Not a good car for heavy/clunky shoes and when you hand over hand steer it is a little annoying going around a corner as your arms brush over the horn/throttle/spark/mixture quadrant in the middle of the steering wheel (Dad is about 6'3" and I am 6'1" tall).  The photos help you see it has a HUGE door opening width and a decent space between seat cushion and cowl.   I will tell you very nice front seating position and that FRONT SEAT IT IS PROBABLY THE MOST COMFORTABLE of any of the 200 plus 1930's CAR that that I HAVE EVER BEEN IN (incredibly impressive), plus the SAME GOES FOR THE BACKSEAT (Brewster knew how to build a seat cushion).  

IMG_2139.JPG

IMG_2138.JPG

IMG_2143.JPG

Edited by John_Mereness (see edit history)
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On 12/12/2017 at 7:20 PM, alsancle said:

Here you go.  Pictures look to be from 1957 if that makes sense.  There is a good one of your car.

RollsMeet1957-4.jpg

RollsMeet1957-3.jpg

RollsMeet1957-2.jpg

RollsMeet1957-1.jpg

The owner's name rarely came up as to the Trouville, though it was a Cincinnati car until  early/middle 1980's (I first saw it perhaps 1971 at age 6).  It was Maroon and Black and restored by Ned Herman at Vintage Garage in Cincinnati (a quality of restoration way ahead of its time).

 

The Pall Mall was later restored to Black by Vintage Garage - I think it was finished in mid/late 70's

 

I sold the English PI Mulliner Touring (next to the Pall Mall) of Herb Krombolz last year (two generations of ownership).  The 25/30 sedan was also Herb's  and later bought by an employees of Herb's son and then put out on ebay a couple years after that (it was Midnight Blue and Black)

 

And, the Al Fisk Tilbury car was a fixture in Cincinnati for a good long time.

 

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On 12/12/2017 at 12:38 PM, motoringicons said:

That would be great.

 

Upon closer look at your photo, I believe the third car from the left of the photo (just visible above the rumble seat area of the Regent) may be another one of Al's. I think this might be his Springfield PI town car, but can't be sure. If it is, that car was also purchased by Noran with the Tilbury and Regent and sold about the same time.

 

Apparently, the Anderson Ferry still exists today:

http://www.andersonferry.org/anderson_ferry_information.htm

 

blob.png.0c088d1d103a8e11c9b352c12eb127bb.png

The Town Car was owned by Tom Phuel (or Pheul) of Cincinnati, it had a bad head and he sold it off (I believe it left the area after sale as Tom always would say he would like to know who owned it and see it again at some point) .  The Regent would have been Al Fisk and prior to it's restoration.

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I like it better now via front view - I had the  front splash apron below the grill painted to Black and changed the trim pieces between splash pan and front fender from Light Green to Dark Green (matches the gasoline tank cover better).  I was asked why I did not paint the Gasoline tank cover Black when I had it repainted and the reason why is luggage trunk is a metal Taylor brand that is both top and front opening and I had it restored to Black (waiting on the plating still to reassemble) and green cover highlights trunk nicely.  I have to say though, I personally like it without the trunk, though for tours the trunk really is nice to store items inside. 

IMG_2128.JPG

IMG_2123.JPG

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5 minutes ago, Peter Zobian said:

Hi, 

 

Is your tail lamp an original Trilon or is it one of the recent remakes?

Yes, an original lamp - may even be the original plating on it too.  This is one of those cars that has always lived in an impressive garage and been well cared for.

 

Sidenote: I am not sure drivers today understand Blue = Stop and when lights up it is a rather "washed out" blue.  I was tempted to add an extra socket so when you hit the brakes the running lamp comes on too, but way lamp is designed there is very little extra room.  Back up light really does light well - I give it extra credit points.

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I spent the last two days driving twin PII’s around Southern Florida, both are low mileage Brewster bodied cars. Both are fresh Restorations. The PII’s are much more sensitive when it comes to shifting the crash box VS the PI.  It took me over an hour to be able to shift it silently, definitely not for the beginner learning how to drive a stick! The four speed doesn’t seem to improve the drivability of the car, I’ll take the PI three speed if I have a choice. The PII chassis rides much better than the PI. They steer and stop the same.

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PS- I have a set of Michelin 650/700-20 Black wall tires that are two years old with less than fifty miles on them. The sidemounts tires have never touched the ground. All six are available for 1500 plus shipping, a savings of more than 1200 over the current advertised prices.  Send me a PM if intrested.  Ed

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