Lot No: 331
1925 Rolls-Royce 40/50hp Phantom I Saloon
Coachwork by Martin & King
Chassis no. 10MC
Engine no. EB75
Rolls-Royce's 'single model' policy had proved to be an outstanding success for the company, but immediately after the end of the Great War the recession in the motor trade prompted the introduction of a smaller, cheaper, 20hp car to be built alongside the existing 40/50hp Silver Ghost. Henry Royce's new design incorporated a number of modern features such as overhead valve-gear for its six-cylinder engine, a centre-change gearbox and 'Hotchkiss drive' rear axle, the advanced newcomer's arrival only serving to emphasise the Silver Ghost's Edwardian origins. However, the 45/50hp model would soon benefit from developments pioneered on its smaller sibling.
Long-awaited successor to the 'Ghost, the New Phantom arrived in 1925. 'After seven years of experiment and test, in the course of which no promising device had remained untried, the 45/50hp Phantom chassis emerged, and is o