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Topic starter
07/11/2025 11:05 am
This first year 1925 Rolls Royce Phantom 1 ( or 'New Phantom'), replacing the Silver Ghost, began life as this touring car by Hooper :
Sold and resold, even residing a while in India, it finally found itself in Belgium at the coachbuilder shop of Henri Jonkheere in 1934 where it was rebodied into this 20' long Aerodynamic Round Door Coupe. Completed and displayed in 1936, it won awards despite the bias of Rolls Royce aficionados. It survived many years of owners and modifications. It was painted in Gold for years:
and then a very ugly off-white when it was found in a junk yard:
and finally received the full restoration it deserves. Restoring it to its original configuration was difficult as a fire destroyed the build records and even the designer is not known. It now resides in the Petersen Museum now finished in black but keeping the original red interior. The model was built in China by what I suspect was a group of techs that probably worked for a vendor and did this on their own. They only made 75 models, with 25 in each color. There was no box art or any company brand or logo coming in the quintessential plain brown wrapper.
Note: The unique round doors were great for passenger access but presented a problem for roll down windows. Hence, the windows were split down the middle and opened like a clam shell when retracted.
07/11/2025 12:05 pm
The 1:1 at the Peterson...
Topic starter
07/11/2025 2:20 pm
@marty-johnson Don't you hate filming black?
Marty Johnson and Christopher Moroni reacted
07/11/2025 2:45 pm
There was no box art or any company brand or logo coming in the quintessential plain brown wrapper.
My black one came in a CMF box. Looks like they made a few more of them too.
07/11/2025 2:49 pm
@marty-johnson I was looking for it in the Petersen Vault last spring but somehow didn't see it. A staff member then told me it was on the second floor, but I didn't see it there either. 😣
Marty Johnson and Christopher Moroni reacted
Topic starter
07/11/2025 3:17 pm
@paul-rouffa Maybe they morphed into CMF after a few sales and quit their day jobs. Mine has a bare bottom.
Paul Rouffa and Christopher Moroni reacted
07/11/2025 11:40 pm
Yes indeed! It requires someone with your photographic skills to capture the image effectively. Frankly, skills I don't have. LOL!@marty-johnson Don't you hate filming black?
Christopher Moroni reacted
07/11/2025 11:43 pm
@paul-rouffa - I'm pretty sure it's on a permanent display and doesn't get rotated in and out. I was there last summer with Chris Moroni, and I'm pretty sure I saw it then, too. Maybe @chris can confirm.
Paul Rouffa and Christopher Moroni reacted
08/11/2025 7:47 am
"Maybe @chris can confirm."
Yes, yes, I can - we did see it. A few posts back I noted "it's quite a sight." I remember starring at it, thinking it was more of a large piece of sculpture with wheels & headlights rather than an automobile. Those who initially saw it in 1936 surely must have been flabbergasted. 🤨 🤨
Topic starter
08/11/2025 11:04 am
@marty-johnson As a Hollywood producer would say, "All the magic is in Post-Production". The crazy reflections are all edited out. There are a lot of helpful hints on how to photogaph black and not lose the details but with that museum lighting, it would take forever to edit the glares out.