The story of the "Round Door" Rolls... [PIC]

The story of the original car is fascinating. The 1924 Rolls Royce Phantom l with a convertible body by Hooper was commissioned by an American lady from Detroit. The car never got to the States however, and was subsequently purchased by the Raja of Nanpara, an Indian regional potentate under British rule. It’s at this point that the vehicle was sent to the Jonckheere brothers in Belgium for its new hand-crafted body. Some reports suggest it was intended as a present for Prince Edward, but all records from the factory were lost in the war and it is not even known who originally penned the fantastic Art Deco body shape. The car went through various owners until it was finally rescued from a junkyard, beautifully restored and now resides at the Petersen Museum in its ORIGINAL black finish (more on that). It's a perennial favorite at events like the Monterey Automotive event but, because all the paperwork and provenance was lost, it cannot qualify for any major awards.

I saw a very expensive model of this car in 1/43 (the maker now eludes me) in a gold finish eons ago and I just loved the design but didn't have the money. A little Chinese start-up modeled the car in 1/18 and built 75 total. They offered 25 of each color: "original" gold, white and the Petersen Museum black. I chose what I thought was the original gold (as was the 1/43 I saw) only years later to discover a new narrative that the car was originally BLACK! (which explains why Petersen had it finished that way). Well, disappointing as that news was, I still love the car in gold.... it would have been a great ride for Herr Auric Goldfinger to be chauffeured around by OddJob.