Rolls-Royce Phantom III

Information

1947 Rolls-Royce Phantom III Labourdette Vutotal Cabriolet

Began life in 1939 as a Hooper-bodied Sedanca de Ville, which was displayed at the Brussels, Amsterdam and Geneva Auto Shows before being shipped to the New York World's Fair. It was later sold to the flamboyant Louis Ritter who dispatched it back to Europe to be rebodied by Labourette in Paris. Everything that looked like a Rolls-Royce was discarded apart from the Cloisonne inset into the doors, and the Spirit of Ecstasy that graces the curved Rolls-Royce grille. This aerodynamic body was the result. It makes lavish use of gold and brass features along with the patented Vutotal windscreen. The cost: a mere $44,000. Completed in 1947 it was shown at the Paris Concours d'Elegance before returning to much celebration in New York.