Don purchased his gorgeous 1937 Rolls Royce, Phantom III Sedanca last year from an Indiana dealership, who listed it on eBay. Don was the lucky highest bidder. He is only the second owner of this shining gem of a car. It is luxury at its finest.
The original owner was a woman whose husband bought it, brand new, as an anniversary present to/for her. She drove it up through and until she was 93 years young. The only things that Don has done to the car since purchasing it, is add the top red pinstripes and the two coach lanterns. Everything else is original, including the paint, which is in remarkable condition. The car came/is equipped with 3 cocktail bars – one in the back trunk, complete with crystal glasses and decanter, one in the back seat just above the radio, which is built into the back of the front seat, and a third bar in the front cab. And speaking of the seats; they and the door panels are of finest black leather and the seats look so cushy. There is a built-in tool box, that stows under the driver’s seat (see photo). Another standard feature of the car is a picnic basket, complete with crystal glasses, fine cutlery, and plates.
Although the Phantom III typically came with a V-12 motor, Don’s is powered by a Big 6 100HP motor, which offers a top speed of 85-90 MPH and probably gets about 10 MPG, but who cares. One shouldn’t be concerned about gas mileage when owning a luxury ride such as this. There are approximately 52,000 original miles on Don’s Rolls. I think what astonished me the most about this car, once I got past all the amazing eye candy, is that it has two of everything under the hood. It has two fuel pumps, two water pumps, two distributors, two coils, two sets of points, and two air filters, which are enclosed in a large/long single compartment. The duplicated parts are there just in case any one of these components fails.
On top of all that, and even more amazing to me, was the fact that it has a chrome lever on the steering wheel, which is an idle adjuster and timing advance; meaning, you can regulate the idle and adjust the timing from the inside of the car! When Don demonstrated this to me, I noticed that the distributor would rotate right to left and left to right whichever way he would move the steering wheel lever! Amazing…
Note the long, black horizontal rod about midway up in the photo of the engine. That is one of three built in, self adjusting, jacks that allow the car to be raised, from the inside. There are also two more “internal” jacks for and at the rear of the car. None of this getting out in the elements and having to manually jack the car up for the fortunate folks who own one of these beauties, or shall I say, for their chauffeurs. There is also the option to adjust the volume of the horn from soft to loud. You’ll notice, too, that there are three headlamps. The one in the middle is the actual driving lamp; the other two are high beams for driving in the countryside. Still another standard feature is the built-in vanities on either side wall in the back cabin for the ladies to primp before disembarking for the opera, or any other such high society functions. The front retractable top is operated by a removable crank. This top slides inside the rear cabin roof. This allowed for the driver to enjoy the open air whilst keeping the rear passengers under cover.
My only wish is that I would have recorded the sound of that smooth, silent purr of the engine and that we could post videos on this page. Don reckons that the sound is as smooth as a sewing machine. However, as a professional seamstress and owning 8 industrial and domestic machines, I can attest to the fact that none of my machines purr like that of this 1937 Phantom III Sedanca de Ville. Don fired it up several times, for long stretches each time, and the car never heated up. One had to hear it (or not, in this case) to believe how quiet it is!
Only 727 of the Phantom III Sedanca de Ville were produced worldwide between 1908-1939. Over 100 of them went to the British Royal family. The Sedanca is named after the Spanish nobleman, Carlos de Salamanca, who was a Rolls Royce distributor in 1923 Spain.
Thank you, Don for bringing this magnificent machine out for the rest of us lucky ones in attendance to drool over. By the way, Don also owns a 2017 Roll Royce Phantom Limousine.
Photos and story by Carol Marcopulos
