1925 Rolls Royce 20hp Tourer.
Hunting Car Owned by King Alphonso of Spain
Chassis number GSK20
Registration number BAK958
An extraordinary car Bodied By Vanden Plas. The coachwork is a one off and rakish in the extreme. Designed as a hunting car, the roof is of the disappearing kind giving an unimpaired swing of a gun when seated in the rear occasional seat. A gun case is recessed into the central scuttle. To all four doors are hidden cases with provision made for storing cartridges which presumably ones chauffeur passed back for reloads.
The car when new was shipped to Portugal and accompanying documents allude to it having been used for hunting by King Alphonso of Spain. The car spent over 50 years in the Brook Stevens Automobile Collection in the USA until the collection was dismembered and the car bought back to the UK. A cracked cylinder head was diagnosed upon arrival and a new one sourced and fitted.
The paint is cream to the body with black wings. The bonnet is of polished aluminium heavily vented to colonial specification for additional cooling when operated in hot climes. Brown leather is fitted to the front and rear in good order. A teak deck folds up at the rear allowing for the hood to be stowed underneath.
The windshield is steeply raked with the two separate sides of the screen hinging open. A high quality convertible top completes the ensemble. To the front of the car is a pair of Stephen Grebel headlamps. A large nickel klaxon is fitted under the bonnet.
The car has been fully serviced and re-commissioned since the fitting of the new head in good running order with a quiet engine.
“Rye’s Own” March 2013
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