1931 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Special Town Car by Brewster LHD
This 1931 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Left-Hand Drive was ordered with a "Special Town Body with all-weather front" and built by Brewster. A unique car with an intriguing early history that is exquisitely documented in Rolls-Royce Owners Club records. Delivered new to New York City, the car would remain close to home for the first fifty years of its existence. Copies of original correspondence with the factory prior to and during the ordering process give amazing insight into the level of detail and care that was taken in creating each motorcar. Subject of an older restoration, a pair of photos from just after the completion of the work show the car in all its glory. In the ensuing decades, the restoration has aged and taken on its own patina. Undriven in the current ownership, at the very least mechanical recommissioning will be required prior to active use.
Ordered new by Mrs. Jeanne G. Postley, she was by that point the ex-wife of multiple times divorced millionaire Sterling Postley. Mr. Postley came from a family whose lineage could be traced to the very founding of New York and whose occupation (and that of his father) could best be described as 'professional man of leisure'. Raised in a massive Fifth Avenue mansion and later adding to that a 75 acre Oyster Bay, New York estate, Sterling was married several times to similarly well-to-do women and blossomed in his career from a yachtsman like his father to an automobilist later in life. His ex-wife was of similar taste and means. Residing at 420 Park Avenue, a copy of the original Rolls-Royce Motor Carriage Proposal indicates Mrs. Postley ordered the car on June 30, 1931 specifying an English Phantom II in left drive with a "Special Town Body with all-weather front" to be built by Brewster. The lengthy 'Special Equipment' section was filled to capacity, with two specific optionshand painted cane work on the rear bodywork and doors for $450 and special marquetry for $850. Copies of the original Brewster sales contract dated July 8th detail the specifics of the order down to the fact a special compartment was to be made to fit Mrs. Postley's "toilet case ... which she furnished." Finished in all blackbody, chassis, hood, and fendersthe rear quarter and back panels as well as rear doors featured the aforementioned hand painted canework in pure white. Up front the driver sat on black leather and in back Laidlaw cloth ensconced the cabin. Interior wood inlays and trim as well as blind corners in the roof took inspiration from another Phantom delivered to Bulova, 437MR. Other unique details included slightly narrower bodyworkroughly four inches slimmer than other seven -passenger limousines, and a specific request for a Dunhill lighter in place of the standard cigar lighter.
Delivered the day before Halloween, 1931, Mrs. Postley would retain the Rolls for a decade before selling it to Warren Leslie of the Jamaica Water Company at 24 E. 94th Street in Manhattan on July 25, 1941. Kept by Mr. Leslie for yet another decade and change, J.S. Inskip acquired the car on October 23, 1952. Listed for $1700, it took nearly a year to find a new owner with H.K. Baumeister of The Bronx purchased 238AJS on September 11, 1953. It was not until February 1972 when Robert Jay Castle took ownership of the car that it finally left New York Cityonly to travel just north to Herkimer in central New York. After nearly half a century in the Empire state, 238AJS finally left New York when joined the garage of Louisville, Kentucky collector Mark Miles on March 11, 1980. Mr. Miles would retain the car for over three decades before it was acquired by the previous owner in 2013.
Coachwork by Brewster
Chassis no. 238AJS
Engine no. C15T - Delivered new to New York City
- Factory Left-Hand Drive Phantom II
- Special Town Body by Brewster with All-Weather Front
- Fabulously documented early history and known history from new
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