Lot 187

Amelia Island 2012

1931 Rolls-Royce 20/25 Sedanca deVille by Park Ward

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$55,000 USD | Sold

United States | Amelia Island, Florida

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Chassis No.
GFT 72

Est. 100 hp, 3,680 cc OHV six-cylinder engine, updraft carburetor, four-speed transmission, front and rear semi-elliptic leaf springs, live rear axle, power assisted mechanical front and rear drum brakes. Wheelbase: 129"

• Numbers-matching car with extensive history, including original invoice

• One of only 12 Sedanca deVilles on 20/25 chassis; the only one without a trunk

• Properly maintained and still in original color of Falconer’s Blue

• Featured in Those Elegant Rolls-Royce by Lawrence Dalton on page 179

Rolls-Royce launched the 20/25 in 1929. The result was such a success that the car was also used as the platform for the newly-acquired Bentley marque, in its 3½-Litre model, introduced in 1933. Every prewar Rolls-Royce car was produced as a rolling chassis only, which was then sent to a coachbuilder for a bespoke body.

This particular 20/25 chassis was bodied by Park Ward, one of the most respected coachbuilders in England. In 1939, Rolls-Royce purchased the firm, eventually joining Park Ward with H.J. Mulliner to produce the sought-after Mulliner Park Ward designs in the postwar years. Records indicate the first owner, Sir Strati Ralli, ordered the car for his wife, Lady Ralli. Rolls-Royce and Park Ward records confirm that the chassis still carries its original body, engine and gearbox. This car has benefited from cosmetic re-freshening and regular maintenance yet remains highly original. The car will be presented with its original owners’ manual, original invoice and historical documents. Included is a letter from the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club Ltd., validating this is a “very rare car,” and that “[o]ver the period 1929-1937 Park Ward bodied many 20/25hp cars but we can ascertain from the Company’s records that the total number of Sedanca-de-Villes was only 12,” as well as that this car “is the only body style without a boot or trunk but carrying a spare wheel.” The car is pictured in Lawrence Dalton’s archival work Those Elegant Rolls-Royce on page 179.

Its sedanca deville body style provides a spacious closed rear compartment, and the option of either an open or enclosed driver’s compartment. With 85,000 miles on the odometer and finished in Falconers Blue with black wings and top, it still wears its highly desirable original full wheel disks and is a brilliant example of Rolls-Royce’s bespoke luxury.