Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental

Chassis 28 GX is one of only 280 Continental chassis built from roughly 1,400 Phantom IIs. It left the factory in 1931 with Hooper close-coupled touring saloon coachwork. Its post-war history is unclear. In 1975 it was a bare chassis, bought by the Swiss collector Dr Ryff.

Dr Ryff had Tony Robinson build a drophead coupé body to the Park Ward design made for 195 GY, a car supplied to Park Ward's own chairman. It is a one-off interpretation, with helmet-swept wings, running boards and a tail-mounted trunk with two spare wheels. A later Swiss owner paid for an £80,000 engine rebuild by Coldwells, plus chassis work at Ristes, which included fitting overdrive. The dealer says over £400,000 has been spent over the last 20 years, with invoices available.

The current owner bought it in 2018 and has shown it at two Concours of Elegance events at Hampton Court, and at the Ghost Club and RREC Concours d'Etat. Recent work by Ristes and Jonathan Wood, costing about £20,000, included reconditioning the cylinder head and fitting improved cam followers with better oil flow. These address the engine's known wear problem on cold starts.