1931 Rolls Royce Phantom 2 Continental by H.J. Mulliner

1931 Rolls Royce Phantom 2 Continental by H.J. Mulliner

Chassis number: 66GX

Registration Number: GP55

 GP55 was ‘Off Test’ at Derby on 13th April 1931. It was constructed as a Continental type chassis (specified to be ‘as 26EX’) with a short wheel base and ‘F’ rake steering suitable for an owner driver (but see change to ‘E’ rake in 1935, described below). It was designated to be built as a Weymann saloon, for use ‘Home and abroad for Town and fast touring’. The chassis was delivered to HJ Mulliner & Co Ltd at Chiswick, London W4 on 24th April 1931 by road from Lillie Hall and was bodied as a Metal Weymann Saloon. The body had sheathed bonnet hinges and an unusual vacuum powered wiper system encased in a long cylinder. 66GX was finally tested at Mulliners on 18th June 1931. It is believed that the original livery of 66GX was black with dark green interior.

   The chassis had been ordered on 13th March 1931 by The Car Mart Ltd of 297/9 Euston Road, London NW1 for a Mrs D Allen of The Cadogan Hotel, 75 Sloane Square, London SW1. She was also recorded as living at 60, Park Lane, London W1 and at Flat A, Hugo House, 179, Sloane Street, London SW1. The car was registered on 10th June 1931 as GP-55 and the Rolls-Royce guarantee was effective 20th June 1931. Her main address was in the Warwickshire countryside, The Hermitage, Sutton Brailes (better known as Sutton Brailes Manor). From June 1934 she also owned Cherry Court, North Moreton, Near Wallingford, Berkshire. 

 When she became wealthy, she spent her money freely and enjoyed herself. For example, the Allens sailed on the Cunard-White Star Line’s RMS Queen Mary in great extravagance all over the world. Photographs were taken of them while they were onboard; those pictures are a rarity, as the Allens usually refused to have any photos taken. At Christmas, they entertained only those employees who had reached a specific productivity quota. A select few were actually allowed to speak to the Allens, who felt free to indulge their illusions of grandeur. Dorothea's secretary, Dorothy Kearse, recalled that at the parties, they would sit at the end of the room behind a rope and act like royalty.

 For such an aspiring and successful couple, a lifestyle of luxury required a suitable country residence as well as a suitable car; in this case the Rolls Royce Phantom 2 COntinental GP55. In 1931 they purchased Sutton Brailes, a 300-year-old manor house of twenty-eight rooms. Sutton Brailes was designed for comfort, with things like plum silk velvet curtains and scads of silver and porcelain for entertaining. Charles Tozer, a leading and exclusive interior designer of the period, was hired to decorate the house and no expense was spared in giving the place an ancestral look.

Alfred Woodward who lived three miles away from the manor house recalled ‘Well, the first time I saw Dorothea Allen she stood out, like a film actress. The most expensive clothes that money could buy and Rolls-Royce cars to ride in. It was absolutely breath taking really. Then when I was about 12 years of age, standing on the footpath in Brailes. At that time in the 1930s cars were very few and far between. To see a magnificent Rolls Royce just come through the village several times a day was really something out of the ordinary’.

The second owner is recorded by Rolls-Royce Limited on 4th November 1935 as Sir Aeneas Alexander Mackay, 13th Baron Reay (1905-1963), a British politician who sat in the House of Lords as a Scottish representative peer. Rolls-Royce Limited recorded his contact address as Commander Harcourt-Smith RN, 62 Rutland Gate, London, SW7 and also that he owned the car in July 1937. A portrait photo of Baron Reay by Bassano, taken in February 1936, is reproduced courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.  

Of interest, Rolls-Royce records also show that the steering was changed from ‘F’ to ‘E’ rake on 29th August 1935 at Cricklewood, presumably to provide a greater space between the bottom of the steering wheel and the driver’s lap.

It is probable that 66GX was laid up in a garage during the Second World War due to a shortage of fuel and petrol rationing. 

The next owner of 66GX is recorded by Rolls-Royce Limited, in December 1946, as RGC Lillywhite of Littlecot, East Preston and the Manor Road Garage, Angmering-on-Sea, West Sussex. Reginald Charles George Lillywhite (1915-1997), who married Valerie Frances Dewey Cuff (1916-2007) in July 1936, was the owner of The Manor Road Garage in East Preston, Angmering. The Lillywhite family owned 66GX for 60 years until 2007. 

In November 2019, 66GX is recorded in the ownership of Mr & Mrs Brian Brooks, 17 Shorecroft, Bognor, PO21 4AS, who sold the car to Anthony Smith of Royce Cottage, Shripney Road, Bognor Regis PO22 9PA, from whom the present owner, Tim Maltin acquired it in 2022. Tim and Charlotte Maltin also own the 1937 25/30 GHO49 and intend to use 66GX for the purpose for which it was intended – fast touring on the continent.

Thus we have here a quintessential Phantom 2 Continental in fully restored condition. This car epitomises the continental ideal with close coupled saloon coachwork, twin spares to the rear & a long louvred bonnet that seems to go on for ever.

The car is finished in Prussian blue over black wings with the paint being new. The bonnet top is left in raw polished aluminium. The roof is fabric covered. To the interior is brand new dark blue hide. The windscreen wipers are vacuum operated & move across the screen from side to side whilst remaining in the vertical plane. Very unusual.

To drive this car is a delight. The steering is two finger light in its operation & has no play whatsoever. The engine is the most powerful P2 engine we have ever experinced. It has had a full rebuild with speed being the order of the day incorportiong a higher lift cam & higher compression pistons. This combined with an extral long rear axle from noted speciailts Maggs Vintage & a Tim Payne overdrive make this the fastest Phantom we have ever driven. We have a genuine 100MPH reading achieved on a hand held sat nav which is frankly quite extraordinary but probably not for the faint of heart. The car cruises all day at 80 MPH showing just 2000 RPM; Not surprising then that these cars were accorded the monniker of "Continental".

Brakes are pin sharp & the car as whole is a credit to the restorers. Under the bonnet the car is as correct as can be with emphasis being given to keeping the original feel to the mechanics of the car instead of the more modern fashion of painting eveything in high gloss paint. Shiny Ace wheel discs are fitted all round adding to the apperance of the car. A full tool kit is located under the seats of the car.

I have driven many Phantom 2's in my life but rarely have I driven one as good as this. You really have to drive this car to appreciate just how good it is. The car was purchased from us a few years ago for £270,000. Since then a further £200k has been spent upon GP55 making it the fastest Phantom 2 in existance to our knowlege.

Call Richard Biddulph. Mobile ++44 (0) 7967 260673

Simone Della Corte Mobile ++44 (0) 7377070943

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