Beschreibung:

Rolls-Royce’s ‘single model’ policy had proved an outstanding success for the company, but immediately after the end of the Great War the recession in the motor trade prompted the introduction of a smaller, cheaper 20hp car to be built alongside the existing 40/50hp Silver Ghost. Henry Royce’s new design incorporated a number of modern features such as overhead valve-gear for its six-cylinder engine, a center-change gearbox and ‘Hotchkiss drive’ rear axle, and the advanced newcomer’s arrival only served to emphasise the Silver Ghost’s Edwardian origins. However, the 45/50hp model would soon benefit from developments pioneered on its smaller sibling. Introduced in 1925, the New Phantom (retrospectively known as the Phantom I) boasted an entirely new overhead-valve six-cylinder engine displacing 7,668cc and, like the contemporary 20hp model, adopted a disc-type clutch and adjustable radiator shutters. Its chassis though, remained essentially the same as that of the later four-wheel-braked Silver Ghost, and would continue fundamentally unchanged until the arrival of the Phantom II in 1929 brought with it an entirely new frame. Like its ’Ghost predecessor, the New Phantom was also produced by Rolls-Royce of America Incorporated, a subsidiary set up in December 1919 when the parent company purchased the American Wire Wheel Company’s plant in Springfield, Massachusetts. Springfield commenced manufacture of the New Phantom in 1926, and by the second half of 1929 production had risen to 12 cars per week. This would prove to be the high point of Rolls-Royce of America’s fortunes, the October ’29 Wall Street Crash and the introduction of the Phantom II - re-tooling for which the US company could not afford - signalling the beginning of its decline. Unlike its British-built counterpart, the American product could be ordered with ‘factory’ bodywork, usually by Brewster, the latter company having been taken over by Rolls-Royce in December 1925. As well as manufacturing coachwork of the highest quality, Brewster had built its own automobiles from 1915 up to the time of its acquisition by Rolls-Royce, re-emerging as an auto-maker in its own right, using Ford chassis, when US Phantom production finally ceased in 1934 and the company became part of the re-constituted Springfield Manufacturing Corporation. This rare and handsome left-hand drive Phantom I wears original Newport Town Car coachwork by Brewster and was delivered new to the Kennedy family in Boston on July 15th 1930. Considered by many to be America’s ‘Royal Family’, the Kennedys of Boston, Massachusetts enjoyed success and endured tragedy throughout the 20th Century. The family patriarch, Joseph Patrick Kennedy, instilled values of dedication to public service, determination to succeed and loyalty to family. His father, Patrick Joseph a well-to-do saloon keeper, was active in Boston politics as Irish ward boss, state representative (five times) and state senator (once). Educated at Boston Latin School and Harvard University, Joseph Kennedy was financially shrewd. He showed an entrepreneurial spirit and appreciation for money at an early age, and in 1914, just two years after his graduation, Kennedy accepted a job as president of Columbia Trust Company Bank. At 25 years of age, he became the youngest bank president in the United States. During that same year, he married Rose Fitzgerald, daughter of Boston’s mayor. The couple bought a small home in Brookline, Massachusetts, and started a family. In all, they had nine children: Joseph Jr., John (Jack), Rosemary, Kathleen, Eunice, Patricia, Robert (Bobby), Jean and Edward (Ted). Several of Joseph Kennedy’s children went on to have distinguished political careers, including two US senators, one Attorney General and a US president. Kennedy supported his large family through numerous successful business ventures, including a film production company. He was wise enough not to tamper with an enterprise that already was profitable, and in 1