Beschreibung:

7,668cc OHV Inline 6-Cylinder Engine
Single Carburetor
120bhp
4-Speed Manual Transmission
Leaf Spring Suspension with Single-Shot Chassis Lubrication
4-Wheel Servo-Assisted Drum Brakes
*Delivered new to New York City
*Cost over $20,000 when new
*Fabulously documented early history
*Known history from new
THE AMERICAN-DELIVERY PHANTOM II
With the conclusion of Phantom I production in 1931, Rolls-Royce discontinued its decade-long stint of building cars for the American market at Springfield, Massachusetts. Instead, US-market chassis were built at Derby in two series, AJS and AMS, with left-hand-drive, adjustments to the suspension, and 20-inch wheels. Upon arrival Stateside, they were fitted with coachwork, most frequently built by Brewster & Company, which remained under the control of Rolls-Royce importer and dealer J.S. Inskip.
Brewster continued to provide an impressive slate of attractively designed, well-proportioned and charmingly named styles for selection by buyers. Among their offerings was the Newport, a particularly handsome formal town car, distinguished by its angled cowl molding and crisp tailored lines. Records indicate that 18 Phantom II chassis were outfitted with Newport coachwork. The survivors continue to reflect the same elegant bearing they had when new.
THE MOTORCAR OFFERED
This unique Rolls has an interesting early history that is exquisitely documented in Rolls-Royce Owner's 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 he 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. 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 yachtsmen 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 options—hand painted cane work on the rear bodywork and doors for $450 and special marquetry for $850—totaling nearly the cost of a new Ford Model A Town Car. With a delivery date set for the fall, the total purchase price came to $20,250—offset by $8,000 with the application of her trade-in, a Rolls-Royce Phantom I s/n 423FL.
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 black—body, chassis, hood, and fenders—the 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 bodywork—roughly 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 purchasing 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 City—only 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 current owner in 2013.
Subject of an older restoration, likely in Mr. Castle's or early in Mr. Miles ownership, 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.