1936 Rolls-Royce Phantom III Sedanca de Ville

Lot details
Registration No: TYJ 716
Chassis No: 3AZ176
Mot Expiry: Exempt

'3AZ176' left the factory in May 1936, being delivered soon after to H J Mulliner in Chiswick who crafted the Sedanca de Ville coachwork. Delivery to its first owner, Lady Maud Buckland of Salisbury, took place on the last day of 1936. Lady Buckland kept the car for a year before trading it in for a replacement - happy days! The total cost had been around £2,600, about £1,500 for the chassis and £1,100 for the body. Several accessories were included - a second spare wheel with tyre, a flying lady mascot and American Bosch 8-valve superhet radio fitted with remote control in the rear compartment. The vendor advises that the radio remains functional but only receives medium-wave AM transmissions. Two occasional seats are concealed at the back of the manual glass division.
The second owner was a Colonel Parker of Mayfair, and a photograph of it outside his town house is shown in Hugh Dalton's book 'Those Magnificent Rolls-Royce' and also in the 1994 Phantom III Technical Society Register. Ownership passed in 1960 to Mr Tom Mason of Kent, who saved many pre-war Rolls-Royces from destruction. The present owner, an engineer, purchased the car from Tom in 1994, and informs us he has since overhauled the chassis and engine (a record of the extent of the work is on file). The seats and door panels have been re-trimmed with black leather to the front and fawn cloth to the rear. More recently the body has been repainted by a well known body and paint shop in Chard.
The vender informs us that '3AZ176' is quite able to keep up with modern traffic and has great presence on the road. Having been exercised at RREC events and used for touring, this graceful and imposing Phantom is offered with copy chassis cards, extensive file of invoices and Swansea V5. It is MoT exempt.

Work carried out in the current ownership includes:

Engine
"The engine was overhauled in the car whilst the front wings were removed. Radiator, lower crank case, wheelcase and cylinder heads were removed. The wet liners were replaced and new pistons and piston rings fitted. Deposits were removed from the engine water passages. The camshaft and cam followers were built up with Stellite by the acknowledged specialists, Leonard Reece Ltd. of Huntingdon, to the correct 'solid tappets' profiles. A new intermediate gear made from aluminium was fitted and the valves retimed. The vibration damper was overhauled and recalibrated. Distributor towers were rebuilt with new bearings, oil seals and centrifugal arms. Dynamo and starter were overhauled by J. Lucas. The radiator was re-cored using a more efficient matrix design. The carburettor overhauled and fitted with a new body and the petrol pumps replaced. The oil pump was overhauled and the oil filter replaced by a paper element. An oil cooler (oil-air heat exchanger) was fitted in the same place in the pipework as the original oil-water heat exchanger. This could be removed and the original pipes replaced if required. The car has not overheated since the oil cooler was fitted.
Cylinder heads were skimmed and all gaskets replaced and the ignition dynamically retimed. The engine is now quiet, powerful and does not overheat."

Chassis
"The chassis frame was cleaned, repainted and wax coated.
The jacks have been rebuilt with new seals and can be used to lift the whole car, the front or the back, for much longer than it takes to change a wheel. The hydraulic hose feeding the rear axle jacks was replaced using 2000 psi hose and fittings. The wheels including the two spares have been re-spoked as necessary and set true. The wheels have been balanced using the original lead disks. The front suspension has been cleaned out and oil and gaskets replaced. The king pins have been replaced and the needle roller bearings fitted with new needles and casings.
The brake ropes and rods have been overhauled, and the brake drums and brake servo re lined and reset. The handbrake components have been overhauled and the (separate) linings replaced.
The clutch has been relined and adjusted, and the Hardy-Spicer coupling replaced. The propeller shaft universal joint grease nipples have been replaced with standard parts and the shaft rebalanced.
The back axle has been removed and the crown wheel and pinion replaced with a 10:34 gear set giving an 18% increase in speed for given rpm. The back axle thrust bearings and oil seals were replaced.
A stainless steel exhaust system has been fitted.
The battery box has been overhauled and a new battery fitted. The battery can be trickle charged via the dashboard socket.
Rear shock absorbers and the gearbox mounted ride pump and control cable have been overhauled/replaced.
All suspension components have been cleaned and overhauled.
The central lubrication system is fully operational."

Body and Fittings
"The car has been rewired and electrical equipment repaired as necessary. Flashing direction indicators have been sympathetically fitted whilst retaining the original trafficators in working order. Headlamp solenoids have been replaced with Lucas items and halogen bulbs fitted. The reflectors have been recoated.
The seats have been re-upholstered in leather at the front and cloth in the rear. The front seat back has been modified to provide more room for the driver. The carpets have been replaced. The door liners have been replaced and the window regulators and guide rollers overhauled. The dashboard was removed, overhauled and repainted and replaced.
All chrome parts have been re-plated by Doug Taylor in Weston super Mare with copper, nickel and chrome plating.
New rubbers have been put in the running board strips. The door rubber wedges have been replaced. The drain pipes from the windscreen and ventilator have been replaced.
The car has recently emerged from a body repair and bare metal respray by Darren Smallwood of Chard, formerly the world-wide paint process trouble shooter for BASF.
The American Bosch 8-valve superhet radio has been overhauled. The radio is located in the rear compartment between the occasional seats with a small remote control unit on the division. The radio receives medium wave AM signals.
A modern radio and CD player has been concealed below the dash."

We are indebted to the vendor for supplying the information above.