Rolls-royce Announces ‘the John Lennon Phantom V’ To Return To London During 50th Anniversary Of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Rolls-royce Announces ‘the John Lennon Phantom V’ To Return To London During 50th Anniversary Of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Rolls-royce Announces ‘the John Lennon Phantom V’ To Return To London During 50th Anniversary Of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Rolls-Royce has announced that it will celebrate the 50th anniversary year of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in its own way by bringing the colourful Rolls-Royce Phantom V, famous for being owned by John Lennon, back home to London for the British public to see.

Currently owned by the Royal British Columbia Museum in Canada, ‘The John Lennon Phantom V’ will travel from Canada to London to join ‘The Great Eight Phantoms’ – A Rolls-Royce Exhibition, at Bonhams on New Bond Street, an area visited regularly by Lennon in the late 1960s in this very car.

Members of the public will be able to see ‘The John Lennon Phantom V’ at Bonhams from 29 July to the 2 August.

‘The John Lennon Phantom V’
On 3 June 1965 – the same day that Edward H White left the capsule of his Gemini 4 to become the first American to walk in space – John Lennon took delivery of something rather special. It was a Rolls-Royce Phantom V in Valentine Black. He would later say that he always wanted to be an eccentric millionaire, and the Phantom would become an important step towards that dream.

Lennon had the Phantom V customised in true rock-star style. The rear seat was converted to a double bed, a television, telephone and refrigerator were installed, along with a ‘floating’ record player and a custom sound system (which included an external loud hailer). Then, in April 1967, just as the recording of the game-changing Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was finishing, Lennon asked Surrey coachbuilders, JP Fallon, to give the Phantom a new paint job. The freshly-painted Phantom was unveiled days before the worldwide release of Sgt. Pepper’s on 1 June and it seemed part of the overall concept of the album.

The new colour scheme is often described as ‘psychedelic’ and certainly the colours, particularly the dominant yellow, reflected the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. But look carefully and you will see it is no random swirl, but a floral Romany scroll design, as used on gypsy caravans and canal barges, with a zodiac symbol on the roof.

The Phantom V was used regularly by Lennon until 1969 (Lennon also owned a slightly less conspicuous all-white Phantom V). Having used it, pre-paint change, to collect his MBE with his bandmates in 1965, he then used it again in 1969 to return his MBE to the Palace, in protest against, among other things, the Vietnam War. The car was shipped to the USA in 1970 when Lennon moved there and was loaned out to ferry other rock stars around such as The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and The Moody Blues. In 1977, after a period in storage, it was donated by billionaire Jim Pattison to the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

‘The Great Eight Phantoms’ – a Rolls-Royce Exhibition, will take place at Bonhams international flagship saleroom and galleries in New Bond Street, London, from 29 July to the 2 August.

courtesy: www.press.rolls-roycemotorcars.com

Rolls-royce Announces ‘the Great Eight Phantoms’ – A Rolls-royce Exhibition Will Be At Bonhams And ‘sir Malcolm Campbell’s Phantom II’ Will Be Third Great Phantom To Join Exhibition

ROLLS-ROYCE ANNOUNCES ‘THE GREAT EIGHT PHANTOMS’ – A ROLLS-ROYCE EXHIBITION WILL BE AT BONHAMS

ROLLS-ROYCE ANNOUNCES ‘THE GREAT EIGHT PHANTOMS’ – A ROLLS-ROYCE EXHIBITION WILL BE AT BONHAMS

Rolls-Royce has announced the Mayfair location for ‘The Great Eight Phantoms’ – A Rolls-Royce Exhibition. The exhibition will take place at Bonhams on Bond Street, London, the heart of the luxury world. Rolls-Royce also announced that the third Great Phantom to join the exhibition will be Sir Malcolm Campbell’s Phantom II Continental.

Need for speed: Sir Malcolm Campbell’s Phantom II

At the height of his pursuit of a new land speed record in the 1930’s, Sir Malcolm Campbell began a relationship with Rolls-Royce that would take him to glory and help him celebrate it.

At the end of 1932 Campbell had won prestigious Grand Prix races, broken the land speed world record not once but six times, and had been knighted by King George V. He had nothing left to prove. He was the fastest man on land and yet, as restless as ever, he wanted to take a crack at the 300mph barrier, the automotive equivalent of the four-minute mile. He believed that the only engine that could power his Blue Bird to this speed was a 36.5L Rolls-Royce R aero engine, which generated a staggering 2,300 horsepower.

ROLLS-ROYCE ANNOUNCES ‘THE GREAT EIGHT PHANTOMS’ – A ROLLS-ROYCE EXHIBITION WILL BE AT BONHAMS

On 22 February 1933, Blue Bird’s first run with the Rolls-Royce engine set a new world land speed record of 272 miles per hour (438 km/h) at Daytona Beach, Florida. A month later, Campbell celebrated by taking personal delivery of a new Phantom II Continental, registration AGO 1.

The short-wheelbase Continental had been introduced in 1930 as a ‘sportier’ version of the Phantom II, which had debuted a year earlier. The Continental, with its improved balance and springing, was capable of 95mph – modest by Campbell’s standards, but positively head-spinning for a car weighing almost two and a half tons.

The Motor magazine commented that the Phantom II Continental was ‘Powerful, docile, delightfully easy to control and a thoroughbred, it behaves in a manner which is difficult to convey without seeming to over-praise.”

Although AGO 1 was bodied by coachbuilders Barker as a ‘standardised touring saloon’, there were some Bespoke modifications ordered by Campbell. These included a wireless set, fire extinguisher, spotlight, an exhaust pipe specified as nine-inches longer than the norm (probably to create an exhaust note closer to the Blue Bird’s roar), a klaxon horn, a Bosch horn and a siren. Clearly this king of speed wanted people to know he was coming through! Even on public roads, Campbell’s fondness for going fast was well known.

And the colour? Pale blue, of course, with darker blue leather trim and a black roof. The pearlescent glow of the bodywork was apparently achieved by Rolls-Royce’s use of ground herring scales in the paint. Campbell must have been pleased, for he penned a promotional brochure for the Phantom II entitled ‘The best Rolls-Royce yet produced,’

ROLLS-ROYCE ANNOUNCES ‘THE GREAT EIGHT PHANTOMS’ – A ROLLS-ROYCE EXHIBITION WILL BE AT BONHAMS

Bonhams
Bonhams and the Rolls-Royce marque have long been entwined, with some of the most historically significant and luxurious models crossing the block at the international auction house’s sales over the years. Indeed, Bonhams hold the world-auction record for the marque with the sale of ‘The Corgi’ 1912 Silver Ghost at £4,705,000 in 2012.

The Silver Ghost was in production until 1925 and replaced by another legendary model, the New Phantom. In December 2016, Bonhams sold one of the most famous Rolls-Royce Phantoms ever built – the 1926 Rolls-Royce Phantom I, nicknamed ‘The Phantom of Love,’ which sold for £561,500 at the Bond Street Sale. Commissioned by Clarence Warren Gasque for his wife Maude, a Woolworth heiress, money was no object. Gasque demanded that the style be French and that the car surpass the luxury of any previous Rolls-Royce sold. He certainly had his way, as the car’s painted ceiling, elegant polished satinwood, drinks cabinet, ormolu clock and self-styled coat of arms affixed to the doors combined to create a vehicle more akin to the throne room of Versailles than a motor car. It is, without doubt, one of the very finest examples of art and craftsmanship applied to an automobile, and encapsulates the elegance and style that has come to embody Rolls-Royce.

James Knight, Group Motoring Chairman of Bonhams, commented, ‘‘We are delighted to be the venue for this singular celebration of the Rolls-Royce Phantom, as Bonhams has had a long history with Rolls-Royce. Bonhams has sold some of the most astounding Rolls-Royce motor cars ever created, including ‘The Phantom of Love’ sold in London earlier this year, The ex-Marlene Dietrich Phantom I ‘ and the ex-Jack L. Warner Phantom I Transformal Phaeton.”

‘The Great Eight Phantoms’, a Rolls-Royce Exhibition, will take place at Bonhams international flagship saleroom and galleries in New Bond Street, London from 29 July till 2 August.

courtesy: www.press.rolls-roycemotorcars.com