This car is the only example of this timelessly attractive body on a Phantom II – other than later copies, mainly built in the last twenty five years. The history of how this body came to be fitted on this chassis is quite unusual. The world economy in the early thirties was far worse than the problems that Western nations face today. Chassis 115 GY was originally sold to a Mr Holm and a sedancalette body with a weight of 13 – 14 cwt (685kgs) was fitted – it is thought that this rather fancy nomenclature referred to a Sedanca Coupe. The car was completed at the end of 1930 but alas, Mr Holm was a victim of bad times and he was unable to complete the payment.
In November 1931 the wealthy American wife of Mr Stanley McCormick entered the Barker showroom in South Audley Street, Mayfair anxious to purchase a Rolls-Royce touring car. 115GY was sat in the showroom with no sign of buyer in sight and a smart Barker salesman, sensing an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, offered Mrs McCormick a practical and quick solution to her need.
He agreed to remove the sedancalette body from 115 GY and fit a new open touring body which happened by chance to be available in their Shepherd’s Bush warehouse – most likely another cancelled order. A price was agreed, probably less than the usual price for a tourer and Mrs McCormick was able to take delivery of her new car in less than three months – incidentally this entailed a Barker fitter working on Christmas Day to change the spring settings to those suitable for a body which was about one third lighter than the first body.
It is possible that Mrs McCormick had seen a Cadillac tourer of the same date with instruments in the back of the car and had those which are now installed fitted by the RR agent in Boston. The work – particularly the connection of the additional speedometer to the gearbox is too good to have been carried out for her by a local garage.
Mrs McCormick was married to the heir to the immense McCormick Reaper fortune (later International Harvester) and was a very interesting woman. She married in 1904 but within two years her husband fell ill with serious violent schizophrenia and was confined under guard in his own house until his death in 1947. There is a novel, called Riven Rock by TC Boyle based on his extraordinary life.
Mrs McCormick was an ardent feminist and was notable for being one of the first females to study science at M.I.T. She was also a suffragette and single handedly financed the development of the birth control pill, thus to some degree changing the world in which we live.
We do not know precisely how long she retained her Phantom II but the car remained in the US until a few years ago. Since its re-importation over £60,000 has been spent restoring the car both mechanically and bodily and its owner reports that it drives exceptionally well with light steering and a powerful quiet engine.
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