Vehicle Description
Chassis No. 278AJS
Engine No. J45U
Body No. 7372
The Henley Roadster
The Henley Roadster was one of the most beautiful bodies produced
for the American-delivery, left-hand-drive AJS and AMS-series
Rolls-Royce Phantom II chassis. It featured lines that were
unusually sporty and audacious for a Rolls of its era, including a
raked cowl line, a low vee'd windshield reminiscent of a racing
boat, and a distinctive beltline with a double molding and a narrow
"dip" at the center of the doors. A rather jaunty top and a tail
that sloped and then upswept at its trailing edge owed something to
the design of the prior York Roadster on the Phantom I.
Coachbuilder Brewster incorporated all of their best styling
touches and thoughtful features, including a tiny third door to
permit easy access to and from the rumble seat, also pioneered on
the predecessor York. Altogether it was an especially well-tailored
design and one of the most beautiful open cars of its era.
These lean and rakish bodies were not typical of what their
manufacturer's rather conservative clientele purchased in the
1930s, and accordingly, despite their beauty, their numbers were
few. Eleven original Henley Roadsters were produced, two for used
Phantom I chassis and the remainder mounted to new Phantom IIs. In
recognition of the excellence of their design, they have always
been desirable; all but one remain extant, but they tend to fall
into the hands of collectors who buy them and then own them for
many years. Accordingly, the offering of a Henley Roadster is a
rarity. To understand why requires only a glance along its lines.
It is an automobile to keep.
Chassis Number 278AJS: PG-Rated
Chassis number 278AJS, offered here, was fitted with the third
Henley Roadster built for a Phantom II, body number 7372. It was
originally delivered on 10 September 1932, to Mrs. Emma Louise Fox
of Red Bank, New Jersey, successor to her late husband, Richard K.
Fox, as the publisher and owner of New York's Police Gazette.
Despite its name, the Gazette was not a law enforcement periodical,
but something of the opposite: a tabloid filled with the latest
tawdry gossip, sporting news, contests for such obscure talents as
hog butchering and water drinking, and risque photos. A voracious,
largely barbershop-based readership gave "the PG" at the turn of
the century the highest circulation of any periodical in the world
- and it made Mr. and Mrs. Fox very wealthy. At the time of her
acquisition of the Henley, she had sold the paper only a few months
prior, and it is likely that some of the funds from that
transaction found their way to Rolls-Royce of America, just in time
for her 72nd birthday.
By 1938 Mrs. Fox's car had made its way to California, her longtime
winter home, and that year was rebodied as a limousine by Bohman &
Schwartz of Pasadena, better-suiting its aging owner's needs.
Fortuitously, the original Henley body survived, and by 1957 had
been remounted on a British-built Phantom II, chassis number 167RY.
Thus both 'halves' of Mrs. Fox's original automobile survived,
separately.
In the late 1980s, the Henley on its "new" chassis was acquired by
longtime enthusiast, Dale Powers, from a fellow owner in Florida.
With provenance-focused thinking ahead of his time, Mr. Powers
noted the original body number, 7372, on the floorboards, and began
looking for the car's original chassis. He pursued it until
locating 278AJS with the Bohman & Schwartz body, which, following
its sale from the Fox estate in 1940, had a succession of owners in
Montana, California, and the Midwest before winding up with Philip
Peteler in Minnesota. Mr. Powers acquired the car from the Peteler
estate and was thus able to finally move the original Henley body
back to its original chassis and engine!
Soon thereafter, 278AJS, having been righted, was sold to Fred
Weber, then a very active collector in St. Louis. Mr. Weber's
longtime restorer Marc Ohm recently recounted that the car
as-acquired clearly once more carried the original Henley body,
with pale chartreuse paint on it, but with the Bohman & Schwartz
limousine's skirted fenders, and was not-yet restored. Mr. Ohm and
the Weber team completed a cosmetic restoration of the car, with
correct open fenders fabricated as-original and finished in its
present, highly appropriate livery, black with a matching interior
piped in red, including the pleated door panels, using a very
original Henley borrowed from Mark Smith as the template for the
work. While the engine was refinished and some ancillary components
replated, no major mechanical work was done, as the car when
received ran and drove well.
Mr. Weber sold 278AJS in 1996 to David Houge of Kentucky, who went
on to exhibit it in Rolls-Royce Owners Club competition. It
subsequently passed to longtime collector John Groendyke of Enid,
Oklahoma, in 2000, then in 2003 became an early acquisition of the
late John O'Quinn in Texas. The Academy of Art University then
acquired it from the O'Quinn stable in 2010, and it has been
preserved in their distinguished collection ever since.
The car's restoration exhibits light age around panel edges but is
still highly attractive, especially with the striking polished
aluminum wheel covers fitted, while the interior appears to exhibit
light stretching and the engine compartment is clean and tidy. At
the time of cataloging the odometer exhibited 78,958 miles.
Significantly, the restoration was careful to preserve some of the
original woodwork, including the floorboard stamped with the body
number. In addition, the original chassis plate remains in place on
the firewall, and the engine number, J45U, is the same as indicated
on the build sheet and the car's ownership cards held by the
Rolls-Royce Foundation. Copies of the build sheet and these cards
remain in the file, along with a small selection of other
documentation, and the car is accompanied by a top boot as
well.
This striking and genuine Phantom II Henley Roadster stands among
an elite roster of Classic Rolls-Royces. Powerful in stance, and
silky-smooth in the promise of its performance, it has all of the
attributes of greatness and would be a wonderful piece for any
distinguished collection that selects only the very best.
