Gooding Christie’s will send two 1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III models across the block at Retromobile New York Auctions later this month, and both arrive with a credential that carries real weight in pre-war circles: the Bamford Collection. The Special Henley Coupe (Lot 50) and the Sedanca de Ville (Lot 51) are each offered without reserve, with a pre-sale estimate of $450,000 to $650,000.
The pairing is more interesting than a simple two-for-one. Both cars share the same V12 chassis lineage, yet they answer different questions about what a grand Rolls-Royce was for in the late 1930s. One was reworked to be driven by its owner, the other follows the British chauffeur-driven tradition. Seen together, Lot 50 and Lot 51 offer a rare side-by-side look at an American-bodied coupe and a London-bodied formal car, each carefully documented and presented at a high level.
Lot 50: The Inskip Special Henley Coupe
Chassis 3CP124 began life in upstate New York. Margaret Dunlop of Amsterdam, New York, bought it new in 1937 with coachwork by J.S. Inskip, and Gooding Christie’s notes that the build was first specified as a chauffeur-driven sedan with a divider. By 1940 her preferences had changed, and the car was updated as an owner-driver coupe with the dished-fender treatment associated with late Henley roadsters. That reworking gives the Special Henley Coupe its distinctive profile.
The car’s later life left a paper trail few Phantom IIIs can match. According to the lot listing, it appeared in True’s Automobile Yearbook in 1958, in Dan R. Post’s Rolls-Royce: An Album of Sales and Institutional Literature, in Rolls-Royce in America, and in the April 1958 issue of Playboy. It passed through a long line of owners in the United States, England, Sweden and Belgium before Lord Bamford acquired it in 2011 and returned it to England.
What followed is the kind of restoration that explains the estimate. Marque specialists Clark & Carter took the coupe down to the chassis, rebuilt the running gear and cooling system for dependable use, and spent eight years and more than $2 million on the work, according to Gooding Christie’s. The paint was finished to a mirror standard, and when the original interior fabric could no longer be sourced, the restorers had a batch specially woven. Every detail is laid out on the Christie’s lot page for the Henley Coupe.
The payoff came at the 2019 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, where the coupe earned First in Class and the Lucius Beebe Trophy for the best pre-war Rolls-Royce. A car with that record, offered with no reserve, is a notable opportunity, and the Lot 50 details list both honors under the car’s exhibition history.
Lot 51: The Park Ward Sedanca de Ville
Where the Henley Coupe is an American reinterpretation, Lot 51 is the formal British counterpart. Chassis 3CM61 carries Park Ward & Co. coachwork and was delivered new in 1938 to J.D. Clarke of London, according to the Christie’s provenance. Gooding Christie’s describes it as among the finest examples of its type, built to the period brief of a sporting closed car that never gave up elegance.
The design details reward a close look: helmet-style front fenders, low valances, a raked windshield, Ewart wheel discs, spats over the rear wheels, and bleached maple woodwork and cabinetry in the rear compartment. As a Sedanca de Ville, it was arranged so a chauffeur sat in the open at the wheel while the owner rode in comfort behind, a layout familiar from London town cars of the period. More photographs and the full specification are on the Christie’s lot page.
Its recent history is a record of careful stewardship. After owners in the United Kingdom and across the United States, the Phantom III joined Lord Bamford’s collection in 2014, as the lot provenance shows. Gooding Christie’s reports that Clark & Carter of Braintree, Essex, rebuilt the engine completely, while the cosmetics received a no-expense-spared restoration. Lord Bamford then showed the car at the Cartier Style et Luxe concours at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and at Salon Privé at Blenheim Palace.
Why the Pair Matters to Collectors
Phantom IIIs reward buyers who value engineering as much as presentation. The V12 was a significant leap in complexity over the six-cylinder Phantoms that came before it, which is why a documented engine rebuild or full restoration by a recognized specialist carries so much weight. Both cars arrive with Clark & Carter’s work behind them and with a single caretaker for more than a decade, details worth weighing alongside the complete Lot 50 and Lot 51 files.
No reserve changes the dynamic. With each car carrying the same $450,000 to $650,000 estimate, the result will be set by the room rather than a floor price, a clean test of appetite for top-tier pre-war Rolls-Royces. The sale also marks Gooding Christie’s debut at Retromobile New York, with bidding opening later this month. Registration and the full lineup are available through the Retromobile New York Auctions catalog, and the individual listings for the Henley Coupe and the Sedanca de Ville carry the complete details.
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Kyle Matthews