The 1930s Rolls-Royce Phantom III

Photo byRolls-Royce Motors Cars

Introduced in 1936, the Rolls-Royce Phantom III was the first model powered by a V12 engine, setting the template for every Rolls-Royce up to and including the modern era. It was also Sir Henry Royce's last major design before passing in 1933.

The Phantom III has a special alongside the illustrious line of Rolls-Royce motor cars. It was the first to be powered by a V12 engine, setting the template for every Rolls-Royce up to and including the modern era while incorporating suspension and chassis technology that secured the marque's enduring reputation for peerless comfort and outstanding performance. There is a particular poignancy to this motor car, too. Production ceased in 1939 and, despite its technical advances and immense potential, continued, leaving a question of what might have been. It was also Sir Henry Royce's last major design, which he never saw completed due to his death in 1933. But, visionary that he was, he had established fundamental technical and design tenets that still hold today.-Andrew Ball, Head of Corporate Relations & Heritage, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

As early as 1930, Sir Henry Royce realised that his large-horsepower, in-line six-cylinder Rolls-Royce engines were reaching their technical limits. , he couldn't extract much more power or torque from them.

Photo byRolls-Royce Motors Cars

Royce realised that Rolls-Royce risked losing ground to its American rivals, who were already busily producing luxury cars with much more powerful engines in V8, V12, and even V16 configurations.

Royce had a wealth of experience designing V12 aero engines, and Rolls-Royce was equally adept at making them. Therefore, it was logical and natural for Royce to create a V12 engine for the successor to Phantom II, which first appeared in 1929.

Photo byRolls-Royce Motors Cars

Royce's new engine represented significant technical progress. The new V12 was shorter than Phantom II's in-line six-cylinder unit, with a capacity of 7.3 litres compared to its predecessor's 7.6 litres. Huge by today's standards.

These more compact dimensions allowed a shorter bonnet and larger passenger compartment, giving coachbuilders more scope than earlier Rolls-Royce rolling chassis. Most importantly, however, the new engine delivered the increased power Royce sought. In its initial form, it produced 165 H.P., compared to the 120 of Phantom II, rising to 180 in later motor cars.

Photo byRolls-Royce Motors Cars

The chassis was a significant leap forward in design. In another first for the marque, Royce equipped Phantom III with independent front suspension, an innovation that considerably increased ride comfort and steering control.

His design team also incorporated many minor engineering advances that owners and passengers would probably never notice. Still, it significantly reduced the transmission of noise, vibration and harshness caused by poor road surfaces.

These developments made the Phantom III one of the quietest and smoothest-riding cars of the 1930s. When fitted with Royce's preferred lightweight coachwork, it could reach 100 miles per hour.

Photo byRolls-Royce Motors Cars

Royce saw experimental versions of the engine completed, but his death in April 1933 came a year before the first test cars were ready.

Ten experimental Phantom III motor cars were built between 1934 and 1937 under the codename Spectre, a storied name that lives on today in the marque's first all-electric model.

The first production Phantom III chassis, sporting a saloon-with-division body built by H. J. Mulliner, was delivered in August 1936.

Seven hundred ten examples were produced before Rolls-Royce ceased producing motor cars in 1939; the last Phantom III was purchased in June 1940.

The directors of Rolls-Royce knew that, once peace returned, they would be operating in a very different world – and that there would be no place in it for a motor car like Phantom III. Perhaps even more so than in 1918, the marque would have to focus its energies on models that were more in keeping with the time while continuing to build upon the standards of quality and refinement expected of a Rolls-Royce.

So, despite its technical brilliance, excellent performance and immense potential for further development, its brief but transformative life was over.

Yet its influence would be felt in every Rolls-Royce motor car, including the V12-powered models still being built at Goodwood today.

The car is an enduring testament to the excellence of Phantom III's design and engineering and its creator's visionary talents.

SOURCE: Office of Corporate Relations & Heritage, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

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Douglas Pilarski is an award-winning Writer & Journalist based in Las Vegas. He writes about luxury goods, exotic cars, horology, tech, food, lifestyle, and business.

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