Remarkable Rolls-Royces on offer with RM Sotheby's at Monterey

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It's that time of year again: summer is in full bloom, the sun is soaking the northern hemisphere in its warm rays and, most likely, you're all eager to get away from home for a few days to relax somewhere with a beautiful coastline and a cooling sea breeze. Speaking for ourselves, there's not a stretch of coastline anywhere that we'd prefer to California's Pebble Beach, home to the world-famous Concours d'Elegance, and after a day strolling languidly among the exotic cars, we can think of still nothing better than to spend our evenings browsing the wares of the RM Sotheby's auction, held at the Monterey Conference Centre on August 15-17th, and maybe placing a bid or two.

The lots which we'd like to take home most of all are a pair of superb Rolls-Royces. One of them, a 1911 40/50hp Silver Ghost brougham de ville by Grosvenor, sports the most splendidly ornate formal coachwork. Although originally built with a Hooper limousine body "like H.M. The King's," chassis 1524 was extensively modified when it was purchased by its first owner, Charles H. Angas of South Australia, including being rebodied with the Grosvenor brougham body, for which Mr. Angas himself reputedly contributed to the design. Photographed when new outside Angas's townhouse on the aptly-named Brougham Place in Adelaide and christened The Dreamer, the car was still being maintained into the 1920s but, by the late '30s, it had ended up outside the Koomooloo railway station with an open "hack" body. and by the 1950s its chassis was being used as a section of fencing at the Koomooloo refuse facility. Fortunately, it came to the attention of some Silver Ghost enthusiasts around this time, and Adelaide's Charles Wright purchased it in 1963 and succeeded in putting it back on the road. It was not until the 2000s, however, that it was bought Malcolm Jones and painstakingly rebuilt with a recreation of the original body, and was also reunited by the Angas family with its original bronze radiator mascot. It has been maintained the present ownership since 2012 and is expected to fetch $450,000-6500,000 (£350,000-500,000).

The other Rolls-Royce has a very different kind of allure. The 1928 Phantom, with an intriguing boat-tail all-weather tourer body by H. J. Mulliner, was new to Lt. Col. James Nockells Horlicks, decorated war hero, rhododendron breeder and scion of the Horlicks malted milk family. Lt. Col. Horlicks had some very particular requirements, including that the car should be fitted with a high-speed axle and 100 m.p.h. speedometer, and that its running boards should be able to carry 100 lbs. of luggage. After some months, Horlicks sold it to Alfred Pearson of Sheffield, and it changed hands several times until, in 1964, it was shipped Stateside by Dick Hooper of Seattle. However, a badly-fitted head gasket caused the engine to corrode and seize and, instead of repairing it, Mr. Hooper left the car until his deathin 2007. The subsequent owner has retained the car until now but has not undertaken any restoration. At $90,000-120,000 (£70,000-90,000), it should make a very rewarding project.

This being the Monterey sale, there are a number of what the Classic Car Club of America would call "Full Classics," and surely the most notable is the 1930 Packard 734 Speedster Eight phaeton. One of just five survivors of 32 phaetons built, chassis 184101 was supplied through the Rochester, New York, dealership of J. R. Mack to Sanford Cluett of Cluett-Peabody, manufacturers of Arrow shirts and collars. By 1951, a very fortunate Schenectady teenager named Victor Mion became the owner, and then in 1958 the car passed to James H. Kellogg-Clarke of Buffalo. Tom Mix, owner of the Foreign Motors dealership in Boston, and one of the most prominent Packard enthusiasts and special coachwork collectors of his time, took over ownership in 1959. Mr. Mix cherished it until his death in 2006, enjoying it regularly on tours and rallies. Subsequently, it was bought for the private collection of Fred Guyton, and he, too, kept it until his death in 2019, since when it has had only one owner, who subjected it to a restoration which won First in Class at Pebble Beach in 2023. Said to be "in the first rank of restored 734s," its estimate of $1,000,000-1,400,000 (£770,000-1,080,000) is no doubt appropriate.

Francophiles will also have plenty to choose from, including a particularly historic 1934 Bugatti Type 57 Stelvio for $400,000-500,000 (£310,000-390,000). Chassis 57190 was ordered by Bugatti agent J. B. Arnaud for Raymond Peretti, a dentist in Poitiers, and painted black and ivory. In 1937, having covered some 25,000 miles, Peretti returned the Bugatti to the factory having suffered a cracked block and seized pistons. It is thought the car was seized by the Germans during the war, but it was afterwards bought by Dr. André Pigé, a fascinating character who had been arrested in August, 1944, by the Germans while attempting to smuggle a captured paratrooper out of Nazi occupation in the boot of his car. Pigé later escaped the concentration camp in which he was detained, but died in a swimming accident in 1947, and his family sold the car. In the early 1960s, it left France to go to Joseph Gest in La Jolla, California, and he had it restored by former Los Angeles Bugatti agent Bunny Phillips. It was most recently restored in 1985.

Other lots in the sale include:

• 1928 Voisin C11 speedster. $275,000-325,000 (£210,000-250,000)
• 1930 Cadillac V16 Sport Phaeton by Fleetwood. $800,000-1,100,000 (£620,000-850,000)
• 1931 Chrysler CG Imperial dual-cowl phaeton by LeBaron. $250,000-300,000 (£190,000-230,000)
• 1935 Auburn 851 Supercharged Speedster. $850,000-950,000 (£660,000-730,000)
• 1935 Bentley 3½-Litre drophead coupé by Park Ward. $150,000-250,000 (£120,000-190,000)
• 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet A. $1,800,000-2,200,000 (£1,400,000-1,700,000)
• 1937 Lagonda LG45 Rapide. $600,000-700,000 (£460,000-540,000)
• 1938 Delahaye 135M cabriolet by Chapron. $275,000-400,000 (£210,000-310,000).

To view the lots in more detail, follow this link.

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