1927 Rolls Royce Phantom 1 Saloon 'Martin & King' Saloon

The New Phantom was introduced by Rolls-Royce as a successor to the remarkable Silver Ghost in 1925, the first in the lineage to utilise the Phantom name culminating in the recent Goodwood Phantom. The New Phantom featured a completely redesigned overhead-valve six-cylinder engine with twin cylinder blocks and a single detachable-head, seven main bearing crankshaft and twin ignition via coil and magneto. Three forward speeds were deemed sufficient thanks to the enormous reserves of torque available and Rolls-Royce employed the extensive use of aluminium alloys following on from their experience in the aviation industry. Like the Silver Ghost before it, the New Phantom was also produced in Springfield, Massachusetts for the American market and was made in limited numbers - only 2,258 were built in Derby due in part to the Depression and the popularity of the smaller horsepower Rolls-Royce. Marque experts agree the New Phantom remains undervalued in the market place at present, offering many advantages over the more highly fancied Silver Ghost but lacking the compromises that crept into the design and build methods of later models.