1935 Rolls-Royce 20/25 H.P. - 3-Position DHC by H.J. Mulliner

Between 1929 and 1936, Rolls-Royce built the 20/25 HP model, which succeeded the 20 HP, which in turn had been produced from 1922 to 1929. The car was designed for self-driving, yet this Rolls was also frequently driven by chauffeurs. And the most compact Rolls-Royce variant wasn’t exactly small either, given that its wheelbase measured an impressive 3.27 (later 3.35) meters. However, because the wheels were positioned right at the corners, the overall length of a finished vehicle rarely exceeded 4.5 meters by any significant margin. As with its predecessor, an inline six-cylinder engine was mounted at the front of the chassis. Instead of 3'127 cc, however, the displacement had increased to 3'699 cc, with around 100 hp being transmitted to the rear axle via a four-speed gearbox. This enabled the car – provided its bodywork, usually manufactured by firms such as Park Ward, Mulliner or Hooper, was not too opulent – to reach around 120 km/h. Certainly fast enough for the roads as they were at the time. The chassis was traditionally designed with rigid axles at the front and rear; at least there were brakes on all four wheels, which also benefited from mechanical power assistance. The steering wheel was generally on the right, with the gear lever to its right, near the door. From 1932 onwards, third and fourth gears could be selected without disengaging the clutch. The chassis – Rolls-Royce did not sell complete cars at that time – were sold by the manufacturer, complete with engine (up to and including the bulkhead), gearbox, radiator, axles and wheels, to coachbuilders, who then fitted their own individual bodywork onto them. The Rolls-Royce 20/25 offered here, with chassis number GOH40, was delivered as a bare chassis to the coachbuilder H.J. Mulliner, where it was fitted with an elegant ‘3-Position Drophead Coupé’ body (no. 4286) in June 1935. On 23 August 1935 – as we can see from the records – this fine open-top car was registered by the well-known dealer Jack Barclay and handed over to its first owner in Kingston Hill, Surrey, England. After passing through several owners in England, the 20/25 was presumably restored around 1990 and fitted with an overdrive for the 4-speed gearbox. It was imported into Switzerland at the end of 1998 by an enthusiast from Basel and registered here. He sold the Rolls-Royce in 2008 to a fan from Zug, who eventually sold the car to its last owner in January 2020. A wealth of documentation – some dating back to 1954 – is available, attesting to the careful maintenance of this elegant British car. In addition to regular oil changes, the front axle was overhauled in 2010, four new tyres were fitted in 2019, and a technical refurbishment – including the replacement of the axle shaft seal with radial shaft seals – was carried out in 2023. This beautiful Rolls-Royce is in good condition and is fully roadworthy. The vehicle comes from an estate and will be handed over to a new enthusiast with its FIVA ID dated April 2008 and the most recent veteran MOT carried out in June 2019.