Rolls-Royce 20hp Park Ward Weymann Landaulette

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The Rolls-Royce Twenty built between 1922 and 1929 was Rolls-Royce's ‘small car’ for the 1920s. It was intended to appeal to owner drivers but, as is the way with such an aristocratic marque, most were sold to customers with chauffeurs.

A new 3,127cc six-cylinder overhead valve engine was designed for the car, mated to a substantial chassis with rigid front and rear axles and four-wheel servo brakes from 1925 onwards. Early cars had three-speed gearboxes with the change lever in the centre, but in 1925 this was replaced by a four-speed unit with traditional right-hand change. The famous Rolls-Royce radiator with triangular top was fitted, with enamel-finished horizontal slats on the early cars, later changing to a nickel finish and finally becoming vertical.

In 1920 a chassis cost £1,100 with a complete tourer-bodied car typically costing around £1,600 (this at a time when a decent family home cost about £500). When fitted with coachwork to the factory recommended weight, the Twenty could reach 60mph but many owners had large limousine bodies fitted, with the inevitable detrimental effect on performance.

Chassis GXL 27 was completed in Derby in December 1927 and was despatched to Park Ward for a full four-seat Landaulette ‘owner driver’ body to be built under the Weymann licence using a lightweight fabric skin in place of the usual (and much heavier) metal bodywork. It was first registered to a Dr Hughes of York in July 1928 and received the registration number VY 222 which it still bears to this day.

Dr Hughes was Consulting Surgeon at York County Hospital and had served with the British Expeditionary Force and also in Northern Command under General Sir Ivor Maxse in the First World War. Dr Hughes kept the car until 1939 when it was sold to Percy Adams who is believed to be one of the early flying pioneers operating out of Brooklands in Surrey. After 18 months he in turn sold GXL 27 to Shane Chichester who, from 1910 to 1942, was Rolls-Royce’s ‘Inspector Engineer’. The fourth owner was Major Sir Gerald Burrard DSO, an expert in fly fishing and firearms who authored several books, including one on forensic ballistics and another which advised on the best rifles and cartridges to use for big game hunting.

After the Second World War, GXL 27 was re-registered as LPK 250 in Surrey and was eventually exported to the US, we think around 1960, where it was in use until the 1970s. It then appears to have been put into storage in Arizona until 2011 at which point it was discovered by the Real Car Company of Betws y Coed who imported it back to the UK later that year, selling it the vendor shortly thereafter.

Initially the car looked in rather terrible condition as the fabric had hardened and split in the Arizona heat and the wiring had suffered. On closer inspection though, GXL 27 was found to be almost complete, with only some door hardware missing. An experienced restorer who had been bringing vintage sports cars back to life as a hobby for over 40 years, the vendor was immediately attracted to the car because of its remarkable originality.

On delving into the history of the car he soon realised that he had stumbled upon a truly rare item, GXL 27 being most unusual in that it had been ordered from Park Ward with an owner/driver body, the intrepid Dr Hughes obviously being a man who liked to drive rather than be driven. For this reason he had specified an unusually capacious and well-trimmed driver’s compartment, most Rolls-Royce motor cars of this period having a very cramped and spartan cockpit where the lowly chauffeur was expected to get on with the laborious business of driving while Lord and Lady lounged in splendour in the back.

Because the car was so well-preserved, the vendor went to great lengths to retain as much originality as possible, restoring and reviving original materials and components wherever he could, and keeping a log charting the 3,000 hours that he has so far invested in the project.

“Remove 9,000 tacks that attach the fabric covering to the wood framework, replace sections of wood that are damaged. Install new fabric covering using the existing tack holes, install 9,000 tacks”, runs a typical entry. “Rebuild front seat squabs using correctly aged leather to match the original seat backs, re-stuff the rear cushions… Clean and feed the remaining leatherwork” which, after 90 years, some 40 of them in the Arizona sun, came remarkably back to life, being soft and supple with that wonderful patina that only the passage of decades can create.

All the wiring has been replaced and the switches, lights, lamps and magneto restored. A complete new exhaust from manifold to fish tail has been fitted. The whole fuel system has been thoroughly cleaned and flushed. The axle, gearbox and engine have been oil flushed and refilled, as has the cooling system which has had new hoses. Brand new wheels in the correct size of 21” have been supplied by Richards Brothers.

Unfortunately the vendor suffered a health worry last year and this, coupled with the news that his coach trimmer could not start the remaining folding hood work for another year, has prompted him to sell this rare and imposing Rolls-Royce and seek his thrills in a more manageable Austin Seven project instead.

Now reunited with its original number plate and on the market for only the second time in perhaps half-a-century, here is your chance to acquire a most original and fascinating Rolls-Royce that just needs that final push to complete its restoration. Apart from the work required to finish the landaulette hood, only a few jobs remain to be done, primarily replacing the headlining, doing final carburettor jet adjustments and ignition timing checks on the magneto. Already on the button and moving under its own power, it comes with a good documented history, copious notes of the works carried out to date, some techical literature relating to the model and a good selection of tools. 

Don’t forget, once finished and back on the road, it should prove unusually pleasurable to drive compared to most Rolls-Royce motorcars of its era thanks to that roomy cockpit and the lightweight fabric body. No doubt the spirit of Dr Hughes will lend power to the new owner’s elbow as they complete the few tasks that remain.