Rolls Royce as seen by Labourdette (UPDATE: video)

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Now take your eyes of the two lovelies and concentrate on the automobile in front of the Talbot Lago. It is an amazing Rolls Royce Phantom III that started life in 1938 clothed with an “ordinary” Sedanca de Ville body by Hooper. When its American owner passed away in 1942, the Rolls was bought by Mr. Louis Ritter of New York City, a flamboyant person who wanted a real show car. Ritter had the Hooper body removed and the bare chassis shipped to Henri Labourdette in Paris. Already famous for het skiff bodies, Labourdette went all-out obliterating everything that would identify it as a Rolls-Royce. Even the traditional radiator was substituted for a new streamlined grille. Another feature is the ‘Vutotal’ windscreen that afforded a completely unobstructed view without any form of support other than the thick piece of glass itself. The Rolls was completed in 1947, shown at the Paris Concours, and then delivered to Ritter in NYC. It is rumoured that in honour of his newest acquisition Ritter threw a huge party at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, complete with 80 chorus girls! Today the Rolls Royce Extravaganza can be seen in the JWR Museum in Pennsylvania.

Update: JP van de Bunt made a small movie of this automobile in Hershey:

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