A Rolls-Royce that makes other Rolls look sedate in comparison.
The car’s history is a little sketchy; however, the Raja of Nanpara, an existing client of Rolls-Royce, ordered a Rolls-Royce Phantom with a Hooper Cabriolet body from the factory.
Evidently, the Raja wasn’t overly keen on the design, so he sent the car to the coachbuilding firm of Henri Jonckheere and his son Joseph Jonckheere in Belgium.
Strongly influenced by the Art Deco movement, the Rolls-Royce Jonckheere Coupé was born.
It became known as the ‘Round Door Rolls’, but actually, the doors were oval.
The car also had a massive fin on the rear and a refashioned grille, one of the only Phantoms with such a modification.
After several owners, the Jonckheere finished up at a travelling fair, considered a ‘creature of bad taste’, and became something of a freakshow attraction.
Fortunately, this one-of-a-kind car was eventually acquired by the American Petersen Museum, which painstakingly restored it to its former glory.
The Coupé remains a testimony to the artistry of Jonckheere and the prestigious chassis and engine-building talents of Rolls-Royce.
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