Description
West Coast Classics are proud to present this extraordinarily rare and fully documented 'James Young' coachbuilt 1965 Rolls-Royce Phantom V, Chassis No. 5VE21, one of only 11 open drive Sedanca de Ville bodies built by the renown coachbuilder, and with this particular example as shown at the 1965 Earls Court Motor Show! Recently acquired from the renown Blackhawk Collection and as listed in the legendary Rolls Royce "The Elegance Continues" bible
Unique coachwork by James Young on a Phantom V chassis
James Young produced 11 open-drive Sedanca de Ville bodies for Phantom V chassis
This example was the only car built to the Sedanca de Ville version of design number PV15
Formal roofline
True 7-passenger interior
Chassis no. 5VE21
Engine no. E10PV
Body no. 9053
Shown at the 1965 Earls Court Motor Show
Formerly owned by renowned enthusiasts Dr. Erle Heath and Dr. Samuel Scher
6. 2L V-8 engine
Automatic transmission
Build sheet
Rolls-Royce Foundation records
Californias Behring Collection book
Known ownership history
Formerly owned by renowned enthusiasts Dr. Erle Heath and Dr. Samuel Scher
Elaborately detailed and lavishly equipped
A fascinating, sumptuous Rolls-Royce; the ultimate luxury statement of its era
Recent 2022 Service Completed
James Young produced 11 open-drive Sedanca de Ville bodies for Phantom V chassis, most of them variants of the coachbuilders PV22 or PV23 touring limousines. The example shown here, chassis number 5VE21, was the only car built to the Sedanca de Ville version of design number PV15, a limousine with a somewhat more formal roofline and a true seven-passenger interior. As the car has a rather early body, number 9053, on a later Phantom V chassis, it is believed that the coachwork may have been built as a standard limousine and then converted by James Young to a limousine de Ville for mounting on chassis number 5VE21. Lavish appointments included a leather-upholstered rear compartment with power-adjustable seat, facing a lighted bar, Mazal clock, and Motorola tape deck, as well as dual front and rear air conditioning systems.
The body was liveried for Swinging London, in ivory white and royal blue with panels of decorative sham cane. In this form it surely turned heads at the 1965 Earls Court Motor Show, as is noted on both its build sheet and in Rolls-Royce Foundation records; a book published by its later home, Californias Behring Collection, notes it received a bronze medal at the show. Afterward it was delivered to the original owner B. P. Jenks, of Astbury Hall in Bridgnorth, Shropshire. At one point it was used as the basis for a Top Marques 1/ 43-scale model.
The records of the Rolls-Royce Foundation indicate that the car made its way Stateside when relatively new; in July 1972 it was advertised in the New York Times. Not long thereafter it was purchased by the colorful collector Dr. Erle M. Heath of Pittsburgh. The car passed from Dr. Heath to Dr. Samuel Scher, once a pioneering American enthusiast of Brass Era automobiles, by now living in Palm Beach and more often seen in modern coach-built Rolls-Royces.
In 1985, this car was acquired by the Blackhawk Collection where it was displayed amongst some of the worlds finest cars. In 1992, the car joined a private collection where it has remained out of the public eye for the past 30 years before returning to the Blackhawk Collection in 2022. With the last of the James Young bodies being built on Phantom V's in 1968, there is no Phantom V like this one, a most unique automobile with a personality all its own.
