One of the most beautiful bodies on the Springfield, Massachusetts-built “American” Rolls-Royce, the Newmarket Convertible Sedan was tailored by Brewster as an almost line-for-line copy of a design by California coachbuilders Murphy. The design was quite popular, with 67 produced for Phantom I chassis, and deservedly so; its thin window pillars, large window glass, and delicate beltline molding, all typical of Murphy designs but unusual for a large convertible of its era, give a welcome appearance of light rakishness to the handsome Rolls.

Chassis number S359FM, offered here, was initially a “trials car,” or dealer demonstrator, used at the Rolls-Royce agencies in New York and Boston. It is highly possible that many of the famous names who enjoyed Phantom Is in the US during this period took their first drive behind the wheel of this very car. After that use, it was sold new on 27 December 1928 to Arthur R. Seligman, son of Maurice Seligman, the prominent broker and member of the New York Stock Exchange, and himself a prominent socialite, sportsman, and yachtsman. In 1936 the Newmarket passed to Charles Barron Otis, an engineer and publisher of The American Banker, as well as a member of a prominent Boston family and a relative of both the Los Angeles Times-owning Otis family and Amelia Earhart! It is believed that the Newmarket body was installed either during or shortly after his ownership, as noted in the J.S. Inskip ownership cards on file.

Subsequent owners noted in Rolls-Royce Foundation documentation included the early enthusiast Elliott A. Weiner, proprietor of the “Monoxide Manor” collection in Pacific Palisades, California. In his ownership the car was featured on the cover of the Mechanix Illustrated book, How to Restore Antique and Classic Cars, in 1953. Afterward the car moved to Florida in the early 1960s, then in 1970 to Kansas, where it was owned by two generations of the Holden family.

Before joining the present collection, this handsome and well-maintained automobile won a class award at the Amelia Island Concours, as well as an award at the Mirror Lake Classic. Still in excellent cosmetic and mechanical condition, it is beautifully finished in two-tone cream with complementary leather and wool carpeting, as well as numerous accessories including chrome wire wheels, dual side-mounted mirrors with covers and mirrors, a body-color metal trunk, and period Marchal headlamps, a favorite accessory for wealthy American motorists in this era. In every way it is the ideal picture of a handsome Newmarket Phantom I, one of the finest Classic Rolls-Royces.