1927 Rolls Royce Phantom I
edited by David Barth, 10 January 2009.
Courtesy The Forney Museum of Transportation at 4303 Brighton Blvd., Denver,
Colorado. Photos were taken in January 2009.
The original owner of this Phantom I was Prince Aly Khan of Nepal. He was born on June 13, 1911 and died in an
automobile accident in Paris on May 12, 1960. He was an international playboy, and had married several times. He
was once married to American actress Rita Hayworth.
His father, Aga Kahn III or Sultan Mohammed Shah, was born in Karachi, now Pakistan. He was an early patron of
Concours d'Elegance shows for automobiles. He and his son, Prince Aly Khan, had several elegant cars built. One
of those custom-built cars is this Phantom I. The hood and wheels were originally gold plated. The car has only
24,000 miles. Mr. Forney purchased the automobile in Germany in 1960.
The next "big" Rolls Royce was the new Phantom, introduced in 1925, to replace the Silver Ghost. It had two
wheelbase options: 143.5 and 146.5 inches. Later the car would be renamed the Phantom I. The engine was the
same as the Silver Ghost's in-line six cylinder power plant, with few modifications. The engine was essentially
silent, emitting only a whisper at 80 mph. Although the block was still made of two pairs of three cylinders,
there was now a one-piece, cast-iron, detachable cylinder head covering the entire unit. It had a side-mounted
camshaft that operated vertical overhead valves. It also had dual ignition and a Rolls Royce carburetor.
The total mileage on this car is approximately 24,000 miles. The car was purchased by Forney Museum founder, J. D. Forney,
in Germany while on a Rolls Royce tour in May of 1960.
