1932 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental Berline by Figoni et Falaschi

This gorgeous 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental Park Ward Sports Saloon Operated by the Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong.

If you’re staying at one of the ten Peninsula hotels around the world.

When arriving in a new city, travelers typically step outside the airport and hail a taxi, or take a local bus or train. But if you’re lucky, the hotel you’re staying at will send a shuttle to pick you up and drop you off. If you’re really lucky? You’ll be met and chauffeured around in a luxury sedan.
Since its opening on December 11, 1928, The Peninsula Hong Kong can be said to be synonymous with five-star luxury hotels in Hong Kong.

Since 1970, when the Hong Kong hotel first bought seven Silver Shadow Rolls-Royce cars, the Peninsula company has purchased every Rolls-Royce available; almost 50 years after that first order, the brand has the largest fleet of Rolls-Royce cars owned by a hotel. The Peninsula Hong Kong alone owns 14 Rolls-Royce Phantoms EWB and one 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II.) Across outposts in Shanghai, Beijing, Paris, Beverly Hills, Tokyo, and Bangkok, the hotel has 30 Rolls-Royce cars—and counting.

During the 2007, The Peninsula was used for filming a scene in the movie “The Dark Knight”, starring Morgan Freeman and Chin Han.

In “The Pen’s” guestbook we find names of: Emperor Haile Selassie, The King and Queen of Nepal, The Maharajah of Jaipur, Prince and Princess Peter of Greece, Princess Margaret of Great Britain, The Begum Aga Khan, Princess Akeda Atsuko of Japan, Princess Soraya Esfandiary of Monaco, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Arthur Rubinstein, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Clark, Roman Polanski, Francis Ford Coppola, Jim Henson, Pat Boone, Paul Anka, Elton John, Charlie Chaplin, Julie Andrews, Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine, Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor, Peter O’Toole, John Wayne, Warren Beatty, Candice Bergen, Yul Brynner, Marlon Brando, Clark Gable, Sir Roger Moore, Peter Sellers, Sylvester Stallone, Zino Davidoff, Aldo Gucci, Muhammad Ali…

Launched as a successor to the commercially successful New Phantom in 1929 and the last new model designed under the extraorinary talent of Sir Henry Royce, who died in April 1933, Rolls-Royce’s Phantom II featured a completely new chassis and other technological advances such as unit construction for the engine and four-speed gearbox. The magnificent in-line six-cylinder engine, with a bore of 4 ¼- inches and stroke of 5 ½- inches and displacing 7668cc, benefited from additional power thanks to a new cross-flow cylinder head. Available on two wheelbase lengths (144-inches for the standard model and 150-inches for the long), the Phantom II’s chassis had pedal-operated centralised lubrication system and mechanical brakes operating on all four wheels. Other notable features included thermostatically-operated radiator shutters and the addition of synchromesh on third and top gears in 1932 (and on second for cars made from 1935 onwards). Built in decent numbers considering the prevailing economic conditions of the day, the Phantom II sold in both right and left-hand drive guises and a total of 1,680 were completed between 1929 and 1935, of which 281 were designated the much vaunted “Continental Type”.

Built on a shorter wheelbase chassis, the Continental normally featured a lower raked steering column, stronger rear springs, a higher axle ratio and ride control, although every car’s specification differed slightly. The vast majority of Phantom IIs found customers in Great Britain, with Australia accounting for just 16 cars when new, although this number has risen over the years, with approximately 50 or so survivors residing in this country today. Thanks to the lower chassis, repositioned radiator and steering column, the coachwork adorning the Phantom II was some of the most elegant of the period, with all the major coachbuilders contributing designs in a wide range of styles, from formal limousines and sedancas to rakish fixed-head coupes. Regarded as one of the finest cars ever to wear the famous “Flying Lady” mascot, the Phantom II remains a firm favourite with Rolls-Royce enthusiasts and collectors around the world.