Rolls-Royce Phantom III-Vutotal Cabriolet-Fairfield County Concours d’Elegance star car(1939/47)

1939/47 Rolls-Royce Phantom III Vutotal Cabriolet coming to Fairfield Concours d’Elegance.The luxury cars at this year’s Fairfield Concours d’Elegance will wear the Spirit of Ecstasy on her hood and no less ecstatic a design all along her body. The 1939/47 Rolls-Royce Phantom III “Vutotal” Cabriolet by Labourdette, now in the John Rich Museum collection, started off as a standard Phantom III designed by Henry Royce. It was re-envisioned by coachbuilder Hooper and Co. in 1938 with a Sedanca de Ville body style, then showed off in Europe before being tweaked for the U.S. market.
When the very same show car ended up in the Parisian studio of Henri Labourdette in the Forties, he threw out everything but the running gear and rebodied the car in gold-plated-and-brass-adorned aerodynamic bodywork that swooped back into a boattail. He also got rid of anything that identified it as a Rolls, save for its mascot and a couple of interior trim pieces. The final detail: the Vutotal windscreen, a thick slice of glass that appears to support itself. The conversion cost $44,000 at a time when the average price of a home was about $4,000.
Elsewhere on the Concours docket, featured judging classes will include Porsche, Bugatti, Period Hot Rods and Custom Cars from 1948 – 1964. Other highly anticipated events include regional vintage club gatherings and an auction conducted by Bonhams. The featured artist is photographer Jesse Alexander. A new category for this year is the Barn Find category. If you own a vehicle that will go well with dusty, rusted hulks, then you’ll be glad to know that they’re still accepting submissions. Included in this category are a 1949 Willys Panel Wagon and 1961 AC Greyhound.