The rear passenger compartment is separated from the driver’s compartment with all occupants covered for weather consideration.

Trying to avoid the heat at the Goodguys West Coast Nationals in Pleasanton, California, we found ourselves in one of the many air conditioned buildings in the Alameda County fairgrounds. With the temperatures reaching the triple digits, we didn’t know that things could get any hotter until we spotted a completely restored 1928 Rolls-Royce Phantom I. This remarkable car sent the temperature another 10-degrees higher.

Typically we are not Rolls fans but when it comes to the roaring twenties models, we are all in. The Phantom I’s origin and reputation as the second 50hp Rolls model during the 1920s was solidified when the Phantom II was released in 1929. Originally referred to as “the new Phantom” the model was renamed Phantom I when the Phantom II was released.

The Phantom I marked a change for Rolls with the new pushrod-style overhead valve cylinder heads. These heads were constructed as two groups of three-cylinders with a single detachable cylinder head. Using a detachable head was very state of the art and a new technical innovation at that time. In 1928 the cylinder heads were changed from cast iron to aluminum, a practice which was revolutionary at the time but posed corrosion problems.

The engine was perfect for pushing the larger body Rolls due to the power and torque created in the stout inline-six.  The model that we found in Pleasanton was one of three in this body style that was built in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1928.  Documentation showed that Ms. Carroll Tyson of Chesnut Hill, Pennsylvania owned this car and another just like it, each purchased for $19,000.

The second owner of the car stored it in an Estes Park, Colorado, museum. After bouncing through several owners through the years, the current owner found the car in scattered pieces in Muskogee, Oklahoma. After purchasing the Rolls, the car underwent a full restoration and is a perfect example of what a Phantom I Rolls Royce with a 7.7-liter Inline-six looked like when it rolled off the assembly line in 1928. The car is currently owned by Mr. & Mrs Gordon Johnson of Alamo, California.