The operation is prestigious but the post war market is not buoyant : this Phantom IV is originally designed to be unique. It is delivered to Princess Elizabeth in 1950 and becomes a state car on her accession to the throne in 1952.
Meanwhile Rolls-Royce changed its decision. The total amount of cars built on the chassis of the Phantom IV is 18, from 1950 to 1956. The model, most often bodied by Mulliner or Hooper, is intended for heads of state and their close family in a low speed use during official ceremonies.
The British royal family has further needs. In 1954 a Phantom IV limousine by Mulliner is delivered to Princess Margaret. Another one from the same year, bodied by Hooper as an enclosed landaulette, is kept for about one year by Rolls-Royce before being made available to the Queen in October 1955. It is bought by the Royal Household in 1959.
This car is the only Phantom IV landaulette, a body with wide and high windows offering the crowd a very good visibility on the passengers. For its last royal use in 1986, it conveys bridesmaids and page boys during the wedding of Prince Andrew.
The landaulette was kept at the Royal Mews until 2002 and then returned to Rolls-Royce. It participated in the exhibition of Her Majesty's Vehicles at Goodwood in 2012. It returns to Goodwood for sale by Bonhams on September 8, lot 300 estimated £ 1M.
The image below taken at Goodwood in 2012 is shared by Wikimedia with attribution : By PSParrot [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
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Bonhams will offer a historic #RollsRoyce heritage collection on behalf of #Bentley at our Goodwood Revival sale in September. https://t.co/NwUnmnQRGg pic.twitter.com/E3fy5DndS0
— Bonhams (@bonhams1793) August 6, 2018