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Malcolm Tucker Review of Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental
2015

This is an epic book of epic proportions, divided into two volumes totalling 1,168 219mm x304mm pages; it comes in a handy slipcase.

Author André Blaize is one of the most knowledgeable aficionados of coachwork on Rolls-Royce motor cars. He started amassing information on the subject ca 1965 and it is the knowledge gained from those fifty years that has made this definitive work possible.

The table of contents lists Illustrations and Reference keys, Phantom II Continental Specifications, Changes and Modifications, Abbreviations/Definitions, Preface, The Genesis of the Phantom II Continental, and The History of the Car by Chassis.

Appendices of Chassis Listings, Original Owners’ Listing by Registration, Listing by Coachbuilder, Park Ward Finishing Book Pages, Chassis Cards, Acknowledgements, and Indices of Proper Names & Companies.

Blaize has woven these cold, hard facts into a human story of overall model development along with the individual history of the 279 true Continental chassis produced. Each car has its own chapter which consists of about half a page of particulars, namely details about the first owner, subsequent owners, and facts about the car, including highlights of its life, its registration number(s) and illustrations in other publications.

There then follows anything up to six pages of original, period and modern photos with captions recording the life of each car, in particular special items of the coachwork. The quality and interest of these 2,114 images cannot be over-emphasized.

Of course, these volumes will be of most significance to lovers of the Phantom II, but anyone with a general interest in car design of the period will enjoy the comparison of the variations of coachwork offered and their development.

This book is addictive, and when the reader may decide to view the details of a couple of cars, he or she may well end up spending an hour with a volume. Dalton Watson Fine Books are making a speciality of very high quality specific car books, and the Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental falls easily into that category.

Highly recommend and a must for anyone with a serious Rolls-Royce library.

Malcolm Tucker