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Rolls-Royce
40/50HP Phantom III (1937, U.K.)
Rolls-Royce
manufactured highly reliable aircraft engines during World
War I and introduced the Phantom series of vehicles applying
this engine technology. The Phantom III with the V-type,
12-cylinder engine dramatically enhanced riding comfort
with the front-wheel independent suspension system. This
Saloon coachwork was by Freestone and Webb.
The powerful 7.3-liter V-12 engine of the Phantom III could glide this 2.5-ton car from
5km/h to 147km/h in top gear. To assure a smooth ride worthy of the ultimate luxury car,
the Phantom III employed velocity-sensing shock absorbers together with coil springs and
double wishbones at the front and leaf springs with stabilizers at the rear.
Packard
Twelve "Roosevelt's Car" (1939, U.S.)
This car was customized for the 32nd
president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Like his predecessors, Wilson,
Harding and Hoover, he was enchanted by Packard's reliability and tremendous power and
favored it greatly. This is the last of the models mounted with a V12-cylinder engine. The
coachwork was by Rollson.
To protect its passengers, this Packard was equipped with bulletproof glass of 30mm thick,
a siren, flashing red light, and emergency lighting for driving the car through the dark
with its headlights off. The many modifications added one ton to the 2.5 ton weight of the
standard model. It was powered by a 175-horsepower, 7.7-liter V12 engine.
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