1929 Rolls-Royce 20 HP Limousine de Ville by Thrupp & Maberley
“ A tantalising project from one of the preferred Coachbuilders. This car was displayed at Hunt House for many years. There's extensive chassis information available, to make this project very worthwhile to finish. ”
Being offered as part of our curated auction in conjunction with the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts Club Annual Rally at Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire on the 26th – 28th June’26.

Background
The more chastened circumstances of the post Great War period had motivated Henry Royce to design the “Twenty” which was released in 1922 to become an “entry level” companion to the mighty 40/50 Silver Ghost. Both staff and money were in far shorter supply in the early 1920’s and the raison d’etre behind the new car was to provide a luxury conveyance which would lend itself perfectly to the emerging owner / driver market. The newcomer proved popular by still managing to offer all the familiar attributes so closely associated with the marque in a smaller, wieldier, more user-friendly package. By 1925 some useful and welcome upgrades to the Twenty had been made. The three-speed gearbox was replaced by a four-speed and the selector moved from the centre of the car to the right-hand periphery of the cabin. At around the same time four-wheel brakes were fitted with manual servo assistance. Finally, the horizontal radiator slats of the earlier cars would ultimately be replaced by vertical ones.

Times were clearly a changing at Derby, but for the life of the Twenty, Rolls-Royce would continue to supply just the chassis and running gear leaving customers to appoint a coachbuilder from a list of time-honoured luminaries. These included Barker & Co, Park Ward, Hooper & Co and H. J. Mulliner. Perhaps the purists’ favourite, however, was Thrupp & Maberly. Thrupp & Maberly, based in London’s West End had a history dating as far back as 1740. They came to prominence during the Victorian era when the Queen herself would award the firm a Royal Warrant for the crafting and supply of horse-drawn coaches. In 1896 Thrupp & Maberly would build an electric car for the Queen of Spain and their progression into car body manufacturer would flourish. In the Great War they would produce staff cars for the Ministry of Supply. After the war their business focussed on coachbuilding for prestigious European marques. In 1925 the company was bought by the Rootes brothers, who were wise enough to leave the company doing what they did best. In 1929 they even built the body for Sir Henry Segrave’s land speed record car – Golden Arrow.

Ultimately 2,490 Rolls-Royce Twenty rolling chassis would leave Derby between 1922 and 1929. No definitive figure seems readily available for how many of these would disappear beneath Thrupp & Maberly coachwork, but hundreds seems a likely ballpark.

Overview
This Rolls-Royce Twenty’s chassis number of GEN51 designates it as hailing from late in the production life of the model. GEN51 left Derby on the 17th of June 1929 to travel to Thrupp & Maberly in the West End. Roughly one month later the Twenty would receive its last test at the hands of Thrupp & Maberly having been fitted with their stylish Limousine de Ville body. Interestingly factory paperwork shows that GEN51 had been sold to Rootes Limited in Piccadilly back in April of 1929 with a 15% discount applied and a final sale price of £1,014 6s 9d. In this instance, Rootes, who bought Thrupp & Maberly four years prior, were in turn supplying the car to Mr Clive Nuttall of Cowes in the Isle of Wight.

In February 1932 GEN51 was sold to Padden Brothers of London SW7 who were prominent motor agents and coachwork distributors for the sum of £675. Several owners would enjoy GEN51 between then and the late 1930’s by which time the Twenty was in Perthshire in Scotland. A further three Perthshire based owners would follow before the Twenty crossed the Atlantic to first Massachusetts and then to New York.

By 1977 the Rolls Royce Enthusiasts Club were setting up their new HQ at the Hunt House in Paulerspury, Northamptonshire. At that time many of the club’s members had pre-war cars and it seems that GEN51 was gifted to the club with it taking up residence at the Hunt House right from its opening days. The club then removed key sections and panels from the Twenty in order to demonstrate and showcase the way in which these fascinating early cars were built and engineered. From then on, the Twenty affectionately became known as the “Sectioned Rolls-Royce.”

Estimate: £6,000 - £10,000

View the current bid price here: https://www.themarket.co.uk/listings/rolls-royce/20-hp-limousine-de-ville-by-thrupp--maberley/69f4b1a3-164a-4449-894c-d9703b91d289