Rolls-Royce 20 HP chassis number GEN35 was delivered to Park Ward’s Willesden premises on behalf of their client William Calvert, Esq., a London barrister. For Mr. Calvert, Park Ward tailored an especially elegant coupe body with fine proportions, including a relatively low beltline, fabric-covered formal “blind quarter” roofline, and short, steeply curved rear deck mounted with a rear-mounted spare, leaving the front fenders open and flowing. The car as delivered is pictured in Lawrence Dalton’s well-known reference work, Those Elegant Rolls-Royce.

The car’s known history resumes after World War II in 1946, with Dr. Dickson of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, then in 1951 with W. Leslie Orr of Edinburgh. Six years later it was acquired via Simmons of London by William B. Bromell, an American diplomat then stationed at the United States Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. The file includes Mr. Bromell’s dramatic written recollections of his long-distance acquisition of the car, its delivery in Beirut, and subsequent wild journey as it was towed through the city, and finally the drive to Damascus. Fascinating black-and-white photographs depict Mr. Bromell driving the car between his later post in Amman, Jordan, and Le Havre, France. Undoubtedly few 20 HPs were as well-traveled as this one—and few owners as brave as Mr. Bromell.

Years later, back in the US, the intrepid Mr. Bromell began restoration, with the 3.1-liter inline-six engine rebuilt in the early 2000s by Frank Cooke’s Vintage Garage of Massachusetts, and the cosmetic restoration of body and interior between 2004 and 2006 by Enfield Auto Restoration of Connecticut, both noted Rolls-Royce specialist firms. Work remained incomplete when the car was sold by the Bromell heirs in 2016 and continued after the present owner acquired the car in 2021, with much of the final work completed in-house by his own capable hands. Photographs and invoices from the work are included in the history file, alongside copies of the car’s build records and the aforementioned historic photographs.

Since completion of the splendid restoration, chassis number GEN35 has received a Palmetto Award at the Hilton Head Island Concours d’Elegance, as well as been scored First in Class in the Early Small Horsepower Concours with 391 out of 400 points at the 2024 Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club Annual Meet. It remains in excellent overall condition, awaiting further show appearances with its next caretaker—one to whom it promises much adventure.