1965 Rolls-Royce Phantom V Seven-Passenger Sedanca de Ville

Coachwork by James Young

Chassis No. 5VE21

Engine No. E10PV

Body No. 9053

A unique design by James Young on the Phantom V chassis

Reportedly shown at the 1965 Earls Court Motor Show

Formerly owned by renowned enthusiasts Dr. Erle Heath and Dr. Samuel Scher

Elaborately detailed and lavishly equipped

A fascinating, sumptuous Rolls-Royce; the ultimate luxury statement of its era

Recent 2022 Service Completed

James Young produced 11 “open-drive” Sedanca de Ville bodies for Phantom V chassis, most of them variants of the coachbuilder’s PV22 or PV23 touring limousines. The example shown here, chassis number 5VE21, was the only car built to the Sedanca de Ville version of design number PV15, a limousine with a somewhat more formal roofline and a true seven-passenger interior. As the car has a rather early body, number 9053, on a later Phantom V chassis, it is believed that the coachwork may have been built as a standard limousine and then converted by James Young to a limousine de Ville for mounting on chassis number 5VE21. Lavish appointments included a leather-upholstered rear compartment with power-adjustable seat, facing a lighted bar, Mazal clock, and Motorola tape deck, as well as dual front and rear air conditioning systems.

The body was liveried for Swinging London, in ivory white and royal blue with panels of decorative “sham cane.” In this form it surely turned heads at the 1965 Earls Court Motor Show, as is noted on both its build sheet and in Rolls-Royce Foundation records; a book published by its later home, California’s Behring Collection, notes it received a bronze medal at the show. Afterward it was delivered to the original owner B.P. Jenks, of Astbury Hall in Bridgnorth, Shropshire. At one point it was used as the basis for a Top Marques 1/43-scale model.

The records of the Rolls-Royce Foundation indicate that the car made its way Stateside when relatively new; in July 1972 it was advertised in the New York Times. Not long thereafter it was purchased by the colorful collector Dr. Erle M. Heath of Pittsburgh. The car passed from Dr. Heath to Dr. Samuel Scher, once a pioneering American enthusiast of Brass Era automobiles, by now living in Palm Beach and more often seen in modern coach-built Rolls-Royces.

In 1985, this car was acquired by the Blackhawk Collection where it was displayed amongst some of the worlds finest cars. In 1992, the car joined a private collection where it has remained out of the public eye for the past 30 years. There is no Phantom V like this one, a most unique automobile with a personality all its own.