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1932 Rolls-Royce 20/25 Cabriolet at Pebble Beach.
Author & Photographer: Ken Morrison.
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Live From the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance 2011.
This year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance marked the 61st anniversary of the event, and was a clear testament to the fact that it just keeps getting better, broader, and more global in its reach. Entrants came from over 14 countries, with cars making the trek by land, sea, and air to roll onto the 18th fairway of the famed Pebble Beach golf course for the August 21st show. The action began pre-dawn when the cars made their entry onto the field, driven by proud owners and greeted by the so-called “dawn patrol” of hundreds of enthusiasts who lined the path, gasping with delight as the cars filed by.
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There is, of course, a story behind every car that appears at the Concours. Each facet of the story adds to the cars’ provenance and can also add significantly to their value. Just being selected for Pebble Beach is a major achievement, because the show is an “invitation only” event with highly rigorous selection standards. An appearance at Pebble Beach can elevate a car to star status.
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This year, one of the most interesting stories involved Richard Raynsford of Nortamptonshire, England, his 1932 Rolls-Royce 20/25 HP Graber Cabriolet (reg. FMO 731), and a bear. Prior to coming to the Pebble Beach Concours, Raynsford went to Lake Tahoe to attend the SPIRIT OF THE SIERRAS Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club “100th anniversary of the Flying Lady” National Meet. During the meet, a bear cub took such a liking to his Rolls that it climbed around on the body after having first romped around in the mud. The knowledge that the presence of a bear cub can be quickly followed by the presence of a mother bear kept witnesses from intervening, even though damage to the car might well have meant that Pebble Beach would be out of the question for Raynsford. But when the bear finally took its leave, luck was on Raynsford’s side; the car was cleaned, polished, and without a scratch, pronounced as Concours-ready as ever.
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Raynsford said the fact that car was not damaged is attributable to the masterful paint job. “There were layers upon layers of paint and the end result was that they were strong enough to withstand the bear. Once we cleaned the car off, there was no evidence that the bear had ever been there.” To cap off the eventful event, Raynsford’s Rolls won the Spirit of the Sierras first-place award.
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Raynsford searched long and hard for to find this car, which had been owned by a family member years before he found it. Over the years, the Rolls-Royce 20/25 had been shuffled between a variety of owners and had parts stripped off, with its significance and value clearly not being understood. Earlier in its history, the 20/25 had been owned by the brother of the ex-King of Afghanistan, who veered off the road while on holiday in Italy in 1939 and drove the car into Lake Lemon, from which it had to be retrieved under 60 feet of water. When Raynsford did finally locate the car, he wasted no time flying to the US, making the purchase, and bringing it back home to England. Clearly, he understood the value of the 20/25 and had a great deal of affection for it that motivated him to want to restore it to its original stature.
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Even among the field of 202 show-stoppers at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours event, Raynsford’s car was a stand-out, with more than 10 years having gone into its restoration. The restoration was carried out by Fiennes Restorations Ltd, Clanfield, Oxon, who brought the car up to concours standards in 2007.
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The Raynsford’s Rolls was rebodied in 1938 by Hermann Graber, the Swiss coachbuilder whose shop outfitted many of the most luxurious marques in automotive history. Of note is that Graber did the carriagework for only one other pre-war Rolls-Royce, adding yet another additional highlight to the rich legacy of this car.
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The appearance at the Pebble Beach Concours marked the last stop on the “coming out” tour for this magnificent restoration. It will now be shipped back to England, leaving behind a whole new wave of admirers who have had the opportunity to have firsthand knowledge of this automotive legend.
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