Modelo Trouville núm. RR-5738 (Carrocería Brewster)

1st owner: Mr. William Deering Howe

After the 1st World War there was a great demand for vehicles, but there weren’t enough available. Rolls-Royce came up with the idea of manufacturing cars in America to meet the significant domestic demand and avoid paying import duty, which represented 45% of the value. This would make the prices of these Rolls-Royces more reasonable. Springfield (Massachusetts) was chosen as the best location . It was an area where they could find workers accustomed to high precision and attention to small detail. Many of the workers were from the rifle and revolver industry. An former ¨¨Indian¨¨ motorcycle factory was acquired, where tanks had been built during World War I, and in 1920 the American adventure began. The idea was to make "The Best Car in the World".

The starting system of these vehicles is composed of 458 parts with 241 fasteners. The best materials were sourced and  finishes of  alpaca and platinum were treated with the utmost precision. The result was as expected but with excessive cost, the final price double or triple the price of the best American V-12 Cadillacs, Packards, Lincolns, etc ... After 10 years of production at Springfield and 2,944 cars, the factory was not viable. The high cost, combined with the 1929 Wall Street crash and economic recession, led to the decision not to continue production of the next model, the Rolls-Royce Phantom II, which would  be built only in England, with a left-hand-drive export model. The Rolls-Royces made in Springfield are the only ones made outside England and their most important  distinguishing feature is their left-hand-drive. Major improvements were also introduced, some of which were later incorporated by the English, such as the centralised lubrication system activated by a grease gun mounted near the driver's position, which distributed oil to 44 points; a double ignition coil, better location of the dynamo, etc .... These Rolls-Royces were extremely sophisticated and complicated. To train driver-mechanics who had to drive a Rolls-Royce, customers were offered the facilities of the Rolls-Royce driving school, with well-equipped premises, a car for driving tests, a full chassis with all the details for general instruction, as well as to practise changing gear. .

The Trouville model has chassis no.183 and the St. Andrew, no.184. These vehicles came off the Springfield assembly line consecutively nearly  90 years ago. They were reunited by the greatest American collector and main owner of las Vegas casinos, Harrah, in the nineteen-sixties. They later went on to form part of the largest European Phantom I collection. And now Grup Limousines continues to maintain them.