Rolls-Royce Phantom III - front interior view

 

 

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PIII front door The original leather used to cover the chauffeur's cabin was a coarse grained, heavy-weight hide.  It took over four hides to re-trim this part of the car; the leather being as close as possible to the quality and style of the original material.
PIII front seat

Despite being the servant's quarters, the standard of interior trim on this car was to an extremely high specification.  The wood veneers were the same as those used in the rear cabin and both front seat had inflatable lumbar adjustment.  The rubber bulb, for the snake-horn, was specified on the original order for the body.

On the majority of Phantom IIIs the tool kit is held in a drawer that pulls out from under the nearside front seat.  This car was specified to have an electrically operated division, which meant that the motor had to be installed under the front passenger's seat.  The tool kit was revised from standard by constructing a removable tool box that sits in the original drawer runners.  Access is achieved by removing the driver's side seat squab and then lifting out the box.  The result is not quite as elegant as the original design but is a pragmatic solution to the problem.

PIII dashboard

All of the interior wooden trim is solid walnut veneered in ebony-macassa.

All instrumentation is to standard Phantom III specification.  As part of the refurbishment the switchbox was overhauled and repainted.  Most instruments were in good working order but the electric clock was refurbished and the combined oil pressure and water temperature gauge was rebuilt.

The trafficator switch is in the centre of the top rail above the dash board with a cigar lighter to its right.  There is a courtesy light above the glove box that is operated by the upper switch to the right: the button beneath operating the electric blind on the rear window.  The two small warning lights, under the speedometer, are for low fuel (green, on the left) and non-charging on the dynamo (red, on the right).  Visible on the dash board, to the left of the steering wheel boss, are the switch for the left and right fuel pumps (upper) and the carburetor choke (lower).

The sun visors are standard Phantom III fare, being spring actuated rollers with pantograph arms.  A close look in the rear view mirror shows the not-so-careful photographer.

 

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