According to factory records held by The Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation, the car started life as a 20/25 chassis delivered in 1935 to HJ Mulliner for saloon clothing and then purchased by a Dr Herbert Paterson CBE, F.R.C.S, of Upper Wimpole Street, London.
After that, the story becomes decidedly more intriguing.
When this car was built in 1935, hunting was absolutely de rigueur among aristocratic elites, captains of industry and stars of stage and screen.
George V was on the throne at the time and there are photographs of him and his Sandringham shooting parties practically up to their waists in piles of downed widgeon, woodcock and waterfowl.
Of course, for hunters of rather more exotic and challenging game, Africa was the ultimate destination, and it was to Rhodesia that this car made its first overseas trip*, having by then been converted by an unknown coachbuilder for use as transport for hunters.
Although the estate body to the rear of the front doors was added at this time, the car has retained its original front and wings.
The ends of the bumpers were adapted so that four poles could be erected to support an awning over the entire vehicle to provide shade for the occupants. The vehicle also had storage space under the front seats for guns, and windows that could be fully dropped down, allowing hunters to shoot from inside the vehicle.
The next chapter in this car’s fascinating story is surely the most bizarre.
Somehow, after the outbreak of WW2, the vehicle found itself in Germany, where it was apparently employed as a staff car for Wehrmacht officers
We can only imagine that the Germans enjoyed the irony of a Rolls-Royce, that most quintessentially British brand, being used as transport by grey-uniformed men sporting duelling scars, monocles and iron crosses.
As the war in Europe drew to a close, the car was liberated by advancing Americans who had discovered it among other ‘booty’ in a warehouse behind an accordion factory in Torgau, Saxony.
Torgau’s principal post-war claim to fame is that it was where the US and Soviet armies first met in April 1945.
Had the Soviets found the car first, it might have gone on to have a rather different later life.
Next, the car headed across the Atlantic and into the ownership of a Mr P.K. Wrigley, scion of the eponymous chewing gum business and the man whom, as CEO of the Wrigley Company, had dedicated the firm’s entire output of Spearmint, Doublemint, and Juicy Fruit to the US Armed Forces for the duration of the war.
Being a keen hunter himself, Mr Wrigley used the Rolls-Royce ‘shooting brake’ as transport around the family’s private game estate on Catalina Island, California.
The car’s nickname – ‘Bubbles’ – derives from its time with the Wrigley family.
After Mr Wrigley’s death in 1977, the car was purchased by the Stanton family of Santa Cruz Island for use on their private game reserve.
Later, it was rediscovered and restored into its present configuration as a ‘Cocktail Brake’ and fitted with seats, cocktail tables and of course a decanter with glasses.
After nearly 70 years abroad, the car returned home to British shores in 2004.
It had been bought by J.P. Mayhew, a restaurateur, businessman and the owner of Rules, London’s oldest restaurant.
Rules specialises in game and has its own shooting estate, Lartington Park, in Teesdale.
Clearly, ‘Bubbles’ was a perfect fit for both the game estate and the restaurant.
The Covent Garden restaurant was founded in 1798, 22 years after the foundation of the United States of America, and 137 years before ‘Bubbles’ was built.
Its doors have seen the great and the good coming and going for well over two centuries.
Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, H.G. Wells, Graham Greene, John Betjeman, Evelyn Waugh and John Galsworthy are among the famous writers who have dined there, while visiting stars of the stage and screen include Henry Irving, Laurence Olivier, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, Paul Newman, Harrison Ford, Joan Collins, Clark Gable, and Lillie Langtry.
Having repatriated the car, Mr Mayhew set about getting it into the best possible condition.
He commissioned The Carrosserie Company (UK) Ltd of Barnard Castle, County Durham, to restore the bodywork and the interior.
He had the engine rebuilt by acknowledged marque experts Hillier Hill.
He engaged Ristes of Nottingham, Hillier Hill and Gordon Dale to maintain, service and care for the car as and when necessary, regardless of cost, from the time it returned to Blighty until the present day.
And when we say ‘regardless of cost’, we really mean it.
Between 2004 and 2017, ‘Bubbles’ had over £184,000 spent on all manner of work.
And it’s had plenty more spent on it since then.
The vehicle is well known at Rolls-Royce rallies and has taken part in European events such as the Rallye des Alpes.
It is in first-class condition - mechanically, dynamically and aesthetically – and is FIVA eligible.
It has even had a starring role in an episode of Antiques Roadshow.
As you will have no doubt discerned by now, this car is absolutely and utterly unique in every way.
The vendor is only reluctantly selling it because the road upon which Rules restaurant sits, Maiden Lane, has been pedestrianised – so there’s nowhere for ‘Bubbles’ to park.
