- Twelve-year restoration project by Fiennes Restoration
- Villa d’Este Concorso d’Eleganza (for the Coppa d’Oro) entry
- Roll-Royce Enthusiasts Club Concours and Rally (Masters Class category) entry
- Salon Privé (One Hundred Years of Spirit of Ecstasy category) entry
- Pebble Beach Concours d’Elégance entry
- UK chassis
- Swiss coachwork
- Owned by King of Afghanistan’s brother
- Unwelcome bath in Lake Geneva
- Used in Italy during Mussolini’s dictatorship (an internationally well-known exception to Italy’s policies over petrol wastage, at the time)
- Time in Austria
- Sojourn in England
- Disappearance in USA (for 35 years!)
- Restoration by Fiennes Restoration
A unique 1932 Rolls-Royce 20/25 drophead coupé, painstakingly restored by Fiennes Restoration, is having its international debut at Villa d’Este Concorso d’Eleganza (Cernobbio, Italy, 20-22 May). Its presence in the Masters Class category at the RREC Concours and Rally (Rockingham Castle, 18-19 June) precedes its official UK launch at Salon Privé (Syon House, 22-24 June). Fiennes’s flawless restoration work on the Rolls-Royce 20/25 over a period of twelve years has also secured its acceptance at the most exclusive classic car event of the year, Pebble Beach (California, August 21 2011).
The Rolls-Royce 20/25 has a fascinating history and truly international background, with a UK chassis, Swiss coachwork, ownership by the King of Afghanistan’s brother, an ‘unwelcome bath’ in Lake Geneva in 1939, being used as a run-around in Rome during Mussolini’s dictatorship, a stint in Austria, a sojourn in England and final discovery in the USA, forlorn and forgotten, after 35 years of silent absence. Brought back to the UK and to Fiennes Restoration, the car has been the subject of complete restoration and returned to its former glory. ‘I had all but given up on my search,’ says Richard Raynsford, whose relentless quest to find this very car, which at one stage belonged to his family, finally came to an end by random chance when he spotted a photo of it, reduced to barn-find condition and in the States.
Fiennes Restoration Managing Director, Will Fiennes and the Rolls-Royce’s owner, Richard Raynsford, will take the car to Villa d’Este’s renowned Concorso d’Eleganza, where the 20/25 will be competing for the coveted ‘Coppa d’Oro Villa d’Este’.
Back in the UK, the car has its first official outing of 2011 at the flagship RREC event (Rockingham Castle), the world’s largest gathering of more than 1,000 Rolls-Royces and Bentley cars, before its official launch at exclusive luxury modern and classic supercar event, Salon Privé, participating in its Concours d’Elégance, ‘A Hundred Years of the Spirit of Ecstasy’ category.
Pebble Beach Concours d’Elégance in August completes the Rolls-Royce 20/25’s world tour. ‘We are delighted to have been instrumental in bringing back to the international scene such an exceptional and unique car,’ says Will Fiennes of Fiennes Restoration. ‘The car’s acceptance to so many illustrious concours events is evidence of the impeccable work Fiennes Restoration carried out,’ adds Richard Raynsford, whose choice of Fiennes Restoration was instrumental to the car’s recaptured magic.
Fiennes Restoration Ltd is the oldest, UK-based specialist in the restoration, conservation and maintenance of pre-war Bentleys and Rolls-Royces. Based in Oxfordshire, the Nuclear Scientist and Tribologist Managing Director Will Fiennes is a strong believer in the use of both traditional methods and the latest technology: Fiennes Restoration’s Machine Shop boasts the highest number of CNC tooling machines used by an independent UK specialist restorer.
For more information please contact:
Angie Voluti PR
Tel: +44 (0) 1604 863 044
Mob: +44 7584 306 014
E-mail: angie@angievoluti.co.uk
Fiennes Restoration Ltd
Clanfield Mill, Little Clanfield
Bampton, Oxon
OX18 2RX
Tel: +44 (0)1367 810438
E-mail: enquiries@fiennes.co.uk
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