1935 Rolls-Royce 20/25HP

To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys The Hershey Auction event, 7 - 8 October 2026.
Offered Without Reserve $20,000 - $30,000 USD

• Fitted with extended Pullman Limousine de Ville coachwork by Barker, unusual for this model
• Powered by its numbers-matching inline-six, as confirmed by a copy of its factory build record
• Well-presented older restoration with handsome exterior and interior finishes
• A thoroughly rewarding example of Rolls-Royces smaller, lighter interwar offering, built unconventionally on the extended wheelbase with open-driver limousine coachwork

The 20 HP, or simply the Twenty, was one of Rolls-Royces most important and transformational models. Smaller, lighter, and less complex than its predecessors, it was also the first Rolls-Royce specifically intended for owners to drive themselves, rather than chauffeured use, says Andrew Ball, head of corporate relations and heritage, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. It weighed around 30 percent less than a Silver Ghost and its 3.1-liter inline six-cylinder was less than half the size of its larger siblings 7.5-liter unit. In Rolls-Royce tradition, the 20 HP was built as a rolling chassis with clients commissioning bespoke bodies from coachbuilders of their choosing. Though Rolls-Royce had envisioned svelte, lighter designs for the 20 HP, clients often defaulted to the heavier, formal coachwork they had grown accustomed to. Recognizing its customers continued preference for more substantial coachwork, Rolls-Royce replaced the 20 HP in 1929 with the 20/25 HP, featuring a larger-capacity 3.6-liter engine, followed by the even more powerful 25/30 HP in 1935, with a 4.25-liter inline-six.

This Rolls-Royce 20/25 perfectly illustrates the interesting dynamic discussed above, with its extended Pullman Limousine de Ville coachwork by Barker, which is unusually long for the model. According to a copy of its original build record on file, the Rolls-Royce was sold new to Mrs. Forshaw-Hawkins and Major Stewart Black of Somerset on 16 October 1934. It came equipped from the factory with a luggage rack, chrome mascot, an exterior offset spare wheel, Dunlop silent tread tires, and a standard bonnet with aluminum hinges and moldings. Importantly, the build document also confirms the car retains its numbers-matching engine.

The Rolls-Royce later passed to Reverend R.W. Horner, a resident of the rectory in Kingston Blount, Oxfordshire, who is understood to have owned it until 1974. Roger Hadfield acquired the Pullman in 2006, at which time it was finished in yellow and black. He later had the car refinished to light maroon and black, as shown in photos accompanying an article Mr. Hadfield wrote for the 15 July 2013 issue of Old Autos.

The exterior is now attractively finished in ecru with red pinstriping, while the interior features grey corduroy in the passenger compartment and black leather in the drivers compartment. With its extended Barker coachwork, numbers-matching engine, and long-term enthusiast ownership, this Rolls-Royce 20/25 HP Pullman Limousine de Ville would be a distinctive entrant at Rolls-Royce Owners Club and other marque events.
To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at rmsothebys.com/auctions/hf26/.