1936 Rolls-Royce 20/25 Hooper Limousine
A spacious, clean and well-presented limousine, nicely finished in black and soft white, with excellent black leather to the front and ivory to the rear. The whole car is smart in appearance, nicely sound with doors that close with a satisfying ‘clunk’, and would be well-suited to wedding hire use. Appealingly correct under the bonnet, with correct, bakelite coil, etc, and included within the history file is a buff logbook from 1945, the original handbook and correspondence from the original owner. The car comes equipped with a very impressive set of original tools, correctly housed in trays in the drawer under the front seat. This, in itself, tells us something about the life that the car has had, indicating care and attention. Mechanically good too, running well, and offered MoT tested, serviced and prepared.
Chassis No. GXK23.
Reg No. CLL 933.
Price £29,500.
Snippets: J P Mitchelhill – Impresario & Philanthropist
The first owner of GXK23 was John Percy “Mitch” Mitchelhill (1879/1966) a successful theatre owner who started the careers of stars such as Gracie Fields (1915 production of “Yes, I think so”). In the 1930s attendees at Mitch’s productions included HRH Princess Louise “The Rose Without a Thorn” and HM Queen Mary & Princess Mary saw T. S. Eliot’s poetic play, “Murder in the Cathedral”.
In December 1937 Prince Bernhard & Prince Aschwin of Netherlands whilst visiting London together with a large party attended “I killed the Count” at the Whitehall. Authors of plays produced at the Mitchelhill theatres included – T S Elliott, J B Priestley, Clifford Bax, Christa Winsloe, Emlyn Williams & John Hill which was Mitch’s pseudonym. We have acquired the book “J P – The man called Mitch” by Peter Cotes which is a tribute to the man, his plays, theatres & the scholarships he set up both in the theatrical & medical worlds including a library, allotments & homes for retired nurses.<br>
In 1948 he transferred ownership of GXK23 to his wife Sarah, why he did this is unknown; Sarah died in October 1965 and in April 1966 at the age of 87 Mitch married Margaret Sutherland who had been his nurse & companion since 1951. In 1959 and by now in declining health (Meniere’s Disease) the Rolls-Royce, which he was always chauffeured in, was sold to Lady Cooke of Kingston House.
From our research we think that this Lady Cooke was the widow of Sir James Douglas Cooke, who although an Australian by birth was knighted in 1945 for his political work. Lady Cooke only kept GKX23 for a few years before it was shipped to America.
The first American owner was John Crosby of Woodside, Redwood City in California, the second was Howard Frazee who was a pioneer of 3D photograph and from 1969 to 2003 the car was with Robert Hood of Howthorne, California whose electronic company WEMS contributed to the space race.