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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet - Quality remains when the problems are long forgotten

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Created on September 3, 2015

Reading time 9min

Written by:

Stefan Dierkes

Photos:

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet (1973) - Offenfahrung ohne störenden Verdeckwulst

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet (1973) - zwei nostalgische Klappen geben den Zugang zum Motor frei

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet (1973) - sehr gestreckte und gradlinige Gestaltung

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet (1973) - der Blick wirkt recht böse

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet (1973) - das Heck wirkt leichtfüssig

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet (1973) - Frontgestaltung mit Rechteckelementen

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet (1973) - das Heck wirkt sehr lang

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet (1973) - riesiger Rolls-Royce-Kühler

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet (1973) - das Interieur ist inzwischen beige

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet (1973) - Chassis-Plakette

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI - mit Karosserie von Park Ward

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet (1973) - die Zeichnung von Pietro Frua

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet (1973) - Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet während des Aufbaus in Pietro Fruas Werkstatt

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet (1973) - Holzmodell des Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet 1972 in Pietro Fruas Werkstatt in Moncalieri

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet (1973) - Heckansicht des Holzmodells

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet (1973) - mit dunklem Verdeck

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet (1973) - ein Kofferraum, so gross wie ein Schwimmbad?

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet (1973) - Mercedes-Benz Türschlösser, Trittstufe am Einstieg, grünes Connolly-Leder und poliertes Rosenholz

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet (1973) - vor passender Firmenanschrift, vermutlich bei der RR-Vertretung Schmohl in Zürich

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet (1973) - Simon van Kempen mit seinem Cabriolet am 14. Juli 1996 beim 1. Internationalen Pietro Frua Treffen in Bad König

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Cabriolet Frua (1973) - eine Alternative zum "kompakteren" Corniche von Pietro Frua

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet (1973) - Walter Steinemann mit dem Frua-Cabriolet am 21. April 2007 in Park der Villa d´Este

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Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet (1973) - am 22. April 2007 im Park der Villa Erba

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Summary

The era of special bodies was actually over in the 1970s, but there were still discerning customers who liked to treat themselves to something special. For one of them, Pietro Frua spent 13,500 hours building a convertible based on the Rolls-Royce Phantom VI, which the first owner drove 400,000 kilometers in. This report describes the problematic construction of the special body and its history, illustrated with contemporary and current pictures.

This article contains the following chapters

Rolls-Royce Phantom VI for crowned heads
The desire for something bigger
First drafts
Countless difficulties during the construction of the bodywork
Presentation at the IAA 1973
Over 20 years at first hand
Further information

Estimated reading time: 9min

Preview (beginning of the article)

At the end of September 2015, the 1973 Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua Cabriolet, probably the largest two-door convertible ever built, came onto the market at the Bonhams auction of the Danish Frederiksen Collection . However, it is not only the overall length of 6.57 meters and the wheelbase of 3.68 meters that are impressive, but also the difficulties involved in its construction, which took over two years. Like its predecessors, the Rolls-Royce Phantom VI was only built for heads of state and royalty, with only 374 built between 1968 and 1991. On its classic box frame, 355 7- or 9-seater state limousines were built by the Rolls-Royce Mulliner Park Ward department in London's Willesden district, with a separate chauffeur's compartment and separate air conditioning for the chauffeur and passengers.

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