Rolls-Royce 1936 20/25 Saloon

On the 13th of January 1936, Mr J E Crabtree ordered from Rolls Royce dealer in Birmingham, George Heath Ltd, a 20/25 rolling Chassis for delivery to Thrupp and Maberley for a "6 Light saloon" body to be made and fitted. Mr Crabtree was the founder of J E Crabtree and Co Ltd, the manufacturers of bakerlite light switches and electrical components. He died before the car was finished, but his wife, Mrs G E Crabtree, took delivery on 6th May 1936 and kept the car for nearly 20 years, chauffeur driven.

In 1954 it was bought by Lt. Col. Ronald (Coffee) Edwards MBE, in Hampshire who was a British army dentist who was later stationed in Germany and used the car extensively to travel back and forth to the UK with his German Chauffeur, Gunter. His daughter remembers the car and remembers it was one colour grey and not two tone as now, but the black and white photo she supplied is not much help working out its exact original shade. Thrupp and Maberley were fire bombed in the Blitz, no build records exist for the body work or colours.

We have all the Rolls Royce build record sheets from the archives and apart from a new water pump, cylinder head, tyres and exhaust she remains as delivered in 1936.

At some point in the early 2000's BVP888 was stripped down and repainted, reupholstered and rewired and is generally how it’s seen today.

In late 2021 after running the car for a year at many classic car shows and events we decided to restore her mechanically and commissioned a complete engine rebuild.

    • Body style - 4-door Thrupp & Maberly

    • Engine - 3669 cc, six-cylinder overhead-valve engine

    • Transmission - 4-speed manual

    • Layout - Front-engine, rear-wheel drive

    • 3.7 litre

    • Maximum speed - 1st gear = 18 mph, 2nd gear = 32 mph, 3rd gear = 53 mph, 4th gear = 76mph

    • 179.9 inches in length

  • Rolls-Royce 20/25s have featured in films such as; The League of Gentlemen (1959), Father Came Too! (1963), The Brides of Fu Manchu (1966), To the Manor Born (1979), To Be or Not To Be (1983), and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) (misidentified as a Phantom II).