Page 79 - Adrenaline DEC

THE FIELD MARSHAL MONTGOMERY PHANTOM III
1936 ROLLS-ROYCE PHANTOM III COACHWORK BY HJ MULLINER
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery’s victory at El Alamein in 1942 helped turn the tide of the Second World War. Universally known as
Monty, his famously ascetic lifestyle earned him another nickname; the ‘Spartan General’. Yet this disciplined, forthright soldier allowed himself one indulgence. In the matter of his personal transport, he would accept only Rolls-Royce.
Monty had the use of three Phantom IIIs during the Second World War; the car on display, known as the ‘Butler’, was his favourite – indeed, he grew so fond of it that he kept it until 1962. Built in 1936 for Alan Samuel Butler, chairman of the De Havilland Aircraft Company, its distinctive front- sloping windscreen made it 15 per cent more aerodynamically efficient than the standard model.
As his official car, it effortlessly conveyed Monty on vital military business to 10 Downing Street, the War Office, Chequers and NATO Headquarters in France. Yet it was far more than just transport. In Monty’s mind, Phantom stood for permanence, solidity and reliability – a powerful and reassuring signal to the troops from the man who held their lives in his hands.
The car has been generously loaned to the Exhibition by a private collector and still has the burn mark on the dash board left by Sir Winston Churchill’s cigar.
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