Landaulet
Let's go back to my childhood and find out about types of cars.
There are many types of automobiles that are named after horse drawn vehicles. This is one of them.
A landaulet is a car that has a hardtop (fixed metal roof) above the driver and front seat passenger and a convertible (retractable roof) above the rear passengers.
Landaulets are often used by heads of state and government because they allow crowds of people to easily see the dignitary and the dignitary can easily wave to the crowd.
Landaulets were quite common before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Since the assassination, heads of state and government have preferred to use fully armoured limousines rather than open top vehicles.
The most popular landaulets from my childhood include the Mercedes 600 (W100) State Landaulet. King Hassan of Morocco had one. Below is a picture of his son, King Mohammed VI and President Muhammadu Buhari in the car.
Mercedes also made a version of the car for the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Germany in the 1960s. Here's a photo of the Queen and the President of Germany in the car.
Of course this series was inspired by the Rolls Royce Phantom IV State Landaulet. Here is a photo of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in the car in Lagos in 1956.
Rolls Royce Phantom IV
The Rolls Royce Phantom IV is an extremely rare car that was made by Rolls Royce in the 1950s. Only 18 were made and Rolls Royce did not sell them to just anybody. They first determined if you were worthy to be a customer before they sold it to you. Most of the buyers were royalty. Here is a list of the 18 cars and their buyers.
1) The first car was made for Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom. She took delivery of the car in 1950. The car had a special driver's seat in case Prince Philip wanted to drive it. It was originally painted green with a red stripe, but it was repainted claret and black (the colour of royal vehicles) when Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II. As with most of Queen Elizabeth's cars, the mascot can be changed depending on who is in the car (she usually used a silver mascot of St George slaying the dragon instead of the Spirit of Ecstacy).
There were plans to sell this car after the Queen's death, but King Charles is fond of it and he intervened to prevent it from being sold.
The coachwork is by H.J. Mulliner and it is a 7 seater limousine.
2) This was an experimental truck that was built for the factory where the Phantom IV was made.
3) This car was made for the Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Phlavi. It is the only Phantom IV to have Silver Dawn type headlights. It was delivered to the Shah in 1951, but was returned to Rolls Royce in 1959. The coach was made by H.J. Mulliner and it was a cabriolet.
4) This car was built for the Emir of Kuwait, Abdullah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah (Abdullah III). The body was built by Mulliner and it was delivered in 1951.
5) This car was made for Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (Queen Elizabeth's cousin). The body was by Hooper and it was delivered in 1951.
6) This car was made for Ernest Hives who was the chairman and managing director of Rolls Royce. The body was by Hooper and it was a 7-seat limousine.
7) This car was made for Generalissimo Francisco Franco, the military head of state of Spain. It was a 5-seater luxury car, the body work was by H.J. Mulliner and it was armoured by English Steel Corporation. It was delivered in 1952.
8 ) This car was also made for Franco. It is a 7-seater limousine and it is still used as the number 1 state car of Spain. The body work is by H.J. Mulliner and it was armoured by English Steel Corporation.
9) This car was also made for Franco. It is the only Phantom IV that does not have suicide doors (the hinges are at the front not the back).
10) This car was made for His Majesty The Aga Khan (Aga Khan III). Rolls Royce had an agreement with the Aga Khan that the car would never be sold and that it would be returned to the company when the Aga Khan did not need it. However, after the Aga Khan's death, his widow sold the car to an American.
11) This car was made for Prince Talal of Saudi Arabia. The coachwork was done by a French company.
12) This car was made for the coronation of King Faisal II of Iraq. Coachwork was by Hooper and it was delivered in 1953.
13) This car was made for Prince Abdallah of Iraq. Its bodywork was by Hooper and it is a 7-seater limousine.
14) The number 1 state car of the United Kingdom. This car was the official car of Queen Elizabeth II. The Royal Family previously used Daimler limousines as their official cars, but Queen Elizabeth preferred Rolls Royces.
This car was a landaulet and it was often used when Queen Elizabeth visited hot countries like Nigeria (they could put the top down for more fresh air). The body work was by Hooper and it was painted in the official claret and black colours.
This car was delivered in 1954 and it was the number 1 state car of the United Kingdom until 1977 when Rolls Royce gave the queen a specially made Phantom VI for her silver jubilee. The Phantom VI was the number 1 state car until 2002 when Rolls Royce (which had become Bentley by that time) gave the Queen a Bentley State Limousine for her golden jubilee.
This was the car that Queen Elizabeth used during her tour of Southern Nigeria (Lagos, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Warri, Port-Harcourt, Enugu, etc) in 1956. I read a book by a colonial officer and he said that the car broke down in the Niger Delta. That's probably why the Queen used the Emir of Kano's Rolls Royce during her tour of Northern Nigeria (Kano, Kaduna, Jos, etc).
Buckingham Palace had an agreement with Rolls Royce that the car would never be sold and it would be returned to Rolls Royce when the Palace no longer needed it. It was returned to Rolls Royce in 2002.
15) Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom. This car was made for Queen Elizabeth II's sister, Princess Margareth, Countess of Snowdon. It is a 7-seater limousine and the body was made by H.J. Mulliner.
16) This car was made for Abdullah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait. The body was made by H.J. Mulliner.
17) This car was also made for Abdullah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait.
18) The 18th and final car was made for the Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.
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