Lady Astor's 1935 Rolls-Royce Phantom set to fetch £100,000 at auction as it goes under the hammer (that's £5k more than it cost new)

Lady Astor's 1935 Rolls-Royce Phantom set to fetch £100,000 at auction as it goes under the hammer (that's £5k more than it cost new)

• Lady Astor was the first woman MP to sit in the House of Commons
• Millionaire American divorcee was famous for heated exchanges with Churchill and lavish parties at Cliveden, her Berkshire seat
  
• She bought the car during the Depression for the equivalent in today's money of £95k
• She requested it have all mod-cons including earliest form of car radio
• The Rolls-Royce was sold to a buyer in the U.S. in 1950s
• Last serviced 12 months ago the car is still in good working order
• Expected to fetch £100,000+ at the sale at Bonhams in Arizona tomorrow

By Katy Winter

PUBLISHED: 10:10 EST, 16 January 2013 | UPDATED: 16:47 EST, 16 January 2013

Feisty: Lady Nancy Astor was the first woman to sit as a Member of Parliament and was renowned as an extravagant society lady

A Rolls-Royce commissioned for Lady Astor in September 1935, when the U.S. was in the middle of the Great Depression, is to go up for auction.

The vintage car is expected to fetch in excess of £100,000 at Bonham's auction house in Arizona - almost the same amount she paid for it 77 years ago.

The American socialite asked for her 'Sedanca de Ville' Rolls-Royce to have a number of stylistic flourishes, including one of the earliest forms of the car radio.

It was delivered to her residence at No.4 St. James Square in London, although she and her husband, Viscount Astor, also had an aristocratic country seat at Cliveden, Berkshire.

In the 1950s the car made its way across the Atlantic, where it changed hands a couple of times before ending up in a private collection in Colorado.

Despite its age it was serviced 12 months ago and is still in good working order.

Lady Astor, who was born Nancy Witcher Langhorne in Danville, Virginia, moved to England to begin her new life as a socialite and support her husband's career in politics.

After he ascended to the title of Viscount in 1919 Lady Astor won the by-election for his seat in the House of Commons.

She was the second woman ever to be elected and the first woman MP to sit in the House of Commons.

Lady Astor spent a small fortune on the magnificent car - it would cost £95,000 in today's money -.a similar move these days could well spell the end of a political career but the extravagant purchase did her no harm and she retained her seat for another decade.

Iconic: The beautiful Rolls-Royce was commissioned by Lady Astor, the first woman MP, and is still in working condition

Untimely: The beautiful Rolls-Royce 'Sedanca de Ville' car in September 1935, when the country was in the middle of the Great Depression

Rupert Banner, motoring specialist at auctioneers Bonhams, said: ‘Lady Astor was well known for her wealth and her ability to purchase these very extravagant things.

‘This Rolls-Royce was pretty much one of the best cars money could buy back in 1935 and this vehicle was the ultimate item of luxury in its day.

‘It was big and luxurious, had a seven litre engine and was a great way to travel across the country in comfort. This would not have been used to drive around town.

Extravagant: Lady Astor asked for her new car to have a number of stylistic flourishes to add to its plush luxury, including one of the earliest forms of the car radio in the back compartment

Remarkable: The car has a seven litre engine which is still in working order, and is expected to fetch close to £100,000 when it goes for auction at Bonhams

‘The back compartment even has a radio in it, which would make it one of the earliest car radio systems.

‘The most wealthy people were upgrading their cars all the time back then, just like they tend to do today.’

NANCY AND THE SAMCAM CONNECTION

The Prime Minister's wife, Samantha Cameron, is the daughter of Annabel Astor and landowner Sir Reginald Sheffield.

Annabel was born in 1948 to barrister Timothy Jones and socialite Pandora Clifford, who was just 17 at the time.

The pair had married very young, and split soon after.

Pandora went on to marry Michael Astor - the son of Lady Nancy Astor - in 1961.

Meanwhile, her daughter Annabel's marriage ended in her mid-twenties, leaving her with two daughters, Samantha and Emily.

In 1976, Annabel married William Astor (4th Viscount and grandson of Lady Nancy Astor) - making him SamCam's stepfather. 

The Viscount and Lady Astor met on a transatlantic voyage in 1905 and were married the following year.

She retained her seat until stepping down in the 1945 general election.

The Astors spent most of their time at Cliveden, where they often held lavish parties and the millionaire divorcee was famous for her heated exchanges with Winston Churchill,

In one exchange she is said to have told the Prime Minister 'Mr Churchill, you're drunk', to which he replied: 'Yes, and you, Madam, are ugly. But tomorrow, I shall be sober.'

The Phantom II was introduced in 1929 as a successor to the New Phantom (retrospectively known as the Phantom I) with deliveries commencing in September of that year.

Car designer Henry Royce's favourite coachbuilders, Barker & Co, used a new low-slung frame for the car, with the radiator set well back, to create a more streamline vehicle than previous models.

The finished product would go on to win the Grand Prix d'Honneur at the Biarritz Concours d'Elegance in September 1930.

The Rolls-Royce will be offered for sale at the Bonhams auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, tomorrow.

Edward, Prince of Wales plays against Nancy Astor during a Parliamentary golf tournament in 1933 on Walton Heath, Surrey

National treasure: A collector's dream, the car made its way from the UK where is was made, across the Atlantic in the 1950s, ending up in a private collection in Colorado

Grand beginnings: The Rolls-Royce Phantom II was delivered to Lady Astor at her residence at No.4 St. James Square in London