In Derby on 8th May 1933, 186MY was sold to Barker & Co Ltd of 66
South Audley Street, London WI for their customer, Captain John Wanamaker. The chassis
was a short Continental type, one of 281 made, with 'E' rake steering suitable for an owner
driver. The chassis delivered to Barkers on 11th May for fitting a Three Position
Drophead Coup? Body , referred to in Rolls-Royce records as a 'Coupe Cabriolet'. Barkers
made just four examples of this coachwork on a Phantom II Continental. The guarantee was
dated 8th June 1933 and sent to Barkers on 19th July 1933. The car was first registered as
AGN-343 May 1933 by the London County Council.
Captain John Wanamaker Junior (1889-1934) was a film director, the grandson of
John Wanamaker, the Philadelphia department store magnate. Captain Wanamaker served
with the US Army's 78th Division during WWI and headed communications and
transportation when President Woodrow Wilson was in France negotiating the Treaty of
Versailles. On Wanamaker's return to the United States, the sporty new. Rolls-Royce Coupe
was the perfect choice for the captain, who was well-known in society as an avid sportsman and
a successful speedboat racer in the US and in Europe. Regrettably, he didn?t own the car for
long as Wanamaker died unexpectedly on 30th November 1934, aged just 45.
In 1936, 186MY returned to England after being sold to Sir Terence James O?Connor,
KC (1891-1940) of 4 Paper Buildings, Temple, London ESC and of Swerford Park,
Oxfordshire, built for the Duke of Buccleuch as a hunting lodge in 1783 and remodeled in
the early 19th century with a landscaped park. Sir Terence was a barrister, a bencher of the
Inner Temple and a member of British Parliament who was a Conservative politician and
held the office of Solicitor General from 1936 until his death in 1940. In 1938 he acquired a
Derby Bentley and was given 500 in part exchange for l 86MY which was then sold by
Rolls-Royce for 285 to The Brooklands Motor Co of 103 New Bond Street, London WI. At
that stage the car was painted grey. On 7th March 1940, it was purchased by Patrick David de
Laszlo (1909-1980) of 39, Roland Gardens, London SW7. He was an industrialist, who
reportedly hid the car and kept it safe throughout WWII. After the war, the car passed to Mr
A Jones of The Garth, Eaglescliffe, Stockton-on-Tees. On 28th July 1950 186MY was in the
hands of the motor dealers, Frank Dale of 68 Princess Gate Mews, London SW7, who sold it
to Captain Spencer Hart of 600 Park West, Marble Arch, London W2 on 15th December
1950.
186MY returned to the United States when it was acquired on 16th October 1959 by
Herman R Zinn of the Mittermeyer Nursery Corporation, 228 Passaic Street, Rochelle Park,
New Jersey. Herman Zinn and his company had come to the attention of the public in 1955when they were accused of conspiring with others to defraud the City of New Jersey when
supplying nursery plants.
The American owners after this comprised:
1962 to 1965: Gerrard E Schulz of 70, Briarcliffe Road, Buffalo 25, New York
1965 to 1971: Howard W Kizer of Scottsdale, Arizona
1971 to 1974: Thomas W Barrett III of 5601E, Nauni Valley Drive, Scottsdale,
Arizona
1974 to 1986: The Craven Foundation, Canada
1986 to 1991: Richard B Hooper of Seattle, Washington
1991 to 1999: Harold (aka Hal) S Meden (1928-2006) of 1400, 143rd Place NE,
Bellevue, Washington
1999 to 2006: Ronald S Benach of Chicago, Illinois
During this time in the United States, 186MY participated in the following concours
and other events:
Rolls-Royce Owners' Club, 1959 (First in Class, Phantom II, the Annual Meet at
Kent, Ohio)
Western Inter-Regional, Vancouver, Canada, 1986 (Second in Class, Pre-War Class)
The Oregon National Vintage Tour, 1992
Rolls-Royce Owners' Club, 1995 (National Award)
Rolls-Royce Owners' Club, Lake Forest, Illinois, 2006
Rolls-Royce Owners' Club, Lake Forest, Illinois, 2007
In 2006, 186MY crossed the Atlantic again after being acquired by Andrew Pisker, a
collector of classic cars, particularly Ferraris, and a well-known investment banker. He was
Managing Director of Lehman Brothers in the UK at a young age, then Head of the Global
Bond Business at Banque Paribas before becoming Chief Executive of Dresdner Kleinwort
Wasserstein and a member of the Vorstand ofDresdner Bank AG. He is the founder of
Richmond Park Partners LLP, which is a boutique investment bank offering financial and
capital market advisory services.
In 2009, 186MY was sold to Livio Piero Cossutti of Bissone, Switzerland. Cossutti is
an inventor and a former President of Riri, one of the world's largest zip manufacturers.
During his ownership, the car participated in the Concorso d'Eleganza at Villa d'Este in 2011
and in 2015.
In 2020, 186MY was acquired by its present owner