One of the featured classes at last weekend’s 2024 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance was the Italian coachbuilder Frua. There was a Maserati-specific Frua class, as Maserati is celebrating its 110th anniversary this year, and a class for Frua designs of other brands. My favorite car of the bunch (and certainly the largest), was this 1971 Rolls-Royce Phantom VI Frua All-Weather Cabriolet, which seems like the first real crossover convertible.
There were only two Phantom VI chassis built with Frua coachwork, the other being a less interesting but absolutely stunning two-door traditional Drophead convertible. This one was first delivered to Frua in 1971, but it wasn’t completed until 1993, ten years after Pietro Frua’s death. It was first developed for British real estate developer Robert “Bobby” Buchanan-Michaelson, but it was sold to American collector James Leake in 1977, who continued the work.
The car was presented at the 1993 Geneva Auto Show when it was finally done. According to RM Sotheby’s, who sold this car in Monterey in 2017 for $385,000, the story of how this car came to life “…is full of fascinating characters and high drama, largely related to Frua not speaking English, and no one at Rolls-Royce speaking Italian, and neither bothering to hire an interpreter.”
Compared to the classic styling of normal Phantom VIs, the Frua All-Weather Cabriolet is a complete tone shift. It’s super long and tall and boxy, and as the name suggest, very SUV-like. Walking around it on the lawn in Monterey, it does seem like this thing could conquer any kinds of weather. Hell, at 21 feet long, it’s a full two feet longer than the gigantic current-gen Phantom EWB. The convertible top can be configured as a sedanca de ville with a covered rear passenger area, a landaulet with an open rear but a covered driver’s cabin, or as a full droptop.
The interior is full of stunning wood marquetry, with intricate flowerpot designs on the fold-out rear tables. Rear passengers also get a full drinks cabinet, a removable silk-lined vanity, a Davidoff cigar humidor, and slide-out controls for the Blaupunkt stereo system, television and VCR. In terms of powertrain, the All-Weather Cabriolet has a 6.2-liter V8 sending 217 horsepower through a 4-speed automatic, and it’s got hydraulic drum brakes at all four wheels, an independent front suspension and a semi-floating rear axle.
Sadly, the All-Weather Cabriolet didn’t get medal in the Frua class at the Concours this year. First place went to the 1973 Momo Mirage Frua Coupe, with second and third going to the 1953 Nardi 750 Frua Barchetta and 1946 Fiat 1100 C Frua Barchetta, respectively. All deserving cars, but this wild Rolls-Royce was my favorite.
