An abandoned Rolls Royce wreck used during Second World War by Dwight Eisenhower has been located and restored. Inside the car a handwritten 1939 letter was found
An abandoned wreck of a Rolls Royce car which once belonged to US army legend Dwight Eisenhower during World War Two has been found and restored.
Now the magnificent vehicle has been painstakingly put back together. Pat Jeater has spent 11 years lovingly restoring the the car used by Eisenhower back in 1944. After the 1940s it ended up being used as a wedding car and a taxi in Amsterdam.
But it was eventually sold on and ended up in a remote North Wales car pound where it remained unsold for two and a half years. Pat stumbled across it in 2014, bought it, and has spent over 75,000 hours and £12,000 restoring the Rolls to its former glory.
Incredibly as he was working on the intricate restoration he even found an amazing handwritten letter dated 5th September 1939 hidden inside. He said: “It’s been a real privilege to own this car and organise it being restored. It’s a real part of World War Two history.”
He recalled: “When I bought the car I had it transported back to our home in Cheshire and that’s where I started the restoration. The glass partition between the chauffeur’s seat and the back seats had shattered and there was glass everywhere. I tried to clean it up and that’s when I then found this letter hidden inside. I showed it to my wife Annie and we carefully steamed it open.
“I also found a copy of the Italian paper La Stampa – it was dated 12th April 1944.” Pat found that the letter had been written by a businessman called William Zimdin. It was a request that he and the vehicle be allowed to enter Switzerland but the borders had been closed. Zimdin was a brave man who had been based in Monte Carlo. He branded a ‘dangerous fool’ and was on Hitler’s ‘most wanted’ list as he’d refused to help with the war effort to produce more weapons. He died in the United States in 1951.
The letter from Zimdin was dated ‘5th September 1939 – 7am early … ‘ and written at Le Grand Hotel at Hotel d’Angleterre in Annecy It begged a Hungarian friend and colleague called Dezso Karczag to allow the Rolls over to Geneva after being banned from crossing. It added: “Also, from yesterday at 5 o’clock all foreigners who want to get into Switzerland must have a special visa … But might it be possible that the Head of the border guards might make an exception for us. I can’t believe this is happening. Now I’m really quite broken hearted.” After being banned from entering Switzerland the car ended up in the grounds of a hotel in Dubrovnik.
It was secretly bricked up inside a garage to keep it safe from the hands of the Nazis during the war. Pat said: “We found out that Zimdin ordered his gardener to do it so it couldn’t be found and it remained there, bricked up, and out of sight, for several years Then in 1944 he told the gardener to unbrick the garage and retrieve the car.
Zimdin told him simply to give the car to Eisenhower. So it went to France and was given to Eisenhower to use.” They know that Eisenhower was officially given the car as details of the gift were found in taped memoirs made in 1970. |As the war drew to a close it was later used by the French army hero Marie-Pierre Koenig. Pat, from Cheshire, said: “Koenig had the car and he used it in the days, weeks and months after VE Day. He was based in German town of Baden-Baden and had to make regular journeys to Berlin. Some of his trips were by rail and some were by this car. ‘It really is a beautiful car – it even has whisky tumblers for the passengers who were sitting in the rear seats.
“The car was first seen at the Paris ‘salon’ or motorshow and we have a photo that. The chassis was actually built here in the UK in Derby but the car was built by the company Franay in Paris.” Pat, a passionate member of the Rolls Royce Enthusiasts Club, chuckled as he recalled the exact circumstances in which he bought the car.
He said: “I’d already restored one Rolls Royce before and was looking for my next project. But I stumbled on this car by complete coincidence. I was up on holiday in north Wales with my wife Annie. She was on a quilting course and I was bird watching but the weather was terrible. I took a drive down the A5 when I was diverted on a minor road. I stopped at this gateway and saw a sign for the ‘Real Car company’
“I went in and said ‘hello’. We got talking and they pointed out this old Rolls and they said we’ve been trying to get rid of that for two and half years. I said I was interested and after going back to speak to Annie we decided to buy it. I knew it was 1937 but I had no idea about it’s history.
I was then contacted by someone who actually knew about it. And when I started to research the story of the car’s life it was amazing. I’ve spent 10 to 15 hours every week on the car since 2014. I’ve kept a spreadsheet on what I’ve spent and it comes to £12,000.” Now Pat’s extraordinary work on restoring the car is allowing a new generation to enjoy it.
