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“Double Dozen” and “Victoria” Added to Petersen Automotive Museum

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“Double Dozen,” a hand-built roadster with a design based on a ’33 Ford, was recently added to the Petersen Automotive Museum's world-class collection.
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“Victoria” is an immaculate ’63 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III previously owned by four-time Emmy-Award-winning director John Frankenheimer.
   

The Petersen Automotive Museum recently received two vehicles to add to its world-class collection of more than 400 vehicles—“Double Dozen,” a hand-built roadster with a design based on a ’33 Ford, and “Victoria,” an immaculate ’63 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III.

The late Jeffrey Chandler, a descendant of the family that built the Los Angeles Times, commissioned a hot rod design by Chris Ito and Steve Frisbee and built by Steve’s Auto Restorations. “Double Dozen” was created to compete for “America’s Most Beautiful Roadster” (AMBR) in the 2011 Grand National Roadster Show, the longest running indoor car show in the world. The handcrafted hot rod won Outstanding Paint, Outstanding Interior, Outstanding Engineering, Outstanding Undercarriage, and Outstanding Display, and went on to win the Goodguys Streetrod d’Elegance 2011.

Four-time Emmy Award winner John Frankenheimer, director of 51 different films, including iconic car movies, such as Grand Prix (1966) and Ronin (1998), was a dyed in the wool “car guy.” While filming The Train (1964) on location in France, Frankenheimer took his wife to London to buy some clothing. After visiting the tailor, the couple walked in the pouring rain to visit a Rolls-Royce dealer. The dealer had one Rolls-Royce and one Bentley. The Rolls-Royce was a better fit for Frankenheimer and his wife, so the two ordered a bespoke model right on the spot. They paid for the car in French francs, and because it was the weekend, the banks were closed and the dealer did not have a safe, the cash was locked in the gloveboxes of the cars in the showroom.

“Victoria” (named after the Queen) has spent nearly 50 years in the family’s service, including four trips to Europe and travel to movie sets around the world. Victoria joins several other vehicles the Frankenheimer’s have donated to the museum, including a 1947 Oldsmobile, and a custom pair of matching Mercedes-Benzes.

“We are thrilled to receive both of these outstanding donations,” said Petersen Automotive Museum Chief Curator Leslie Kendall. “Not only are they beautiful vehicles, but they are also important because of the stories that they can help tell about two local families that have had influence around the world.”

Both vehicles have been placed on exhibition in places of honor within the Petersen Automotive Museum. “Double Dozen” is showcased in the hot-rod exhibit in the Bruce Meyer Gallery. “Victoria” is one of the stars in the museum’s popular Hollywood Gallery.