Funeral service has UK's largest collection of Rolls-Royce Phantoms as well as over $2.7m worth of license plates

The largest Rolls-Royce Phantom collection in the UK somehow belongs to a funeral home.

Logically, it kind of makes sense because that’s exactly the type of business that requires big cars that are elegant but also somewhat solemn.

But it still sounds a bit strange.

And wait until you hear about their collection of license plates.

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How this family business ‘accidentally’ put together this incredible Rolls-Royce collection

A.W. Lymn Family Funeral Service has been in business for almost 100 years and four generations.

They own 40 (!) Rolls-Royce cars, including several different Phantoms and Silver Shadows.

Some were converted into hearses, while others were simply modified to make them suitable for a funeral but still retained the original shape.

Along with the largest private collection of Rolls-Royce Phantoms in the UK, this business also owns one of the largest collectors of custom license plates.

In the clip (above) shared by the Resto Revival ~ Car Stories YouTube channel, the family that runs the A.W. Lymn funeral home explained that the value of their license plates is nearly as high as the value of the cars.

Most are three- or four-character plates with a combination of digits, letters, or both.

And so many of them feature the coveted the number ‘one’.

Nigel Lymn himself explained that the value of these number plates wasn’t the main point, it’s just a byproduct.

“We don’t view them on value, but if you have 200 [license plates] with the number ‘one’, they’re worth £10,000… each, and so the value goes up quite quickly,” he said.

These are some of the highlights from their collection

The A.W. Lymn funeral home didn’t just buy 40 Rolls in a bulk in a day.

Their collection is spectacular mostly because it’s well thought through, and because they built it over the years.

Among others, they own a 1931 Phantom 2, a 1938 Phantom 3, a Phantom 6, and several Phantom 7s.

They also own a Silver Wraith and a rare 25/30, a rare (only 1,201 built) limousine that preceded the original Wraith.

Some of these vehicles – the new Phantoms, for example – are used almost daily, whereas some of the older and rarer cars are generally kept as museum pieces and only used very occasionally.

Interestingly, Nigel Lymn talked about the value of the license plates, but didn’t say anything about the value of the cars.

But we can guessestimate.

A new Phantom 7 costs around $500,000, whereas the older models go for four or five figures depending on condition.

The same can be said about the Silver Shadow, Silver Wraith, and 25/30.

If math is mathing, we’re looking at a car collection worth maybe either just north or just south of eight figures.

Timeline of the Rolls-Royce Phantom

1925: Rolls-Royce introduces the Phantom to replace the Silver Ghost
1929: Rolls-Royce unveils the Phantom II but, interestingly, doesn’t discontinue the Phantom I
1936: Phantom III is introduced to replace both the first and second generation
1950: Phantom IV is unveiled after an 11-year hiatus
1959: Phantom V hits the market
1968: Phantom VI is introduced
2003: Rolls-Royce revives the Phantom nameplate for the first in over a decade
2007: Rolls-Royce unveils the first convertible Phantom, the Drophead Coupé
2017: Rolls-Royce unveils the eight (and current) generation of the Phantom