#15 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

The 'Models of Yesteryear' number 15 introduced in 1960, was based on the very first car from Rolls-Royce to carry an official name plate, proclaiming the car to be known as 'The Silver Ghost'.

#15 1907 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost..JPG (78.45 KiB) Viewed 1888 times

The real car was acting as a business card for the company and travelled all over the World displaying the virtues of Rolls-Royce motoring in the Edwardian period.

1907 Silver Ghost on Chassis Number 605551 by Barker..jpg (87.01 KiB) Viewed 1888 times

Rolls-Royce were superstitious and would not use the number 13 for car production, the 12th chassis off production was treated to a Silver paint finish with all brightwork being Nickel plated and the director of the company, Mr Claude Goodman Johnson, had a nameplate designed and fitted to the scuttle just below the windscreen, with the name... 'The Silver Ghost' in respect of the car's ultimate silence and smoothness of travel.

The car has had a very adventurous life, being hired for private weddings, charity work, first Day cover delivery for the Post Office and appearing in films! She is still doing promotional work for the company, she has been restored a few times and has an insurance value in excess of £25 Million.

The Lesney model is but One of many toys and models to be made of this most famous Rolls-Royce and is still one of the most accurate representations of the car.

GHOSTHUNTER.

[ChFalkensteiner]

I saw this one live during my only visit to the IAA in Frankfurt/Main, Germany in 1999:



At the time Rolls-Royce belonged to VW, having been acquired shortly before, so Rolls-Royce cars, including this one, were proudly displayed in the VW building at the fairground.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

The whole story of Rolls-Royce ownership from 1998 onwards is very complicated with both BMW and VW sharing assets. For the short Four Years of ownership of Rolls-Royce by VW, they had a factory, the rights to the 'Spirit of Ecstacy' mascot and the shape of the Rolls-Royce grille, they did not have the right to call any cars they built a Rolls-Royce, that name was owned by the Aero company.

Reports from VW were worded in a way that said VW really just wanted the Bentley marque, which they did get in the end, but out of their brief ownership of the Rolls-Royce brand, they retain the historical assets which include the glorious Silver Ghost and other period cars.

Ghosthunter.

[Ecclesley]

To add to this subject.
At the end of 1907 Arthur Hanbury, employed by RR as a senior travelling inspector, persuaded his cousin Daniel Hanbury to buy the car; he had it delivered to his home, Castle Malwood, in Lyndhurst.
According to the service records, the car had a "heavy overhaul" between 1914 and 1920.
From 1908 tot 1914 and from 1920 to 1930, a total of 18 years, Hanbury used the car mainly for the yearly 1.900 mile trip to their second home in Italy.
The car had covered 60.000 mile before being laid up during WW II. Very soon after Hanbury died in 1948 his son-in-law, Sir Alex Coryton sold the car to RR Ltd., under some considerable pressure, part exchanging it for "a paltry cheque and a horrible Bentley MKV".

Here some pics from the Hanbury era (the car also carried different reg #)

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Interesting to note the fitment of a 'Spirit of Ecstacy' mascot on a car that was not designed for one, the mascot first coming out in early 1911, wonder where it came from!

Ghosthunter.

[Ecclesley]

Interesting to note the fitment of a 'Spirit of Ecstacy' mascot on a car that was not designed for one, the mascot first coming out in early 1911, wonder where it came from!

Ghosthunter.

During the Hanbury years this car ran with the SoE, without any mascot and with the AA mascot.
No reason known for this. The car also carried three different windscreens.
We must be very thankful to Mr. Daniel Hanbury for being such a devoted caretaker, which largely contributed to the preservation of this car. During his ownership the car was always meticulously overhauled, also got new running boards, chassis parts, had electric lights fitted, deeper boxes under the running boards and new wings with a lower trailing edge etc.

Here a few more pics from the family scrap album, showing the car at Castle Malwood together with the Silver Ghost `Town Mouse` chassis number 1647. And on the ferry at Loch Leven sporting the SoE.

dh1.jpg (78.42 KiB) Viewed 1799 times

dh2.jpg (68.31 KiB) Viewed 1799 times

Here the car, driven by C.G.J. with the Windham detachable rear `tonneau` cover removed.

sg1.jpg (89.13 KiB) Viewed 1799 times

And finally a rare picture of 551 displaying its newly made but as yet unpainted wooden wheels.

dh3.jpg (58.47 KiB) Viewed 1799 times

[Ecclesley]

Interesting to note the fitment of a 'Spirit of Ecstacy' mascot on a car that was not designed for one, the mascot first coming out in early 1911, wonder where it came from!

Ghosthunter.

Further on this subject I think I have a realistic answer.
Lord Montague of Beaulieu's secretary (if not mistress), Emily Thornton, is believed to be the subject matter of Charles Sykes' sculpture; the Spirit of Ecstacy, also known as the Flying Lady. Lord MoB was the first RR owner to mount this mascot on his car.
As the Hanbury family often traveled abroad in the companion of Lord MoB; maybe the SoE on 551 was effected following Lord MoB's example.
Here is a picture of the Hanbury family in 551 in Switzerland with the Silver Ghost (Dragonfly) of Lord MoB in the background. Who had struck a rock and damaged his front suspension.

han2_1405443096.jpg (190.61 KiB) Viewed 1791 times

[GHOSTHUNTER]

That is a very probable answer Gerrit.

Elaenor Thornton is permenantly linked to Rolls-Royce for reasons mentioned above by Gerrit, unfortunately She is always taken as the model for the 'SoE' mascot, when in fact she was the model for 'Whisper' the precursor to the 'SoE', if you like the Protoype mascot made first. The true identity of the model for the 'SoE' mascot has not been established.

I do like the idea of the mascot on #551, coming from Lord Montague by some means. The 'SoE' mascot on the current Lord Montague's (RIP Mr Montague), Silver Ghost, #939 is different to what we might class as a regular 'SoE' mascot, where her left wing is the higher than the right wing.

NMM Mascot.jpg (223.56 KiB) Viewed 1785 times

The above mascot is a 'Regular' modelling fitted to one of the cars in the National Motor Museum and even at the Camera's angle the right wing is higher.

NMM Mascot on display.jpg (236.37 KiB) Viewed 1785 times

This picture shows a Mascot on display and again even at this angle you can see the left wing is higher.

Would the real Flying Lady please stand up...

Ghosthunter.

[Ecclesley]

Of course it was Eleanor and not Emily.
The late Lord MoB's 1910 Silver Ghost, chassis 1404, the first to carry the SoE mascot.

Elenaor.3.jpg (82.7 KiB) Viewed 1779 times

It's hard to believe, but it was found on an Aussie farm where the chassis was a farm cart, the engine was powering something else and the other parts were all over the shop.
The owner collected all the parts and spent years restoring them all and assembling it.

IMG_2921.JPG (169.14 KiB) Viewed 1779 times

9815222_orig.jpg (42.54 KiB) Viewed 1779 times