Description
H&H Classic Auction @ The Imperial War Museum, Duxford/ Cambridgeshire
9th October, 2024 13:00
1922 Rolls-Royce Springfield 40/ 50hp Silver Ghost
A wonderful running and driving 'blank canvas'
Estimate
£60, 000 - £80, 000
Registration No: WC 1273
Chassis No: 126 BG
MOT: Exempt
- Self-evidently the subject of an extensive past restoration
- Hailed by the vendor's son as the fastest Silver Ghost he has ever driven (whilst still bodied)
- A fantastic 'blank canvas' for its next owner
- Worthy of close inspection if only to see the workmanship that helped garner Rolls-Royce its reputation for making 'the best car in the world'
The model upon which Rolls-Royce's reputation as makers of 'The Best Car in the World' was founded, the 40/ 50hp debuted at the November 1906 London Motor Show. A somewhat conventional yet beautifully executed design, the newcomer was based around a massive ladder-frame chassis equipped with all-round leaf-sprung suspension, powerful rear wheel brakes and spiral-bevel final drive. Displacing 7036cc (7428cc from 1910), its superlatively smooth six-cylinder engine featured a seven-bearing crankshaft, full pressure lubrication and twelve sparkplugs (fed via a dual magneto / coil ignition system). Allied to four-speed manual transmission (though, a three-speed gearbox was utilised from 1909 to 1913), the sidevalve unit proved both wonderfully torquey and eerily quiet. Possessing a legendary eye for detail, Henry Royce continued to develop the 40/ 50hp throughout its 18-year production life. Thus, late Silver Ghosts boasted considerably more horsepower (up from 48bhp at 1, 250rpm to 80bhp at 2, 250rpm) and higher top speeds than their earlier brethren.
Rolls-Royce of America Inc was established to bypass the swingeing import duty that had hitherto restricted its parent company's transatlantic sales. Operating from factory premises in Springfield, Massachusetts, the new concern initially built carbon copies of the famous 40/ 50hp model. However, as time progressed so its product became more attuned to the US market. The beautifully wrought ladder frame chassis and enviably smooth 7428cc straight-six engine were little altered but later cars featured a three-speed, centre gearchange manual transmission and left-hand drive (interestingly just 600 or so of the 1, 703 Springfield Silver Ghosts completed were to LHD specification). Designed to woo existing Packard, Cadillac and Pierce Arrow customers who had little truck with the idea of a chassis only purchase, a catalogued range of Rolls-Royce Custom Coachwork was soon made available. The various designs were given British names and subcontracted to the likes of Amesbury, Biddle & Smart, Holbrook, Locke, Merrimac, New Haven, Smith-Springfield and Willoughby.
From what we can gather, chassis 126BG was initially bodied as a Town Car Brougham and supplied new to plantation owner Howard Melville Hanna Jr. Among the richest and most influential in Ohio, his family’s business interests encompassed the coal, iron ore and shipbuilding industries. Reputedly laid-up due to an engine malady, the Rolls-Royce was left to languish in a Syracuse barn for many years before being bought by noted German collector Lars de Jounge during 1972. Relocating to Europe, the Silver Ghost was subsequently treated to a protracted, ‘ground up’ refurbishment from which it emerged as a Piccadilly Roadster. Sold to the vendor by Richard Biddulph of specialist dealer Vintage & Prestige, chassis 126BG was advertised for £280, 000 and described as having been “nut and bolt restored at vast cost”. Deemed by the seller’s son to be the fastest Silver Ghost he has ever driven (and his father has owned dozens), the car has since surrendered its rakish two-seater coachwork for another project. The vendor got as far as acquiring a suitable six-light Saloon / Sedan body to transplant (which is available to purchase by separate negotiation) but a change of plans means that he has decided to offer chassis 126BG as a ‘blank canvas’ for a new owner to configure as he / she wishes. Now UK road registered as ‘WC 1273’, this running and driving rolling chassis is worthy of close inspection if only to fully appreciate the engineering that earned Rolls-Royce its hallowed reputation.
