1915 | Rolls-Royce 40/50 HP Silver Ghost

1915 Rolls-Royce 40/50hp Silver Ghost Alpine Eagle Tourer
Chassis Number: IO36
Registration Number: 6AD

*Listed in The Edwardian Rolls-Royce by John Fasal

*Update by the works with front-wheel brakes and servo gearbox

*Restored in the late 1960s/early 1970s

*Replica Alpine Eagle body fitted in the 1990s

*Owned by the late Peter Phillips since the late 1980s up to current ownership who purchased the car in 2019.
According to John Fasal's authoritative work, The Edwardian Rolls-Royce, chassis number '6AD' was delivered new as a rolling chassis to H J Mulliner for bodying as a tourer. Like many motor cars undergoing construction at that time, it was commandeered for military purposes, serving - it is believed - as a Royal Navy ambulance before being re-bodied as a saloon circa 1919. In 1924 the Ghost was returned to the works for updating, A complete new rear axle was fitted, while the engine manifolding and the magneto and dynamo in tandem also date from this time, as do certain aspects of the dumb irons. This car is also fitted with a self-starter, a feature not available until 1921.

Fasal lists various owners, and notes that when one F W Peck acquired the car in 1958 it was fitted with body number '3' (the saloon). Next custodian Arthur Griffin is listed as owner from 1972. At around this time the Ghost was totally restored, receiving a new replica London-Edinburgh tourer body in the process. Auctioned in 1987, the car passed to its next private owner – one S B Larkin of Buckinghamshire – that same year and was acquired by the late Peter Phillips a year or two later.

During the 1990s the Rolls-Royce was at Harley Engineering in Stratford-upon-Avon where Jonathan Harley constructed the magnificent Alpine Eagle replica body that it carries today. This body is similar in style to that of Radley's car mentioned above. Since then the Ghost has been maintained by Priory Vintage Car Company of Britwell Salome, Oxfordshire (bills on file).
The car is currently residing in a private collection just North of Edinburgh. It is one of the best ghosts I have driven with a strong silent engine, lovely gear change & very ample performance. The coachwork is white with the paint in good order whilst the colonial style louvred bonnet is left in raw polished aluminium. To the interior is buttoned black leather with very little wear evident. A full & complete tool set is found in the rear of the car. The car has a full set of instumentation including a temperature gauge & also an Elliot speedometer.
To sum up this is a ready to go example of the most desirable Alpine Eagle spec Rolls Royce Silver Ghost & is from the last of production prior to it being stopped during World war one. There is a massive set of history folders that come with the car far to voluminous to photograph in their entirety.