In the early years of motor cars, Pre-World War Two, there were two classes of cars. Rolls Royce and all the rest. And if you ever drove or worked on one you would understand. The first Rolls Royce Silver Ghost rolled off theassembly line in 1906. . And was so advance, it remained virtually unchanged except for minor upgrades till 1927, when the Phantom range was launched. It earned its' name Silver because one of the original models (pictured below) had a polished aluminum finish. And Ghost because it was so unbelievably whisper quiet.
Nearly 8,000 Silver Ghost cars were produced from 1906 to 1927. Including, lesser recognized fact that 1700 were actually produced at the American at the Springfield Massachusetts factory. Many of them are still running to this day. This 1925 Silver Ghost Piccadilly Rumble Seat Roaster is one of the 79 that were produced in all those years.
Side note: Charlie Chaplin, Horward Hughes, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Jack Dempsey, and Woodrow Wilson all owned Springfield-built Springfield built Silver Ghosts..
A little about the Silver Ghost. Most antique car enthusiasts (pre World War Two) felt that Henry Royce did not start out to make the best car in the world when he designed the Silver Ghost. Rather he just wanted to improve on his older six cylinder to be smoother running and more reliable. He succeeded to produce the most desirable antique car ever produced. Along with being the longest running model car next to the Ford model T.
The 7.4-liter side valve six-cylinder engine is rated at 80 BHP. The seven bearing crankshaft is totally pressure lubricated,, a rarity of its’ time. Along with two head castings with three cylinders each. Each cylinder has two spark plugs. Powered by two distributors. And a quality of a Swiss watch precision carburetor that is as reliable asit is beautiful!
