To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys' The Guyton
Collection event, 4 - 5 May 2019.
Estimate:
$800,000 - $1,000,000
- Original chassis and engine, with exacting period-correct
coachwork
- Restored by noted Silver Ghost authority, Jonathan Harley
- Formerly owned by Rick Carroll, Bill Lassiter, and Richard
Solove
- Winner of the Charles A. Chayne Trophy, 2004 Pebble Beach
Concours d'Elegance
- A veteran of concours exhibition and extended touring
- One of the most beautiful "parallel bonnet" Silver Ghosts
available
CHASSIS NUMBER 1203
This Rolls-Royce 40/50 HP Silver Ghost was ordered by Thornton &
Schieber, Ltd., and was originally delivered with a seven-passenger
landaulette body by Hooper. Early editions of John Fasal's
respected The Edwardian Rolls-Royce include a note that the car was
dismantled, and its engine fitted in a motor launch, but this has
since been disproven and Mr. Fasal now notes that the car remained
intact. It passed to A. Hutton of Surrey, in 1922, and to Noel
Armitage in 1935.
Following World War II, in 1946, chassis no. 1203 was discovered
with a saloon body in a scrapyard known as "Cow Roast" at Tring. It
enjoyed several further UK owners, the last of whom, noted early
Silver Ghost enthusiasts M.R. and D.W. Neale of Worcestershire,
acquired it in 1957 and fitted a tourer body the following year.
This, in turn, was replaced by the present Jarvis-built Roi des
Belges in 1972.
The current body was crafted in the exacting fashion of the
original Barker body produced for chassis no. 60551, the original
"Silver Ghost" of Claude Johnson, that had given the model its
enduring nickname. The body was finished in a rich silver, with a
polished aluminum engine cover and all brightwork in nickel plate.
Bleriot "bullseye" headlamps, Lucas no. 644 oil side lamps with
etched "starburst" side lenses and "bullseye" front lenses, Lucas
oil taillamps, Rotax rear-view mirrors, and a single Elliott
speedometer and Smiths eight-day clock completed the ensemble along
with an Autovox horn and fender-mounted "boa constrictor" horn. A
most interesting distinguishing feature was the R.A.C. radiator cap
- correctly chosen, as the construction of this car pre-dated the
design of the famous "Spirit of Ecstasy." The interior was finished
in green leather.
In this form the Rolls was sold in 1973 to Dr. Joseph M. Levin of
Ohio, its first American owner, who in turn sold it in 1985 to
renowned American Silver Ghost enthusiast Rick Carroll of Jensen
Beach, Florida. The car was a favorite in the Carroll collection
for many years, alongside several other significant Ghosts.
Following his untimely passing, it was sold by his family in 1993
to his friend and fellow enthusiast, Bill Lassiter of Palm
Beach.
The car was acquired from Mr. Lassiter's collection in 1999 by UK
enthusiast Sydney Cooper. It was brought back to England and
freshly restored by the respected specialist Jonathan Harley, who
finished many of the best surviving "parallel bonnet" Ghosts. As
part of this work, the car was fitted with an electric starter for
ease of operation, and an Auster windshield for rear seat
passengers. Mr. Cooper drove the car some 8,000 reliable miles over
the next four years, mainly in Southern Ireland, including 2,000
miles in a single jaunt with his family.
In 2003, chassis no. 1203 became one of the final Silver Ghosts in
the important American collection of Richard Solove, known for
owning a Ghost from every pre-World War I production year. Mr.
Solove proudly displayed the car at the Pebble Beach Concours
d'Elegance in 2004, winning the Charles A. Chayne Trophy, and at
the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in 2005, winning the Millard
Newman Award.
The majority of the Solove collection joined yet another prominent
Silver Ghost stable, that of John M. O'Quinn, in 2007. Following
Mr. O'Quinn's passing, the Silver Ghost found a long-term home in
the collection of Fred F. Guyton, whose friends recall his joy at
acquiring a model that he had long sought but had never been able
to purchase. It has been preserved in the Guyton museum for eight
years, seldom shown but always appreciated and enjoyed, and
exhibited in a position of prominence among the collection's other
Brass Era marvels. Its restoration is well kept, and it would
likely require little more than detailing and mechanical sorting to
continue its career as a robust tour car.
It is truly a Silver Ghost of near-peerless heritage among noted
collectors, Fred F. Guyton not least among them.To view this car
and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM
website at rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/gc19.
