Vehicle Description
Although the 40/50 hp model would have earned its 'The Best Car in the World' sobriquet in any event, Rolls-Royce's decision to drop all other types only served to focus attention on what would become known as the 'Silver Ghost'. The latter had first appeared at the 1906 Motor Show, acquiring its evocative name the following year when chassis number '60551' was exhibited wearing silver-painted tourer coachwork by Barker.
The heart of the Silver Ghost was its magnificent engine, a 7,036cc (later 7,428cc) sidevalve six equipped with seven-bearing crankshaft and pressure lubrication. A sturdy chassis comprised of channel-section side members and tubular cross members was suspended on semi-elliptic springs at the front and a 'platform' leaf-spring arrangement at the rear, though the latter soon came in for revision. The transmission too was soon changed, a three-speed gearbox with direct-drive top gear replacing the original four-speed/overdrive top unit in 1909. In the course of the car's 20-year production life there would be countless other improvements, one of the most important being the adoption of servo-assisted four-wheel brakes towards the end of 1923.
The car offered here – chassis number '32SG' – was completed on 23rd December 1921 and despatched to coachbuilder Windovers Ltd for bodying as a coupé cabriolet. Founded in 1856 in Huntingdon but from 1924 based in North West London, Windovers diversified into the manufacture of motor bodies in the early 1900s, concentrating on quality marques – chiefly Daimler and Rolls-Royce at first – before adding the likes of Alvis, Armstrong-Siddeley, Lagonda, Lanchester, Mercedes-Benz and Bentley to its portfolio in the 1930s. On completion in 1922 the Silver Ghost was delivered to Consul General C F Glad via the Danish importer K W Christensen, and has remained in and around Copenhagen all its life. It retains its original engine, 'P68'.
On 1st November 1930 the Rolls-Royce was delivered to J F Schibler, a Director of the Wessel & Vett company, owners of the famous Magasin du Nord department store in Copenhagen. Owner of more than one Silver Ghost, Schibler had '32SG' re-bodied with seven-seat tourer coachwork by the local firm of Dansk Karosseri-Fabrik. In 1947 the Silver Ghost was owned by dentist Helpe Poulsen and in 1950 was restored Leo Jansen. It subsequently passed into the ownership of architect Paul Tybjerg, a board member of the Dansk Veteranbil Klub, who in 1958 donated the car to the Klub's museum. In 1979 the Rolls-Royce was restored again and reunited with its original style Windovers cabriolet body by Paul Bachmann Frederica, passing in 1990 to Jorgen Hansen and thence to the current vendor in 2014.
Strikingly finished in Ivory White with contrasting dark red leather interior, '32SG' is still in generally very good condition some 30-plus years after restoration, the engine having been started recently after the car's lengthy period in storage. It comes with copies of the original build sheets; numerous other documents and period photographs; and Danish registration papers. This superb Vintage-era touring car is capable of travelling at a good speed on any of the prestigious historic motoring events or any Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost tour.
