Beschreibung:

7,428cc L-Head Inline 6-Cylinder Engine 50 bhp at 1,500 rpm 3-Speed Manual Transmission 4-Wheel Leaf Spring Suspension Rear Drum Brakes THE ROLLS-ROYCE 40/50HP SILVER GHOST For anyone not familiar with the model, the Silver Ghost towers above many of its contemporaries in that it was entirely over-engineered and built to last forever, but also it was well-marketed and so was very successful causing it to last in production for nearly 20 years. Henry Royce's fastidious attention to detail ensured that where a certain level of build quality was necessary for a car to work, he would make it far beyond this requirement, one only need gaze at the engine or rear axle, each held together with so great a number of bolts that it seems possible that they were intended never to come apart, indeed on a few surviving examples they never have! Where one ignition system was enough for some cars, naturally the Rolls had magneto and coil, throughout the car a 'belt and braces' approach was taken. Better still as with all the best machinery, the most important element – the motor – is a work of art in itself, the blend of aluminum crankcase, copper and brass piping, brass and aluminum castings and intricate control tubes being such a work of beauty, that even when some cars were scrapped this aspect was preserved and restored. Some adorn collections today in this form. A well rebuilt motor will often start simply on the firing of the spark from the coil to one of the liter capacity cylinders, without the engine having ever been turned over, it is little wonder that they were so appreciated by their chauffeurs! Similarly they were coveted by their owners, who frequently named them as one might a yacht. The silence of the company's silver painted trails car earned the 40/50hp model its 'Ghost' title. Where other manufacturers with products of similar quality faltered, thanks to the marketing genius of Claude Johnson the model sold well, and the reputation that it earned meant that they have always been prized from day one. The Rolls-Royce brand was undeniably founded on the quality, refinement and resilience of the Silver Ghost. Sales were certainly brisk thanks to the marketing genius of Claude Johnson and successes from the early days of the 1907 Scottish Trial to the Alpine Trials just before the outbreak of war. Were it not for that war, it would perhaps be a more regular occurrence to find a Silver Ghost from this era of manufacture that still retained the coachwork it had been delivered with. However, so many were repurposed or destroyed in that time, that they are exceptionally rare. Historians count the number of Silver Ghosts to survive still wearing their original bodies to be very modest, Lindley Bothwell's 1912 is one of those ultra rare survivors. THE MOTORCAR OFFERED The original build records for chassis 2169 quite clearly denote that the car would be supplied to Automobiles Rolls-Royce (France) Ltd. By November 8, 1912 it was on test and once readied, it is listed as being sent on the 'M.R. Goods Grande Vitesse' train, as a temporary entry in the first days of 1913. It is noted that it should be bodied by local Parisien carrossier Muhlbacher et Fils with Landaulette Limousine Coachwork. A nickel finish chassis, as was becoming the norm in this period, it was supplied with CAV Dynamo to provide for electric lighting. No other information on the coachwork is recorded, but from other photographs of contemporary coachwork by this house, it must appear today precisely as it would have been delivered new. According to John Fasal's excellent reference work, The Edwardian Rolls-Royce, the completed chassis 2169, replete with its Muhlbacher body was delivered new to Mrs. Henry Smith Born Annie Armstrong of Baltimore, Mrs. Smith first married Rhinelander Stewart, only to divorce him and marry James Henry 'Silent' Smith in 1906. Smith was incredibly wealthy, inheriting some $50,000,000 from his uncle George Smith a pioneering banker in Chi