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AUTOMOBILEOfficial PublicatiOn Of the antique autOmObile club Of america

.Ant queAntique

Volume 83 • Number 5 September / october 2019

Ant que

>>>>Rolls-Royce. The Derby, England, company — from its Manchester beginnings in 1904 — built a world-renowned reputation for handcrafting supremely refined motorcar chassis. In 1904, Charles Stewart Rolls, the dashing aristocratic 28-year-old Welsh son of Lord and Lady Llangattock (whose ancestral seat was at The Hendre in Monmouth) met with 41-year-old Englishman Fredrick Henry Royce, the son of a miller and a student of precision (the English equivalent to Henry Leland, and builder of finely engineered motorcars). The wealthy Charles Rolls was considered one of the finest motorcar drivers (in competition

events) in England. He and his partner, Claude Goodman Johnson, had a dealership in London that specialized in importing luxury cars from Belgium and France. Royce agreed to give Rolls exclusive rights of selling his cars, in addition to adding his name to the automobile.

Johnson, an integral member of the new company, is often considered the hyphen in the Rolls-Royce name.

While the first Rolls-Royce motorcars were extremely well-built, it was the Silver Ghost, introduced in 1907, that set the precedents for the company’s signature traits – it was luxurious, fast and quiet, becoming the most famous Rolls-Royce ever. Equipped with a 7-liter side-valve six-cylinder engine with 3.2:1 compression, it developed 48 brake horsepower at 1,500 rpm, and delivered constant 50mph cruising speeds. The Silver Ghost was declared “The Best Car in the World” after its record breaking success, traveling more than 400 miles between London and Glasgow 27 times. The Ghost covered 14,371 consecutive miles as observed by the Royal Automobile Club, breaking the world record for a non-stop run while demonstrating unrivaled reliability and comfort.

1925 Rolls-Royce Piccadillytext Guy Lewis

photos west Peterson

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Charles Rolls recognized early that the American market was critical to long-term Rolls-Royce success. Sir Charles first traveled to the United States in 1906, participating in multiple races and opening an automobile import company in Manhattan. Disaster struck just three years into Ghost production, though, as Rolls, ever the playboy, died when his airplane fell apart in mid-air during an air show in 1910.

Royce and Johnson continued to produce the Ghost through

the next decade and a half. Mechanical changes in 1909 resulted in an increase in stroke, that brought displacement to 7.4 liters. The four-speed transmission was replaced by a three-speed unit in 1911 along with better carburetion, and compression was increased to 3.5:1, bringing horsepower to 58. The Ghost reverted to a four-speed gearbox in 1913, when cantilever rear suspension was adopted. Entering a lightweight open touring car in the 1913 Austrian Alpine Trials, Rolls-Royce was able to claim an honest 80mph and finished ahead of all other rivals.

On October 18, 1919, Claude Johnson traveled to the U.S. and launched Roll-Royce of America in Springfield, Massachusetts. Two years later, the company completed its first American Rolls-Royce, the Springfield Silver Ghost. As time passed, Rolls-Royce of America continually refined its Silver Ghost to suit the American driver: left-hand drive, three-speed gearbox, American Bosch or Westinghouse six-volt electrical systems, fuel pumps rather than the British sibling’s “Autovac,” drum head lamps, bumpers, and the 7.4-liter engine was then rated at 80bhp.

Sensing its impending obsolescence, a “baby” 20hp car,

the Twenty, was added to the lineup in September 1922 (introducing horizontal external grille shutters, which the Ghost also adopted). By the end of 1925, the now long-in-the-tooth Ghost was finally fully replaced with the New Phantom (internally referred to as the “Silver Ghost 40/50 and code-named EAC – Eastern Armored Car) ... but hardly anyone noticed. It shared the same basic components and chassis as the 40/50hp Silver Ghost, but was fitted with a new 7.7-liter six-cylinder powerplant (horsepower was around 110), and because bodies were always provided by custom coachbuilders, styling just followed current trends.

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By 1925, the Springfield Rolls-Royce 7.4-liter six-cylinder powerplant was rated at around 80hp and was capable of taking the Piccadilly roadster up to 80mph. American-built cars received the three-speed manual gearbox while cars built in England retained the four-speed.

Numerous coachbuilders specialized in supplying discerning Rolls-Royce clients with whatever they wanted on their Rolls-Royce chassis. Sometimes, though, customers gave very little direction in the building of their vehicle, even though they’d be spending more money on the completed vehicle than most people were paying for their home… much more. In the U.S., two coachbuilders dominated the Rolls-Royce market: Rolls-Royce Custom Coachwork (RRCC) and Brewster, whose family had been building horse carriages dating back to 1804. Brewster bodies were available in a variety of styles, from formal limousines and enclosed sedans to open sporting roadsters and tourers, with arguably some of the most creative names given to each: Salamanca town car, Berwick limousine, Paddington limousine, Oxford tourer, Pall Mall tourer, and Piccadilly roadster. And the names continued into the New Phantom line with the York roadster, Henley roadster, Derby tourer, and Ascot tourer. American sales were brisk until the stock market crashed in the fall of 1929. As sales declined, Rolls-Royce of America was gradually liquidated until finally closing its doors in October 1936.

One of the most popular American Rolls-Royce car

bodies was the Piccadilly, a true roadster with side curtains and a comfortable rumble seat. “Popular,” however, is a relative term, as Rolls-Royce records indicate that a mere 79 Silver Ghost chassis were fitted with the sporting Piccadilly body.

In January 1925, Howard Hughes, at the age of 20,

ordered a Silver Ghost (s/n S135MK) from the posh Rolls-Royce showroom located on Eighth Avenue and 58th Street in New York City. He specified the color scheme to be tan with black fenders, a tan top, a lower-than-usual sporty


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windshield, white sidewall tires, dual front and rear bumpers, and an extensive tool roll. At the same time, Hughes, an impatient man, saw an English-built Piccadilly on the showroom floor and purchased it, too (411MF). Being a British-built car, it featured right-hand drive and was equipped with the four-speed gearbox. This car was shipped directly to Beverly Hills, California, and was a gift from him to leading Hollywood actress Gloria Swanson.

Noted Rolls-Royce author John de Campi chronicles S135MK in

his authoritative work Rolls-Royce in America, the bible on Springfield cars. Hughes’ Piccadilly listed for $13,450, as much as 10 times the average American’s annual income in 1925. By comparison, a 1925 Ford Model T could be bought for as little as $260. According to Rolls-Royce records, S135MK was delivered to Howard Hughes on October 5, 1925, shipped from New York to California by train. He reportedly drove the car around Beverly Hills for the next several years as he was developing his reputation in the movie industry. From February 1931 to early 1959, S135MK changed hands several times.

On January 13, 1959, E.B. McCormack from Overland Park,

Kansas, purchased S135MK. Several months later, in April 1959, he listed the car for sale for $3,500 in the Rolls-Royce Owner’s Club Flying Lady magazine, describing it as black with red wheels, new tires, and new red upholstery. A picture of the car appears in Lawrence Dalton’s Those Elegant Rolls-Royce.

In 1959, as documented by past Rolls-Royce Club President

Ruben Verdés, S135MK was sold to extravagant Rolls-Royce collector Jimmy Leake, a colorful and charismatic Oklahoma businessman and philanthropist recognized as the foremost expert on Rolls-Royce. Leake owned the largest and finest private collection of Rolls-Royce ever assembled with S135MK being his first. Leake undertook a comprehensive restoration of S135MK, changing the color from black with red wheels to yellow with black fenders and black wheels. He also changed the red interior to black.

In 1974, S135MK was offered for sale in the The Flying Lady

for $35,000, boasting an “extensive restoration.” A few years later, famed automotive artist Ken Dallison created a limited-edition lithograph of S135MK with a striking likeness of a dapperly dressed Howard Hughes with two planes in the background. The artist captures S135MK in what appears to be its original color scheme of tan with red wheels and a tan top. The lithograph car is a spot-on likeness down to the “chopped” windscreen and dual front bumpers. The drawing is contained in the artist’s lithograph collection, “The Spirit: Celebrating 75 Years of the Rolls-Royce Motor Car.”

Circa 1980, Floridian Andy Thornal purchased S135MK along

with a low-mileage 1981 Camargue from a Chicago collector.

S135MK had been advertised in the Flying Lady for $95,000, having won a Classic Car of America Senior award. It was described as being yellow and black, in excellent condition, and with 13,000 miles. Andy was a colorful character in his own right, owning a successful “J. Peterman-like” business in Winter Haven, Florida. For the most part, S135MK sat dormant in a warehouse for the next 40 years.

I met Andy shortly after the February 2013 AACA Southeastern

Nationals in Lakeland, Florida, where I was showing a 1965 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III. Andy’s mechanic attended the show and casually introduced himself to me. He asked if I would be interested in a couple of old Rolls-Royce. Always on the hunt, of course I said yes. I thereafter made arrangements to drive to Winter Haven when I met Andy and S135MK. It was the proverbial “barn find.” S135MK, along with the 1981 Camargue and a long-wheelbase 1976 Silver Shadow, were stored in the back of an old late-1800s warehouse in downtown Winter Haven. S135MK was covered up, sitting among a lifetime of antiques, collectibles, and odds and ends. Andy was undergoing stage-four cancer treatments, and wanted S135MK to go to someone who would love and appreciate the rare Silver Ghost as much as he did. I recognized S135MK as a Springfield Silver Ghost Piccadilly immediately. The Howard Hughes connection was confirmed later on.

Since purchasing the car, “automotive archeologists” Lloyd and

Jeff Brekke, father and son team extraordinaire, have completed an extensive nut and bolt restoration, returning S135MK to its original glory. Jeff and his father carefully and methodically disassembled the car, discovering its original tan color. Patiently, Lloyd and Jeff repaired damaged panels, reversing the course of multiple, mostly incorrect restorations. With incredible skill, this father and son dynamic duo have painstaking restored S135MK to the condition when delivered new to its famous first owner.

It has been well received on the concours circuit, having won best of show at Pinehurst, best in class at Atlanta, best in class at Boca Raton, best European open at The Elegance at Hershey, Speedster award at Trump Charlotte and best in class at St. Johns, in addition to being selected as the poster car for the Lake Mirror Classic.

Editor’s Note: The beautiful setting for our photoshoot took place at the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, previously known as Villa Vizcaya. It is the former villa and estate of businessman James Deering, of the Deering McCormick-International Harvester fortune, on Biscayne Bay in the present day Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida. A special thanks to AACA member Ira Shapiro, a senior docent at the museum, for arranging the venue.


ant queantique ant que - south florida region...ford model t could be bought for as little as $260....

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