Dedicated to Rolls-Royce & Bentley Motorcars ... - Magazooms

©The ©The Rolls-Royce 

Rolls-Royce 

Owners Owners Club, Club, Inc. Inc. 

Dedicated to Rolls-Royce & Bentley Motorcars November / December 2008 08-6 

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contents 

november/december 2008 

features 

First Drive: Rolls-Royce 

Phantom Coupé 9068 

Tuner Cars Part II: 

Pininfarina Hyperion 9074 

Bentley SenseS 9077 

A Memorial Portfolio of John 

Blatchley Designs 9078 

Great Lakes Fall Frolic 9086 

2007 Peking–Paris: 

Silver Ghost 7KG 9096 

Castle Ludwigsburg Concours 

d’Elegance 

“Retro Classic Meets 

Barock” 9103 

100EX Model Car 9109 

technical feature 

Threads 9104 

A one-off Pininfarina based on the Phantom Drophead. See p. 9074 for full report. 

departments 

Conduit 9065 

Book Reviews 9107 

Bazaar 9110 

On the Cover 

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars presented its newest 

offering to the US media this October 

in San Francisco. You can’t really appreciate 

the size and height of the iconic Golden 

Gate Bridge unless you’ve walked on it. At 

mid-span you are 220 ft above the water’s 

surface, and passing ships below look like 

toys. This photo is taken at the North 

(Marin Side) Vista Point. 

The back cover shows the car on the 

famous Lombard Street. The one-way 

section on Russian Hill between Hyde and 

Leavenworth Streets, in which the roadway 

has eight sharp turns, has the distinction 

of being “the most winding street in 

the world.” 

 

RRMC/Newscast 

Annual membership dues are $60. New members pay 

a $25 initial processing fee. Regional membership dues 

vary, but joining is highly encouraged. 

Multiple Winner of IAMC 

& Golden Quill Awards 

9064 THE FLYING LADY November / December 2008 

Sabu Advani 

RROC, Inc., 

191 Hempt Road 

Mechanicsburg, PA 17050 USA 

800-TRY-RROC / 717-697-4671 

fax 717-697-7820 

www.rroc.org, email: rrochq@rroc.org 

EDITOR IN CHIEF 

Sabu Advani 

6860 N. Alvernon Way, Tucson, AZ 85718 

ph/fax 520-615-6484, 

TECHNICAL EDITOR 

Jon Waples 

3231 Sherbourne Rd., Detroit, MI 48221-1814 

313-345-5123 

EVENTS EDITOR/PHOTOGRAPHER 

Larry S. Glenn 

8500 Reservoir Road, Fulton, MD 20759 

301-470-7191, 

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS 

André Blaize (FRA), Tom Clarke (UK), 

Barrie Gillings (AUS), Rubén Verdés (FL) 

Vice-President, Communications 

William Casey 

 

ADVERTISING/BAZAAR 

RROC HQ 

ART DIRECTOR 

Marcia D. Quiroz 

 

The Flying Lady (ISSN 0015-4830) is a bi-monthly 

publication of The Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club, Inc., a nonprofit 

corporation, 191 Hempt Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 

17050, USA. Printed in USA. Periodical postage paid at 

Mechanicsburg, PA 17050, and additional mailing offices. 

Postmaster: Send address changes to The Flying Lady, 

191 Hempt Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050 USA. 

Copyright ©2008 

by the Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club, Inc. 

The trademarks “Rolls-Royce,” “R-R” Logo and the 

“Rolls-Royce” Badge device are the trademarks of Rolls- 

Royce plc and are used by the Club under license. 

The Club and the editors aim to publish accurate 

information and recommendations, but neither assumes 

responsibility in the event of claim of loss or damage 

resulting from publication of editorial or advertising 

matter including typographical errors. Statements of 

contributors are their own, and do not necessarily reflect 

Club policy. 




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TM 

PTRUTH THROUGH 

MEDIA 

REVAILS OVER 

MIGHT

Conduit 

From the 

President 

In my last column 

I wrote about 

how much I enjoy 

the Annual Meets 

and have always 

considered it the 

James family vacation. 

Now I want 

to tell you how 

much Michelle and 

I enjoy touring in our 1997 

Bentley Turbo RL (PBV 

59527), known as Maggie. 

The three of us had the 

wonderful experience of 

attending the “Great Lakes 

Fall Frolic Tour” in Michigan 

and the Upper Peninsula 

hosted by Rick and Sandy 

Barrett during the last week 

of September. The weather 

was sunny, with temperatures 

in the 70s all week and the 

Michigan scenery was beautiful 

beyond belief. We had 

a great time touring and visiting 

with members from 

around the country, renewing 

old friendships. 

I want to mention three 

events that I will remember 

forever: First: driving over 

the Mackinac Bridge (familiarly 

known as “Big Mac” or 

“Mighty Mac”) was incredible. 

Recently I watched a 

program, Modern Marvels, 

which documented the engineering 

and construction of 

Feb. 20–21 

May 3–8 

Fall, tbd. 

2009 

this bridge which connects 

St. Ignace on the north with 

Mackinaw City on the south. 

Completed in 1957, at 8,614 

feet, it is the longest 

suspension bridge 

between anchorages 

in the Western 

hemisphere. 

Second: taking 

the ferry to 

Mackinac Island and 

touring the island 

in a horse-drawn 

carriage, arriving at the fabulous 

Grand Hotel built in 

1887. Here we spent a few 

hours basking in the luxury 

and grandeur of the beautiful 

and historic old Grand Hotel 

enjoying a decadent buffet 

worthy of royalty. 

Last: boarding a boat in 

Sault Ste. Marie that navigated 

us through the Soo 

Locks. What an experience 

to see the levels change 

as the water fills the lock 

to raise the boat to the 

next level! They have been 

referred to as one of the 

great wonders of the world 

and it is still the largest 

waterway traffic system on 

earth. I loved it. 

My sincere thanks to 

our tour hosts, Rick and 

Sandy, and also to the members 

of the Motor Region 

who helped and participated 

on the tour. Interestingly, 

many of them had not been 

on a National Tour before 

but enjoyed it so much that 

Calendar of Events u.s. and overseas 

ABM, Mesa (AZ) 

Spring Tour, VA 

(Brooks) 

Fall Tour (LeBoy) 

Contact RROC HQ to register for RROC events 

(listed in roman). Scheduling/information: 

VP Activities, Gil Fuqua, ph. 615-324-7311 

For regional events please visit 

they cannot wait to attend 

another one. 

The club is very grateful 

to John Crawford, former 

Director of Public Relations 

for Bentley Motors, North 

America, who loaned the 

RROC the Dealer and 

Warranty records for all 

Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars 

delivered in North America 

from 1980 to 2002. This 

information includes original 

specification information and 

warranty work performed by 

authorized dealers. We estimate 

that it entails about 

500,000 pages on about 

20,000 motorcars, and the 

RROC, in keeping with our 

“mission,” is currently having 

these records scanned. It is a 

massive project. 

Anyone who owns one 

of these cars certainly ought 

to have this information 

on their particular car. It 

would be of equal interest 

to members considering the 

purchase of one of these cars. 

My appreciation to 

Tim Younes, our Executive 

Director, who worked with 

JC to secure this large loan 

from Bentley Motors, and 

Gil Fuqua, incoming president, 

who provided valuable 

and strategic guidance on the 

scanning project. 

As soon as the scanning 

is complete, headquarters 

will post a notice on the club 

website and in The Flying 

Lady. The cost to receive 

Future Annual Meets 

2009, June 15–21 New Orleans (Borchert) 

2010, July 19–24 Ontario (Popp) 

2011 Lake Tahoe, CA (Heath/Kilburn) 

All editorial contributions go to the editors, addresses above. Deadlines 2/1, 4/1, 

6/1, 8/1, 10/1, 12/1. 

Direct all other correspondence, including change of address or complaints 

re delivery to the relevant Club officials or to HQ. All ads, whether classified (the 

Bazaar) or display, go to the Ad Manager at Club HQ. 

copies of this data has not yet 

been set. 

I look forward to seeing 

YOU on the next National 

Tour! 

—Robin A. James 

2009 ABM 

Feb. 20–21, Mesa, AZ. The 

host hotel for our Annual 

Meeting of the Members and 

Board of Directors will be 

the Phoenix Marriott Mesa. 

All members are invited to 

attend. Call 888-236-2427 

to make hotel reservations 

($159). Further details are 

still being developed. 

2009 Spring Tour 

May 3–8, VA. Phil and Sue 

Brooks are hosting a Spring 

Tour in the Shenandoah 

Valley. 

2009 Fall Tour 

Dates and details to be 

determined. Travel Route 66 

from Chicago to St. Louis. 

Hosted by Phil LeBoy. 

Rolls-Royce News 

Communications Director 

Moves to BMW (Oct. 1) 

Graham Biggs, Corporate 


for RRMC since 2002, left 

the company at the end 

of October to take up a 

new position as Corporate 


at BMW UK with responsibility 

for the BMW, 

MINI, and Motorrad 

brands. A successor has 

not yet been appointed. 




November / December 2008 THE FLYING LADY 9065 


RRMC

RRMC Expands October 

saw the opening of a sixth 

showroom in Hangzhou, 

China. It is located opposite 

a famous tourist attraction 

known as the West Lake. 

One of the new Phantom 

Coupés was unveiled at 

the opening. 

The September opening 

of a new showroom in 

New Delhi, centrally located 

in the heart of the city, 

brings the worldwide number 

to 82. Significant further 

RRMC 

(l–r) Matthew 

Bennett, GM South 

and East Asia Pacific 

Region, RRMC; 

Graeme Grieve, Dir., 

Sales & Marketing, 

RRMC; R. Kapur, 

Chairman and Yadur 

Kapur, CEO of Select 

Cars Private Ltd. 

Phantom Coupé For 

November the first US customer 

deliveries are planned. 

In October, the car was for 

the first time shown in the 

Middle East, in Abu Dhabi. 

There are currently nine 

dealerships in seven countries. 

It was also launched in 

Seoul, Korea and in Tokyo 

in July. Launch activities are 

underway in Europe and 

South Africa, with three cars 

touring the region, spending 

at least one week at 

each dealership or one of 23 

launch events. 

Bentley Motors 

RRMC 

APAC expansion is foreseen 

for 2009. 

The Regent Beijing 

Hotel in the prestigious 

Retractable 

Flying B 

hood mascot, 

Brooklandsderived 

20˝ 

five-spoke 

two-piece 

alloy wheels and “Le Mans” lower front fender air 

vents, twin exhaust tail pipes, “Jewel” fuel filler cap 

made from billet aluminum, special badging on 

front fenders. Optional carbon/silicon carbide crossdrilled 

brake discs (420 x 40 mm front, 356 x 28 

mm rear) with eight-piston calipers are the largest 

fitted to any production car on sale today. 

(l–r) Tom Purves, 

CEO RRMC; Jenny 

Zheng, General 

Manager Greater 

China, RRMC; 

Colin Kelly, 

Regional Director 

Asia Pacific, RRMC 

at the Hangzhou 

showroom. 

Dongcheng district has 

acquired its first chauffeur-driven 

Phantom EWB 

for VIP service. The car is 

finished in Black 

Kirsch, with walnut 

veneers and Black 

and Consort Red 

leather. Bespoke 

features include a 

rear cool box, rear 

opaque privacy curtains, 

and steel 

inlays of RR and 

hotel logos. 

BENTLEY News 

Bentley Arnage Final 

Series (Sept. 24) Ending 

its 10-year-model run with a 

limited edition of 150 cars, 

the final Arnage was unveiled 

at the Paris Motor Show. It 

combines the performance of 

the 500 bhp Arnage T with 

the refinement of the Arnage 

R and design elements from Body-colored headlamp bezels, 

the Brooklands. 

dark-tinted matrix upper and 

For the first time in an lower grilles, lower front fender 

Arnage, the waistrails 

air vents. 

will feature an inset 

chrome strip and 

inlaid Bentley badges. 

The cabin includes many of the 

most desirable Mulliner options as standard. 

Rear cocktail cabinet and document stowage 

trimmed in hide, shot glasses and stainless 

steel flask engraved with “Final Series” (which 

is also engraved on the front treadplates). 

Picnic tables are available in three premium 

unbleached veneers. 

OTHER NEWS 

New RRHT Chief Exec 

Richard Haigh, RR plc Head 

of Corporate Heritage and 

Chief Executive of the Rolls- 

Royce Heritage Trust, has 

taken early retirement this 

September. Richard had 

been selected by the first 

RRHT Chairman Mike 

Evans and ably succeeded 

him at the helm of the Trust, 

with first Colin Green, an 

Executive Director, and latterly 

Colin Smith, Director of 

Engineering and Technology 

of RR plc, in the role of 

Chairman. He had started at 

RR as an archivist working 

in the Library. Importantly, 

during his tenure he shepherded 

the Trust through the 

transition of turning from 

a members’ society with no 

legal standing into a Limited 

Liability Company. 

Since its founding by 

Mike Evans in 1981, the 

Trust has undertaken the 

preservation of the history 

and engineering heritage of 

Rolls-Royce and its ancestral 

companies. The magnitude 

of this effort cannot be overstated 

and one can only 

regret that so much was lost 

or, worse, purposely discarded 

by people who simply had 

no sense of history before 

the RRHT came along. Its 

outstanding publication program 

is only the most visible 

aspect of this often quiet 

and behind-the-scenes work. 

From the launch of the program 

in the early 1980s, 

Richard took on the sales 

of the books, and, in more 

recent years has led the process, 

undertaking planning, 

progressing, much of the 

editing, and contracting the 

printing. 

Richard’s successor is Ian 

Craighead, an RR Derby 

engineer latterly based in 

Germany. 

We wish Richard a pleasant 

and healthy retirement. 






Great News and Big Changes at the Rolls-Royce Foundation Alex Keay 

A squad of volunteers assembled at RRF headquarters in 

August to relocate the Foundation Library within the museum. 

All existing files, records, photographs, books, and 

handbooks were unloaded, moved, reshelved, and replaced. 

In addition, new shelving was added and double-stacked. The 

additional space is welcome to our ever-growing collection. 

The museum’s collection of Rolls-Royce and Bentley 

motorcars has been rearranged and now makes for a more 

user-friendly tableau for visitors. The bare chassis of Phantom 

II 167RY greets you at the front door, next to Silver Spirit 

FCX12101 for contrast and continuity. Silver Wraith WYA16, 

Phantom V 5BX38, and 3½ Litre 

B140FB are arranged facing front, 

with (along the back wall from left 

to right) Wraith WXA102, P III 

3AZ36, 20/25 GSF54, S1 B58CK, 

P I S210FP, and SC I LSJF18 

rounding out a great representation 

of a great marque. Corniche 

dhc DRH18229 is undergoing 

some hydraulic work and will join 

the museum display soon. Also 

slated for display is an SY series 

car, LRX 6599. 

By relocating 

the library 

and thus our new 

Museum Curator 

and Librarian 

Charlotte F. 

Infantino’s workstation, 

guests can 

be better greeted 

when they arrive. 

Local press coverage 

has boosted 

the number of visitors 

significantly in 5BX38 was driven to Williamsburg 

recent months, and by Lloyd Hart. 

we wanted to have 

everyone up front Below: 5BX38 and WYA16 are 

to greet them. circled by vintage planes at the 

Wings and Wheels Extravaganza. 

Denny Dilger reshelves the library 

after the relocation. 

President Facinelli mounts 

new shelves. The old library is 

visible in the background. 

Left: The new arrangement in 

the museum. 

Below: WYA16 and 5BX38. 

In July, Friends of the Foundation volunteers 

Lloyd Hart and Denny Dilger took 

Silver Wraith WYA16 and Phantom V 5BX38 

to Bethel, PA to meet up with RRF President 

Jim Facinelli for the Wings and Wheels 

Extravaganza at the Golden Age Air Museum. Jim brought 

his beautiful Silver Cloud I LSMH99 to the event. The three 

Rolls-Royces were elegant out on the show field amidst sporty 

little cars and flashy big cars. There was much oohing and 

aahing from the vintage airplane crowd. 

You may have seen Foundation stalwart Lloyd 

Hart on the show field at the Annual Meet. He drove 

our Phantom V 5BX38 from the RRF museum in 

Mechanicsburg to the Williamsburg meet. Dick Jones 

and Nikki (Mrs. Jones) drove their latest Bentley 

Turbo caravan-style with Lloyd, stopping only for gas 

(many times). Dale Clark (Post-55 chief) has a similar 

Phantom V and, over dinner, was able to solve a 

sputtering issue by sourcing a needed, correct thermostat. 

By the time you read this, the correct thermostat 

will be installed, and we will have taken 5BX38 and 

S1 B58CK to the Radnor Hunt Concours in Malvern, 

PA to participate in the Rolls-Royce/Bentley Corral. 

Always willing to display the Foundation’s cars! 






First Drive: 

Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé 

or 

Thou Shalt Not Lust After Thy Neighbor’s Rolls-Royce 

easier said than done. Good thing 

I don’t have a neighbor who has a 

Phantom Coupé. We first reported 

on this car, the production version of 

EX101, in FL08-2 when it was unveiled 

at the Geneva Motor Show this March. 

In October, Rolls-Royce conducted the 

US press launch in San Francisco and 

environs. At the core of these events are 

extended, more or less self-paced drives 

on a variety of roads with two or fewer 

people per car. There were five Coupés to 

drive, one static rhd model, and, for comparison, 

two Drophead Coupés as well as 

a Phantom saloon for shuttle duty. 

Sabu Advani (AZ) 

If you have a Drophead Coupé, or have 

driven one, you know what to expect of 

a Phantom Coupé. If you don’t, or have 

not, you are lacking one of the most 

sartorial experiences you could hope to 

have. While the two models want to be 

seen as separate from each other, which 

they are on the micro level, the similarities 

in weight, architecture, and 

dimensions make for a similar driving feel 

and behavior. 

A few preliminary remarks are in order. 

Our readers are voracious consumers of 

automotive news, and some may have 

seen road tests of the Coupé already. 

Much of what you will read here you 

will not read elsewhere. This is mainly 

because our approach and our readership 

are different. Since the European 

press launch of the Coupé in July several 

reviews have been published. Overall the 

car was well received but not all reports 

were enlightening, ranging from the 

usual litany of pet peeves (unsupportive 

front seat side bolsters, fussy seat adjusters, 

the merits of the Sport mode, etc.) 

to great philosophical ruminations about 

the place of a car like this in the world. 

It doesn’t help that these reviewers write 

for an audience that is unlikely to be able 

to buy such a car, even if they wanted 

to. This means the writers can pontificate 

with impunity because their readers 

won’t catch them out. It also doesn’t 

help that these reviewers, unlike readers 

of this magazine, don’t actually live with 

Rolls-Royces day in and day out, take 

them grocery shopping or on road trips 

or the 5 Star resort or the repair shop. 

In other words, the very novelty of interacting 

with a Rolls-Royce product and all 

The Coupé is designed to do 

in 2008 what the Phantom II 

Continental did in 1930. 

—Tom Purves, Chief Executive Officer 






All photos: RRMC/Newscast

the attending lifestyle aspects skews perceptions 

and expectations. But, you, dear 

reader, know, because you have one, that 

a Rolls-Royce is not a normal car and is 

not intended to be a normal car and if it 

were a normal car, we wouldn’t want one. 

Therefore it is folly to seek to reduce the 

Rolls-Royce experience to trivial talking 

points such as corner roll, drag coefficient, 

fuel consumption, etc. All of these 

are objective parameters—but they 

don’t matter to buyers of modern Rolls- 

Royces. Reviewers should internalize 

this bit of wisdom before expounding the 

pros and cons of a product that, for all 

practical purposes, is so desirable as to 

sell itself. On that score, by the way, it is 

noteworthy that two thirds of the names 

in the Coupé’s order book are from buyers 

new to the marque. This, and the long 

wait lists, speak to the marque’s growing 

appeal. Speaking of wait lists, RRMC 

does not offer price protection. Thanks 

to a poor exchange rate, US prices for the 

Phantom just increased to $359K, which 

makes the expected $400K base price for 

a Coupé not that much of a premium. 

While buyers of Rolls-Royces do pay 

attention to cost, few if any orders get 

cancelled. The price may be high, but so 

is the perception of value. 

The all-white car shows off the 

sculpted body very well. As standard, 

the Coupé has 21˝ Goodyear tires with 

run-flat capability, sitting on sevenspoke 

aluminum or two different styles 

of forged aluminum rims. The car is 

250 mm shorter than a Phantom and 

220.8˝ or 18´5˝/5609 mm long and 

78.2˝ or 5´3˝/1987 mm wide. 

But, enough of this; let’s look at the car. 

To say it in one sentence: for all but the 

racetrack there is no other car that dispenses 

with those driving situations that 

most ordinary mortals will encounter 

in as serene a manner as the Phantom 

Coupé. If a cosseting, opulent, unique, 

prestigious, effortless (c.o.u.p.e.) mode 

of transport is your prime objective, nothing—except 

the other Phantoms, especially 

the Drophead—can match this car. 

This road test is not intended to be 

a comparative review but a few words 

ought to be devoted to the Bentley Brooklands, 

just because the car is “out there” 

and readers will ask what’s what. In brief, 

the Brooklands has a similar mission and 

price point, but its delivery is entirely 

different in terms of engine noise and 

driving poise. At rest, both cars overload 

the senses with sights, smells, and sounds 

that bespeak enormous refinement. In 

motion, neither car leaves any doubt 

which marque you are in. The driver who 

desires a more raucous, visceral, and, yes, 

precise driving experience at the limit— 

at the expense of a higher level of uniqueness 

in terms of features and also crowd 

reaction—will lean towards the Brooklands. 

The Phantom Coupé is all about 

stylish motoring. The engine is endlessly 

tractable and unstressed. Rolls-Royce has 

always liked to emphasize their engines’ 

stump-pulling torque of which, in the 

Phantoms, 75% is on line at a mere 1000 

rpm. But this big V12 likes to rev. When 

accelerating in bursts from, say, 40 to 60 

mph it makes its presence audibly known 

during the initial run-up to the higher 

speed but still in a very civilized manner. 

At steady speed the engine noise recedes 

to a subdued burble, barely heard or 

felt unless you specifically sharpen your 

senses. A 0–60 mph run takes 6.1 sec and 

0–100 mph 15.7 sec. (A Brooklands hits 

100 mph in 11.9 sec.) Of the three Phantom 

models (four, if you count the EWB 

as a separate model) the Coupé is the 

most driver-oriented, more so than even 

the Drophead, with stiffer rear dampers, 

modified spring rates, and an even 

stiffer body. The slight rear weight bias 

of 49:51 weight distribution improves 

straight-line acceleration and traction. 

A thicker rear anti-roll bar reduces body 

roll and the steering has modified Servotronic 

assistance for increased road 

feel. Double-wishbone suspension at 

the front features a hydraulic mount to 

minimize vibrations transmitted through 

the steering wheel and a multi-link rear 

suspension gives increased ride comfort, 

with anti-lift and anti-dive technology for 

stability under heavy acceleration and 

braking. The self-leveling air suspension 

continuously adjusts to driving conditions 

and soaks up most bumps. 

At 18 ft of length and 5710 lbs of weight 

the car resists any attempt at pronounced 

sportiness. Pressing the Sport button on 

the steering wheel raises the shift points 

(i.e. holds each gear longer), stiffens the 

dampers, and provides faster kick-down 

and quicker gas pedal response. It also 

launches now in 1 st instead of 2 nd gear. 

Engaging Sport mode does produce a 

perceivable difference in driving characteristic 

(those reporters who did not 

discern this should take a desk job), but 

whether it is better in terms of performance 

or becoming in terms of RR philosophy 

is a matter of personal choice. 

On paper this decreases the 0–60 time by 

a few milliseconds. In practice, you can’t 

tell the difference, nor do you care. The 

ZF 6HP32 six-speed automatic is well 

suited to the car but being programmed 






With the exception of the picnic trunk, steel hood, and A-pillar 

surround all the Coupé’s panels are created from aluminum, which 

delivers a substantial weight saving over steel. The large, singlepiece 

front fenders are made by a process common in the aircraft 

industry called super plastic forming in which the alloy is heated to 

500º C and then formed, without the stress of the material that a 

stamping would impart, to the required shape and size in a process 

applied for the first time in the auto industry. 

The 6.75L V12 produces 453 bhp/338 kW of power at 5350 rpm and 

720 Nm/531 lb ft of torque at 3500 rpm. Premium fuel (91 AKI [Anti- 

Knock Index] octane) is recommended but the engine can run on 

regular if absolutely necessary, with a reduction in performance and 

efficiency. The Coupé has the larger, 26.4 US/22 Imp. gal fuel tank 

from the Phantom saloon, giving the Coupé a 25% increase over the 

Drophead in range to about 400 miles. 

to make the smoothest possible shifts creates a noticeable 

lag between gears. 

Massive brakes (14.7"/374 mm ventilated discs with twin 

piston alloy calipers at the front and 14.6"/370 mm discs with 

single piston calipers at the rear) make for linear braking 

but truly prolonged braking will induce brake fade, accompanied 

by interesting and expensive smells. In emergency 

stops, anti-lock systems and Emergency Brake Assist kick in. 

Standard-issue tires are big 21" Goodyear run-flats but it is 

the wind, just as in the Drophead, that creates unmistakable 

noise/turbulence around the A pillar at speed. 

Forward visibility is good. The front corners are visible from 

the driver’s seat and the car can be placed with confidence. 

Rearward visibility through the small rear window makes 

backing up a guessing game, although there are a rearwardlooking 

camera beneath the trunk handle as well as proximity 

sensors. (There is also an optional forward- or rather 

sideways-looking camera mounted beneath the license plate 

A pair of rectangular exhaust outlets peek out from under the 

rear bumper. The fold-down bottom part of the picnic boot serves 

as a seating platform and can support 330 lbs/150 kg. This also 

facilitates easy loading of the trunk which has a volume of 13.9 

ft 3 /395 liters, enough, so RR says, for four full sets of golf clubs. 

The inherent safety of the spaceframe is enhanced by other 

safety systems controlled by ISIS (Intelligent Safety and Information 

System). This takes readings from sensors located throughout the 

car and, in the event of an impact, makes up to 4000 calculations 

a second to establish its severity, deploying safety systems as 

necessary. These include intelligent braking and restraint systems, 

such as Dynamic Stability Control and Dynamic Traction Control, 

seatbelt pre-tensioners, and any of six airbags. 






A tight corner, taken at ca. 40 mph. At no 

time did our spirited driving provoke tire 

squeal. Outstanding grip keeps the car 

firmly planted. Loosing grip would activate 

the dynamic stability control (DSC). Once 

you have taken a line in a corner, you 

are pretty much committed to following 

through, the amount of understeer being 

the only variable. In other words, this 

car (unlike, say, the Brooklands) does 

not respond well to throttle inputs while 

cornering. 

In these two photos, compare impact 

of body color, aluminum vs. painted hood 

and A-pillar, different wheels. 

This wheel and the 

Star, on the Coupé 

above, are $6,275 

options. DHC shows 

standard wheel. 

Profiles of Coupé and 

Drophead Coupé. 






that displays as a split screen on the dash.) Despite its length 

the car has an unexpectedly small turning circle. Drivers of 

pre-Phantom cars will find it an odd experience to see the hood 

falling away towards the grille. From the driver’s seat you now 

only see the mascot’s kneecaps, not the feet. Rear seat leg and 

headroom are adequate but the relatively low fixed roof makes 

it feel smaller than it is in reality. (In the Brooklands it is quite 

a bit more spacious, although ingress is harder due to the lower 

roofline and, possibly, the conventionally hinged doors.) Rear 

seat occupants, however, are in the best place in the house to 

partake of one of the Coupé’s distinctive attractions: the fulllength, 

dimmable starlight headliner. The stars are plenty bright 

even in daylight but obviously “shine” in darkness. Speaking of 

darkness, the Coupé’s interior lighting is, as in the other Phantoms, 

very elegant at night. 

Interior appointments and functions are in the main identical 

to the Drophead. In the Drophead, RR explained certain 

design choices by alluding to the open car’s nautical, ship-shape, 

uncluttered cockpit theme. For instance, the seat controls, 

among others, were relegated to the center console where they 

reside below a flip-up cover. This requires both front-seat occupants 

to lift their arms to access the controls. In the Coupé, with 

Audiophiles will appreciate the 15-speaker Lexicon audio 

system with standard-issue 6-CD changer or optional iPod 

connectivity. It is controlled by a single dial. A 9-channel amp 

provides a healthy 420-watt output. (Details: US readers 

may have noticed recent Hyundai ads that imply that their 

new $40K Genesis sedan uses the same “Lexicon-branded” 

[emphasis by ED.] audio system as the Phantom and wonder 

how that can be. While the maker is the same, the systems 

are different.) 

The Sport button on the steering wheel. 

a closed roof and immune from the elements, they are still in 

the same place; somewhat inconvenient. As is the iDrive system. 

There is no way to operate this complex and unintuitive system 

to its fullest capacity without studying the manual, which you 

can hardly do while driving. For a vehicle that will in all likelihood 

be used as only an occasional car, this is cumbersome. 

Complex car—complex manual. 




Starlight headliner and brightness 

control. 



The Goodwood Estate Company Ltd. 

At the Goodwood Festival of Speed this July, a Phantom 

Coupé in pace car livery led the field of competition race cars 

on a hill climb in front of 150,000 spectators over three days. 

This car was from RR’s test fleet, to which it will be returned, 

and was driven by an RR test driver. The light bar was the 

As to the exterior, there’s not much 

to add to what the photos show except to 

say that photos simply do not do it justice. 

“Design” is meant to be seen in three 

dimensions and in the context of light and 

shade and scale. The car has great presence, 

both in size as in impact, at rest and 

in motion. All lines are well resolved and 

there is nothing that does not make sense, 

is purposeless adornment, or forced. The 

proportions are classically Rolls-Royce. 

An entirely unscientific, albeit repeatedly 

made observation would be that as the 

car rolls by, bystanders do not seem 

to notice it as quickly as they do the 

Drophead. The car will not look 

dated any time soon; in fact, common 

wisdom holds that the more 

different it looks now the better it 

will age. 

Given its Phantom siblings’ success, 

there is no way the Coupé 

could have been a disappointment. 

It is the next model—RR4— 

that will take a new and as yet 

unknown direction. 

only special equipment. The 

decals are removable transfers. 

Speaking of test cars, one of 

the Phantoms in the long-term 

test fleet has racked up 100,000 miles already. 

The Rolls-Royce dealer Trivett 

Classic, Australia’s largest prestige 

automotive group, just won an 

award at a meeting of RR dealership 

teams in Beijing for “Highest 

Phantom Coupé Prospects in the 

Asia Pacific Region.” They also won 

“Top Salesperson in APAC” and, 

especially telling, “Highest Leads 

for RR4 in APAC.” Clearly a market 

to watch! 





The Phantom Menace. Even after this 

car goes officially on sale later this 

year you’d be unlikely to see a whole 

string of them together anytime soon.

Photos Pininfarina 

1 

Bob DeKorne/Hagerty 

Tuner Cars Part II 

Pininfarina Hyperion 

Sabu Advani (AZ) 

2 

making its debut at the Gooding & Company auction 

tent 1 at Pebble Beach and, later, on display on the 

Concept Car Lawn 2 , Pininfarina’s latest creation 

received an excellent reaction from the crowd. In the autumn 

of 2007 British car collector Roland Hall commissioned the 

Italian design house to create a one-off vehicle based on the 

Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé, emulating the look 

of a 1930s sporting car. The typical long hood of that era and 

the necessarily short tail and aft-placed cockpit were achieved 

by deleting the stock car’s rear seats. This allowed the driving 

position to be moved backwards by 400 mm. The soft top folds 

behind the seats under a wood-lined cover. The carbon fiber 

bodywork encapsulates the two seats snugly and to compensate 

for the diminished storage space, two compartments were created 

in front of the windscreen to house small items or sports 

equipment, such as the owner’s two hunting rifles. 

The interior has remained largely unchanged and there are 

no significant mechanical changes. 

Roland Hall dedicated the car to the memory of the company’s 

late chairman and CEO, Andrea Pininfarina, who was killed 

in a road accident this August. Neither Pininfarina nor the 

owner are disclosing the price. Hall is himself keenly aware 

of the fact that the days for such highly bespoke cars may well 

be numbered. Even prior to Andrea Pininfarina’s untimely 

death the firm had only recently managed to get support for its 

turnaround plan to bring the company back to profitability. An 

agreement with its creditors to reschedule the company’s debt 

will now commit an extra 100 million Euros from shareholders 

towards future product development. Pininfarina is also intent 

on designing and building their own electric car, using batteries 

and technology supplied by the French Bolloré Group. 






When you see the car 

surrounded by people you 

get a better sense of scale. 

Note how tall the car 

is—the hood is at elbow 

height—and extrapolate 

from that its length and 

width. (l–r) Roland Hall 

(owner), Jason Castriota 

(Art Center College 

of Design graduate 

and now Pininfarina 

Chief Designer), Lowie 

Vermeersch (Pininfarina 

Design Director), Paolo 

Garella (Pininfarina 

“Progetti Speciali” [Special 

Projects] Manager). 

In the drawing the rear quarter 

panel has a much more 

pronounced rise behind the 

seat backs/rear wheel well, the 

wooden rear deck extends much 

farther back, the relationship of 

windshield base to front door is 

different, and the rear lights are 

not pulled down. And the car 

has no door mirrors. 

Observe how the crease on the body sweeps from the front to the rear and is picked up behind the rear 

wheel arch. Seen by itself, the car’s proportions give no indication as to its size: is it as big as a Miata or 

a city bus The 128˝ wheelbase is only 12˝ shorter than that of the Phantom. 

Vendors: 

Re Fraschini: carbon 

Isoclima: glazed surfaces 

Proxi Design: drawings 

Triom: lights and headlights 

Fondmetal: wheel rims 

Materialise: fast prototyping 

SIGMA Navale Italiana: teak finish 






The stock car, for comparison: 

Computer image vs. 

real car. The shape of 

the rear end recalls 

Pininfarina’s sports 

“berlinettas” of the 

1950s, with their cut-off 

tails strongly sloping 

downwards. 

The doors have been designed by 

craftsmen that usually work on luxury 

boats. Compared to the stock car, the A 

pillar looks positively delicate. 

Hyperion is one of the four Titan brothers, one of 

the sons of Uranos (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth) 

who ruled the cosmos before the Olympians 

came to power. Often called the sun god [hence 

the sun-like emblem here], he is more accurately 

known as the god of light, and is the father of the lights of heaven—Eos the Dawn, Helios the 

Sun, and Selene the Moon. His wife was Theia, lady of the aither—the shining blue of the sky. 

Hyperion’s name means “watcher from above” or “he who goes above” from the greek words 

hyper and iôn. 

(Don’t say you’re not 

learning anything here!) 

The recessed Bixenon 

headlights have LED 

technology. The radiator 

grille is slightly inclined. 






Arturo Peralta 

Loosely related to the topic of Pininfarina, 

here some illustrations of the Bentley SenseS 

design study which was commissioned by 

Bentley Motors from Arturo Peralta Nogueras 

(b. 1979), a Spanish automotive designer who 

in 2004 interned at Pininfarina after receiving 

his first M.A. in transportation design 

from the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia 

(2002–2003) and before starting his second 

Masters in vehicle design, sponsored by 

Bentley, from the Royal College of Art (2006– 

2008). He also interned at Bentley twice. The 

name “SenseS” alludes to the “relationship 

the Bentley SenseS would share with its driver 

and the environment around it, thanks in part 

to Genetic Engineering, Biotechnology, and 

Artificial Intelligence.” He does not elaborate 

on this lofty concept. The body consists of 

translucent panels and the vehicle would be 

powered by the wind. The car uses 

artificial intelligence to respond to 

the driver’s presence, such as pulsing 

a light in synch with the user’s 

heartbeat, and to operate the vehicle’s 

in-wheel electric motors. The 

driver uses reins rather than a conventional 

steering wheel for directional 

inputs. Don’t expect this any 

time soon in a showroom near you. 

“The driver connects with 

the vehicle in the same 

way a rider connects with 

his horse . . . There is 

trust and understanding, 

a friendship based on 

natural values. Imagine 

a vehicle that recognizes 

you, is able to feel, 

to trust: it is almost a 

part of you.” 

—Arturo Peralta 

The Swiss watchmaker Girard-Perregaux created a custom 

mechanical automatic wristwatch in white gold for the Hyperion. 

Like the car, the watch’s design harkens back to earlier days. By 

modern standards, it is of almost diminutive size (32 x 32 mm). It is 

a modification of G-P's Vintage 1945 Tourbillon with gold bridge. The 

most remarkable feature is that the head is detachable, thanks to a 

sophisticated system of spring balls, from the alligator strap and can 

be placed into a cradle resembling the signature Girard-Perregaux 

Tourbillon cage that is recessed in the car’s dashboard. The dial color 

is the same one-off blue of the car’s exterior. The cutout in the leather 

strap reveals a silhouette of the car when the watch is removed. 






A Memorial Portfolio of 

John Blatchley Designs 

Jack E. Triplett (MD) 

Editor’s Note: The author is writing, with Tom Clarke, a history 

of the coachbuilder J. Gurney Nutting & Co. This article has 

been adapted from material from the in-progress book. 

john P. Blatchley (1913–2008) was one of the great 

automobile designers (see his obituary in FL08-2). 

He is best known for his postwar designs for Rolls- 

Royce—the Silver Cloud/Bentley S series saloons, 

and their replacements, the Silver Shadow/Bentley T 

series saloons. During his time at Rolls-Royce, he also 

designed special bodies that began with Park Ward 

drophead and two-door coupes on the Bentley R Type 

Continental in the early 1950s and ended with the Mulliner-Park 

Ward two-door model (renamed the Corniche 

well after its birth) whose production extended 

through the Silver Shadow period and beyond. 

Popular as those postwar designs are, and they are 

deservedly so, Blatchley’s design accomplishments in 

the 1930s were never excelled. Part of the reason was 

not the designer, but the period. 

In the 1930s, Blatchley designed bodies for the 

coachbuilder J. Gurney Nutting & Co., located off 

Kings Road in London. Nutting produced true custom coachwork, 

frequently unique “one-off” designs for an individual customer, 

or designs that were produced in a small series, but still 

built one or two at a time. In that world, the designer was constantly 

turning out new designs, and it was, as Blatchley once 

remarked, a “very short period that you’ve made the design and 

. . . could drive it along the road.” A new design might be created 

in a day or two, and they had to be, since orders depended 

on them. Once the order was taken, the body would be built in 

a matter of weeks. In the 1930s, John Blatchley created many 

automotive designs. 

The postwar world was different because production considerations 

entered in. A design remained in production for a 

long period (the Silver Cloud lasted 10 years), so details had to 

be worked out for production, considerations that were simply 

not factors in custom coachwork of the 1930s. Accordingly, the 

roster of Blatchley designs 

was inevitably smaller during 

the postwar period than 

it was prewar. 

This Memorial Portfolio 

contains examples of 

John Blatchley’s earliest 

designs, some built, some 

not. They are less familiar 

designs than his postwar 

work, but they are 

superb accomplishments 

in design that deserve to 

be better known. 

Vanden Plas design 1123. This, the earliest surviving professional 

automotive design drawing by John Blatchley, dates from his several 

months at Vanden Plas in the second half of 1934. It was not his 

first design, for he retained in retirement a portfolio of even earlier 

designs—some of them quite striking and exotic. Brian Smith, in his 

book Vanden Plas Coachbuilders, says that the company made two 

examples to design 1123, GAE30 and GAE56, bodies 3263 and 3270. 

Neither was painted in the dark olive green (a popular color in the 

1930s) of Blatchley’s drawing. 

Nutting design 39. One of the first three designs Blatchley created 

soon after he came to Gurney Nutting in late 1934, this sedanca de 

ville was possibly the first original design he did there (his designs 37 

and 38 are re-workings or modifications of earlier Nutting designs). 

Note the “JB” signature behind the wheel. The original drawing 

was in color—black car on a beige background—but this is F.N. 

Birkett’s b/w photo of the original (he was Nutting’s photographer 

at the time). Like his Vanden Plas drawing, Blatchley’s design 39 is 

a bit conservative, not advanced at all for its day, but an attractive 

design nonetheless, with the striking feature of a bold chrome waist 

accent. When I showed this design drawing to him, John recalled that 

it was built for Alexander Korda, the Hungarian-American-British 

film director and producer. Korda’s most famous film was probably 

The Third Man, produced after the war, but he was already well 

established when he moved to London in the early 1930s. 






An anonymous collector 

Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation

Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation 

Peter Brocke 

Nutting body 1651. The designer normally 

also drew the 1 / 12 scale line drawing, which 

contained crucial dimensions. It provided 

the basis for a full-size drawing that in 

turn was used by the patternmakers. The 

line drawing had thus to be accurate, 

GYH14, a duplicate of 

Korda’s car, was the 

second body Nutting 

built to Blatchley’s 

design 39. When 

originally delivered by 

the dealer Jack Olding in 

July 1935, GYH14 would 

have had a metal cover 

over its spare, and would 

not have had whitewall 

tires. Nutting built three 

other design 39 bodies, 

GEH27, GOH39, and 

GRM56. By Gurney 

Nutting’s usual short 

production runs, quite a 

successful design. 

though the design drawing might be 

stretched out a little, for effect. Note 

carefully worked out styling details, such 

as the door handles that mimic the ends 

of the wide chrome waist accent. Blatchley 

was quite proud of “hiding” the handles 

in this chrome accent, a new effect for 

the time. This drawing records the dealer, 

George Miller & Co., and the customer, 

Alexander Korda, just as Blatchley 

remembered. Built on GRF20 and 

delivered to Korda in March, 1935. 

Nutting design 43. Coachbuilders 

often made a closed version of 

a sedanca de ville design, and 

Blatchley’s design 43 four-door saloon 

is clearly derived from his design 39 

sedanca de ville. The new drawing 

might have been prepared to show a 

potential customer the appearance 

of the saloon version. Note extended 

and pleasingly up-curved rear wing 

tips, a characteristic of most early 

Blatchley designs for Gurney Nutting, 

including others in this Portfolio. 






Real Car Co.

Nutting design 65. Another early 

John Blatchley design for Gurney 

Nutting, created in early 1935 for 

the dealer Jack Olding and his 

customer, the Countess of Warwick. 

Integration of styling detail is 

remarkable on this design. For 

example, the unusual rear wing 

kickup matches the lower line of 

the side sweep panel, and curved 

door windows, when raised, match 

the sweep panel’s upper line. The 

rear-mounted spare is partially 

integrated into the trunk lid, 

and the car’s fully-lined top has 

a countersprung mechanism, so 

raising it is a one-hand operation. 

Jack Triplett 

The only example of Gurney Nutting design 65, Nutting body 1659, 

built on B166DG. Owned by the author since 1985. I asked Blatchley 

about the contours of the top when folded (compare photo and 

Design 43 had a side-mounted spare, but 

customers sometimes preferred a rearmounted 

one, as on this car, GOH77. 

Changing the spare sometimes implied a new 

line for the trunk (evident from comparing 

GOH77 with the design 43 drawing), and 

sometimes required structural changes. For 

these reasons, a new design number might 

have been assigned to GOH77, and a new 

drawing prepared, but the car is nevertheless 

similar to design 43. Dark red, as on this 

car, was unusual for the 1930s, but was not 

unknown. A sister car, GYH4, is owned by 

John Shadroui in Michigan. 




design drawing). He laughed and said they never really got the tops 

to fold so flat as the drawing. Though now painted in a two-tone 

color scheme, it was originally a single tone of very dark green. 





Nutting designs 169 and 169A. 

John Blatchley first drew this 

design for a neat, uncluttered 

20/25 saloon in his usual style, a 

colored car on a light background 

(as with the previous design 

drawings in this portfolio). It had a 

rear-mounted spare inset into the 

trunk lid, an arrangement that 

had become increasingly popular 

with Nutting’s designers after mid- 

1935. Blatchley acknowledged in a 

conversation that the inset spare 

cost more, but Gurney Nutting 

& Co. were specialists in style, 

never in low-cost bodies! About the time the 

25/30 came out, he began to experiment 

with illustrating the car against a dark 

GHL35 is probably the only car built to 

Nutting design 169A. It does not look that 

much like the design drawing for 169A. In 

fact, its body contours are more accurately 

depicted by Blatchley’s drawing for design 

169 (except for the spare wheel location, 

that is). The wonderful thing about GHL35 

is its amazing originality: Black with tan 

leather interior, it has resided with Marilyn 

O’Carroll’s family for nearly 50 years and has 

never been sullied by a restorer’s touches. 

Today, you can open the doors and still see 

an interior as Gurney Nutting’s workmen 

made it, and allowing for the passage of 

time, it still looks good. It is not in judging 

perfect condition, but it is much rarer and 

more interesting than that. 

background or doing the car the same color 

as the background (for example, beige on 

beige). Additionally, he changed his drawing 

style to make the car look even sleeker than 

before, and he began to sign his drawings 

“JPB.” These changes are demonstrated by 

comparison of Blatchley’s 

drawings for design 169 

(with rear-mounted spare) 

and 169A (the letter “A” 

designated a modification 

to the design, in this case 

side-mounted spare and 

a smooth trunk line). It 

was the same body, really, 

but what a difference his 

drawing style made. John 

told me he changed his 

signature to “JPB” because 

some people thought that 

“JB” stood for Jack Barclay. 






Tim O’Carroll Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation

Jack Triplett Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation 

Press coverage of the 1936 

Motor Show dwelt on the 

angled “B” post on this Alvis 

saloon. It was a solution to a 

styling problem. With the very 

wide rear doors, a vertical 

pillar would have generated 

disproportionate door windows; 

the slanted pillar caused the 

eye to perceive them as nearly 

equal in width, and hence as 

more harmonious. Creating 

such subtle harmonies is the 

skill of a great designer. 

Nutting design 202. This Alvis saloon 

was one of Gurney Nutting’s exhibits 

at the 1936 London Motor Show. The 

company’s stand that year contained 

four saloon bodies—Bentley fourdoor, 

Talbot four-door, Lagonda 

two-door, and the Alvis—all of them 

in the rounded-off, “curvilinear” 

styling mode that Nutting & Co. 

promoted then. Though Blatchley’s 

styling was marvelous, none of the 

show exhibits garnered even a single 

additional order. 




Design 46, a four-door allweather for Phantom II. Blatchley told me that he created this design for Lord Glentanar, and the negotiations 

were carried out by his nephew, Lord Waleran. Something apparently happened and the sale did not go through—too bad, we would 

love to see this car today. Glentanar does not appear on the list of P II owners, though he had a 20/25 by another coachbuilder. FL page 

884 shows a similar allweather, perhaps for the P III; design number unknown. It was not built either. 



Julian Collins


Designs by Blatchley 

That Were Not Built 

In the custom coachbuilding world, 

designs were created to make a sale, 

which the drawings presented so far in 

this portfolio did do. Sometimes, however, 

a design drawing did not generate 

a sale. Perhaps the customer changed 

his or her mind and did not go through 

with it, or perhaps several designs were 

created for a certain customer, who 

in the end selected only one. In a few 

cases, a designer might create a design 

on speculation without an explicit customer 

in mind, but these cases were 

rare. For whatever reason, some of the 

most outstanding Blatchley designs for 

J. Gurney Nutting & Co. never became 

completed bodies. Some examples are 

presented in the following section. 

Design 250, a streamlined saloon on 

the Phantom III. This stylish saloon 

was another of Blatchley’s attempts 

to interest a customer in a flowing 

rear line, but despite the designer’s 

best efforts, British customers did 

not find the line appealing. The 

design also displays a very unusual 

split molding line, pillarless rear 

quarter window construction 

(giving an unobstructed view from 

the rear seats), and polished wheel 

disks. Most buyers of P IIIs had 

tastes that were too conservative 

for designs such as this one. 

Two-door saloon for 20/25 or 25/30 Rolls-Royce. John Blatchley did not remember this one, so 

we don’t know for whom it was designed, or even its design number. Several design themes 

that occupied Blatchley around 1935–36 are present in this design. John drew a streamlined, 

swept-back tail, similar to this saloon, on a number of designs, but they were more successful 

esthetically than commercially. He also tried the V-shaped waist molding on various 

designs, including even a sedanca de ville (it was a feature that he borrowed from a French 

design he admired). Some other British designers, including Hooper’s Osmond Rivers, were 

also enamored with the V-molding line. And finally, in contrast to the typical raised waist 

molding, the molding on this saloon is recessed, a device featured on some other Nutting 

designs of this period. This would have been a wonderful car; too bad we will never see it. 

“Two-Seater Fixed Head Coupe with Dickey 

Seat” on 25/30 Rolls-Royce. Design 267 dates 

from late 1937. It would certainly have made 

a unique and spectacular car, had it been 

built. Note the curved line at the back of the 

body proper: It makes the short passenger 

compartment almost a separate entity, 

in a day when designers normally tried to 

integrate the elements of coachwork. The 

design resembles the “fiacre” styles built on 

Bugattis, and might have been a preliminary 

study for Blatchley’s razor-edge sedanca 

coupe design that Gurney Nutting exhibited 

at the 1938 Motor Show. This coupe likely 

was not seriously intended for production, 

for the design number itself was re-used for a 

large sedanca de ville design (on a Buick!). 






John de Campi 

John de Campi

Design 279, “Four-Door Sports Roadster” on 25/30 

Rolls-Royce. This stunning allweather tourer was 

dual numbered (design 279.W for the Wraith). Few 

British buyers were interested in so exotic a body 

in 1937–38. Possibly Nutting were trying to sell it to 

one of the Indian maharajas, who were potential 

customers for flamboyant coachwork. Note 

Blatchley’s use once more of the V-shaped line at 

the end of the waist molding, and also the stylized 

comet motif to the rear wheel covers (again a 

favorite Blatchley styling theme), plus the rear spare 

integrated into the trunk lid. Had it been built, this 

would have made a super collector car today. 

Design 263, sedanca coupe 

for 4¼ Bentley. During early 

and mid-1937, Blatchley 

created a series of five 

sedanca coupes for Jack 

Barclay—Nutting designs 

188, 222, 224, 262 and 263. 

Barclay had Blatchley’s 

design drawings printed on 

cards with his logo at the 

end and circulated them 

to potential customers. All 

were superlative designs, 

but oddly only one of them 

found buyers: design 222, 

which sold five copies, including B70KT, which has many times appeared in The Flying Lady. The other designs, 

including this fine one and a nearly identical 25/30 Rolls-Royce (design 262), remained unbuilt. A shame. 

Design 306, “Sports Coupe” on 

Phantom III. This two-seater 

would have made a fabulous 

car. The design drawing itself has 

disappeared, but we attribute the 

design to Blatchley because of his 

exquisite hand on the lettering on 

the drawing. He always executed 

the lettering with great care and 

style, treating it as part of the 

artistic whole, in contrast to some 

other designers who just set down 

the information. I suspect the target 

for this one was again one of the Indian 

maharajas. It resembles very closely the twoseater 

that Nutting built for the Maharaja 

of Indore on a V-12 Lagonda. Indore bought 

many cars, sometimes taking delivery of a 

group of them at the same time. He had 

already bought nearly identical Gurney 

Nutting limousines on V-12 Rolls-Royce and 

V-12 Hispano Suiza chassis, and perhaps 

having similar two-seater bodies on two V- 

12 chassis also appealed to him. In the end, 

though, no one bought this fine P III design, 

which is a great loss to present-day collectors 

and enthusiasts for fine design. 

John Blatchley 

The designer, John Blatchley, in 

the V-12 Lagonda two-seater he 

designed for the Maharaja of 

Indore. This photo, taken out of 

the window of Gurney Nutting’s 

styling office, gives some indication 

of what Nutting design 306 

would have looked like, had it 

been built. Blatchley told me that 

the photo was taken as he was 

about to drive the Lagonda to 

Southampton, where it was to be 

put on a ship. 







Bentley Drivers Club 


RRMC 

From the very beginning of Project 

Rolls-Royce the key players left no stone 

unturned to immerse themselves in the 

history of Rolls-Royce and internalize 

the design cues and philosophy. While 

the Goodwood Phantom—purposely— 

turned out to look radically different from 

its predecessors it nevertheless was a fitting 

continuation of Rolls-Royce’s classic 

styling idiom and parameters. And it 

should have given the naysayers pause 

for thought to consider that none other 

than John Blatchley himself looked upon 

the Goodwood Phantom favorably. 

On the occasion of Blatchley’s death, 

the May issue of RRMC’s in-house newsletter 

The Marque ran this tribute. We 

are obliged to Corporate Communications 

Manager Andrew Ball for sharing it 

with us. 

John Blatchley: Shaper of the 

Modern Rolls-Royce 

John Blatchley, chief styling engineer, 

Rolls-Royce Limited, died this February. 

Generally recognized as the “shaper of 

the modern Rolls-Royce,” Blatchley was 

responsible for the styling of the Silver 

Cloud and Silver Shadow. He was asked 

for his opinion of the then secret design 

for the Phantom in 2002 and surprised 

many traditionalists with his approval. 

“BMW showed me their possible designs; 

there was literally only one I thought was 

any good, and it’s the one they’ve built. I 

think they’ve done a marvellous job.” 

Ian Cameron (l) and John 

Blatchley at an early 

viewing of the Phantom at 

Goodwood. After graduating 

in Vehicle Design from 

the Royal College of Art in 

London Cameron went to 

Pininfarina for six years, then 

to Fiat’s commercial vehicle 

division, and joined BMW in 

1992 where he was in charge 

of the BMW 3 Series exterior 

design. He also worked on the 

Z8 roadster and Range Rover. 

The Marque talked to Ian Cameron, 

Chief Designer and Kris Sukhu, Interior 

Designer about their experiences of the 

great man: 

Ian Cameron, Chief Designer 

on visiting John Blatchley at his home 

in Hastings back then in the very early 

days of “Project Rolls-Royce” as the 

Phantom project was then called, 

the attending members of the Rolls- 

Royce design team (Charles Coldham, 

Marek Djordjevic, “our” Miss Moneypenny 

Sally Young and myself) were 

at once astounded, and then relieved, 

firstly at the then 86-year-old Blatchley’s 

alacrity and understanding of current 

technical issues together with his 

eye for line and detail, and secondly at 

his approval of the design with which we 

were proceeding. 

John assured 

us that since taking 

early retirement 

on the completion 

of the Silver 

Shadow, he had 

never looked back 

or intended to 

preoccupy his 

days with thoughts 

about car design 

ever again—but 

that day the conversation 

was on a 

John Blatchley (r) at his home with Charles Coldham, Interior Designer. Coldham, a former Rover 

designer, had the winning interior design for the Phantom. 

RRMC had whittled down the proposals to three exterior designs that were done in clay at 2 / 5 ths 

size. These models were built at a facility in Holborn called “The Bookshop” (so named after a close-by 

business) and this project was christened “Roger Rabbit” because BMW was not allowed to use the 

“RR” or “Rolls-Royce” moniker until after VW turned over the use of the trademark in 2003. 

level playing field, between the old master 

and a few admiring designers of another 

generation, all fired by the same desire to 

perfect the best car in the world. 

It was a day I think we have all since 

treasured, and one which we think also 

gave John considerable pleasure—in any 

case, the drive back to London gave us 

ample time to appreciate the time and 

exchanges that we had just shared with 

one of the most revered figures of the 

Rolls-Royce world. 

Kris Sukhu, Interior Designer 

The one time I spoke to John Blatchley 

was back in 2000 whilst I was still relatively 

new to Rolls-Royce. I asked Sally 

Young, a good friend to the project in the 

early days, that it would be great to have 

some guidance from the great man, as I 

was stuck on a supplier selection issue. I 

wrote down the question for Sally to ask, 

not daring to address him directly myself. 

Next thing I knew a phone was thrust into 

my hands and I was told that John wished 

to speak to me face to metaphorical face. 

I should not have worried. He was lovely 

as we spoke about the issues I faced and it 

appeared that he had faced similar issues 

with the same supplier! He advised me 

that there was no need to follow what 

had gone before, but instead do what 

was right. The conversation continued 

in depth, covering a number of related 

color, material, and application subjects. 

We covered much useful ground 

in a single telephone call, finally 

hanging up almost an hour later. 

This was a phone conversation 

I have often remembered and 

the general advice has steered 

me easily through a number of 

focused discussions. 






Great Lakes Fall Frolic 

Jon Waples (MI) 

Photos by Pete Kohnken and Jon Waples 

St. Ignace offered this sunrise looking east from our hotel and is know as the gateway to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Founded as 

a mission in 1671 by French explorer and priest Jacques Marquette our hearty group of tourers spent a week exploring the region and 

enjoying all of its natural beauty and hospitality. 

Let it be known that I’m not really from Michigan. I have 

merely lived here for the past 15 years. During this time, I 

have learned to embrace saturated fat and detest Ohio. My 

Rhode Island sarcasm remains, having been advised that fully 

suppressing it might lead to hypertension or stroke. The 2008 

Great Lakes Fall Frolic (Sept. 21–27) was my first RROC Fall 

Tour as it was for many Motor Region attendees and also my 

first experience touring in a prewar car. From this perspective 

of sarcasm and eccentricity, our story begins. 

Glen Arbor 

On a beautiful Sunday we made our way north towards The 

Homestead, a large waterfront property on Lake Michigan 

slightly west of Glen Arbor proper and the first of three hotels 

on our multi-hub tour. Morning fog quickly made way for bright 

sunshine and mild temperatures. In fact, not a single day went 

by without bright sunshine, blue skies, and highs in the seventies. 

Upon arrival, we were greeted by our hosts Rick and Sandy 

Barrett, 2009 Annual Meet hosts Bill and Laura Borchert, and 

RROC Motor Region Vice Chair George Gugino and his wife 

Above left: Behind our hardy tourers it’s a 460- 

foot drop down to Lake Michigan. 

Above right: On the porch at The Manor on Glen 

Lake. 

Left: An impromptu reunion near Cadillac, 

Michigan as we work our way to our first evening 

at The Homestead. 






Rarely seen, Charles Puttkammer’s 1919 Silver Ghost (PP20) Kellner 

laundaulette de ville, drew a crowd off the porch of The Manor on Glen Lake. 

Janie. Check-in could not have been smoother with enormous 

goodie bags plus donuts and fresh apple cider while we waited 

to sign in. 

When asked for directions, most native Michiganders, will 

hold up their right hand and point to it. This approximates the 

shape of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, and since 97% of 

the state’s population lives there, that usually works. Glen 

Arbor is located near the tip of the pinky finger on the 

Michigan hand map and about as far from Detroit as you 

can get in the Lower Peninsula. Subjected to aggressive 

glacial activity during the last ice age, this area is dotted 

with many small inland lakes and graceful undulating 

hills covered with a diverse mix of deciduous and 

coniferous trees. Summer homes with spectacular views 

are scattered tastefully throughout the area. Not a bad 

place to be. 

As we gathered at The Manor on Glen Lake for cocktails 

and dinner that first evening, it became obvious that 

this 40-car tour would be special: two Silver Ghosts, six 

Derby Bentleys, plus one each P II, P III, 25/30, and 

Wraith. Especially noteworthy, Chuck LaRocco and Joel 

Cutler drove the 2,350 miles from Palm Springs, CA in 

their 1958 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud. 

Driving birds from the trees with a loud 

backfire, Charles Puttkammer interrupted 

cocktails and conversation on 

The Manor’s charismatic old porch when 

he arrived with a bang in his rarely seen 

1919 Silver Ghost. 

After breakfast Monday morning the 

group made its way to the Maritime 

Rescue Service Station near the Sleeping 

Bear Dunes National Lakeshore for a 

guided walking tour. The Maritime Rescue 

Service predates the Coast Guard 

and this station was one of many set up to 

Parking for the beach party could not 

have been more scenic and was a test 

for everyone’s parking brake. 

retrieve victims of the shipwrecks that seemed to 

occur with frightening regularity on this part of 

the Great Lakes during the late Nineteenth and 

early Twentieth centuries. 

Following the walking tour, the group meandered 

through the Sleeping Bear Dunes National 

Lakeshore in a loosely organized motorcade 

stopping at the many scenic overlooks for 

photographs. Lunch and the remainder of the 

afternoon were spent at our leisure. For most 

this entailed a relaxing meal in town or a leisurely 

tour of the local vineyards. 

For the Attens, however, a small fire aboard 

their Silver Spirit rendered the transmission inoperative 

for the remainder of the week. Bill Wetzel 

helped put the fire out and our Chief Mechanic 

in Residence, Dan Docherty, arranged to have the transmission 

removed locally and shipped to his transmission shop in Windsor, 

Ontario for repair. 

Evening activities at The Homestead began with a picturesque 

Beach Party on the deck of Café Manitou sponsored by 

Hagerty Insurance followed by a BBQ dinner at The Lodge. A 

succulent barbecue with various sides and later dessert provided 

Filling up in Glen Arbor, WEC40 

and SAE-09238. 






Dave Deppe stand by his 1935 3½L (B69FC) H.J. Mulliner saloon at 

The Music House Museum. 

sufficient caloric intake 

for the hardest working 

farm hand. Alas, our collective 

level of aerobic 

activity for the day was 

rather less intense. 

Rick Barrett organized 

a few prize drawings that 

evening including gift 

certificates donated by 

Restoration Supply. An 

autographed copy of The 

Shadow Owners’ Companion 

contributed by Roy Margenau III with his 1934 3½L (B14CR) Thrupp & Maberly dhc. 

this author went to a genuinely 

thrilled Laura Borchert. USB thumb drives generously 

donated by automotive supplier American Yazaki went to members 

that seemed more thankful once the purpose of the device 

was explained to them. After-dinner cocktails were served at 

the outdoor fireplace immediately outside of The Lodge. 

Fortunately, our rooms were within walking distance. 

Majestic view of our caravan 

arriving at the Mackinac Bridge toll 

Tuesday was moving day on our multi-hub tour. The first plaza in St. Ignace. 

stop on the way to St. Ignace was the Music House Museum 

northeast of Traverse City. One of the docents took 

us on a guided tour which included demonstrations of various 

Nickelodeon, player pianos, and an enormous 1924 

Wurlitzer Theater Organ originally constructed for use 

with silent film screenings at the Cinderella Theater in 

Detroit. The highlight of the museum tour was a haunting 

and emotive rendition of the last movement in “Rhapsody 

in Blue” rendered on a 1925 Weber Duo-Art Reproducing 

Grand Piano as originally played by George Gershwin 

himself. 

A pie-making demonstration by Michael Busley, 

President of the Grand Traverse Pie Company 

at the Traverse City Opera House was next on the 

agenda accompanied by a marvelous catered lunch. 

St. Ignace and The U.P. 

The Upper Peninsula, or U.P., is the part of Michigan that 

looks like it should instead be part of Wisconsin. It also does 

not fit on the hand map. When Michigan became a state 

in the 1830s, the U.P. became part of Michigan as a compromise 

in a border dispute with Ohio. Then as now, Ohio 

was a swing state in Presidential politics. Democratic President 

Andrew Jackson served his party’s best interest and sent representatives 

to arbitrate the dispute. Finding a compromise that 

left the Toledo Strip with Ohio cast the Democratic Party in a 

positive light (with Ohioans) thus avoiding the loss of critical 

Electoral College votes. Subsequent discoveries of copper and 

iron in the Upper Peninsula, however, meant that Michiganders 

would ultimately have the last laugh. 

St. Ignace served as our gateway to the U.P. at the north end 

of the Mackinac Bridge (pronounced MACK-in-aw). Opened 

for traffic in late 1957, “Mighty Mac” is five miles from shoreline 

to shoreline with a 3,800 

ft center span. After a pleasant 

drive up Route 31, we gathered 

at the south end of the bridge so 

that we could proceed en masse 

for a prearranged photo opportunity 

at the toll plaza on the 

far side. Along the way, Charles 

Puttkamer’s Silver Ghost ran 

out of fuel, but he had plenty of 

help and was not delayed long 

enough to miss the rendezvous 

at the bridge. 

After descending upon the 

Holiday Inn Express in St. Ignace 

that afternoon, we made 

our way to the Mackinac Grill 

for a fish fry. Our server was a 

robust woman whose name conveyed sturdiness and a matterof-fact 

outlook. It may have been Gladys or Blanche. When 

queried as to the whereabouts of our meal her response was 

“Holy Hell, you haven’t had your salad yet” We had a good 






The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island comes into view as we approach our terminus. 

laugh on our way to the salad bar. Once 

the floodgates of fine fare opened, the allyou-can-eat 

barrage of fried perch, fried 

walleye, (fried) French fries and random 

vegetables was a sight to behold. Absolutely 

tasty, but if there is a dyno test for 

gall bladders, this was it. 

Back at the Holiday Inn Express, our 

youngest tourers Sam and Alex, teenage 

sons of the Stockwells, made it known 

that they would not mind horribly if 

perhaps they could go for a ride in Doug 

Wolford’s 2006 Bentley Continental 

GT. Not one to disappoint, Doug borrowed 

back the car he graciously loaned 

to Harvey Moyses and Don Moehring 

for the trip. Upon returning to the hotel 

lobby where an impromptu happy 

hour was well underway, the boys had 

smiles on their faces that simply would 

not go away. It turns out Dr. Wolford 

let them take turns driving up the semidesolate 

Interstate. 

Allegedly, all 552 bhp came into play 

at some point. 

Todd Nagler tests out Griot’s Garage products on his 1937 25/30 

(GRP18) Gurney Nutting sedanca de ville. 

On Wednesday, most of us made way to 

the Star Line Ferry terminal for the ferry 

trip to Mackinac Island. Located within 

view of the Mackinac Bridge, the island 

is a 3.8 sq mi mix of clapboard houses, 

horse drawn carriages, and fudge shops. 

With the exception of a few municipal 

vehicles and snowmobiles during the 

winter, Mackinac Island prohibits motorized 

vehicles. 

The Grand Hotel is quite a sight from 

the water as the ferry approaches. It is 

reminiscent of the late nineteenth and 

early twentieth century hotels that you 

might see in the Adirondacks or northern 

New England. After coming ashore, 

a brief carriage ride or brisk walk up the 

hill is the perfect precursor to the legendary 

lunch buffet at the Grand Hotel. 

The buffet is so long that if you stand at 

the salad end, the curvature of the Earth 

may very well preclude you from seeing 

what’s for dessert. 

After we consumed quantities of food 

known only to Olympic swimmers and 

Ironman triathletes, island resident and 

tour participant Charles 

Puttkammer gave those 

of us that could still move 

a very interesting walking 

tour before we set off for 

the mainland. 

Returning to the hotel 

that afternoon, many took 

the opportunity to perform 

maintenance and car 

cleaning. Bill Vatter demonstrated 

how to install 

a new inner tube on an 

Early Post War wheel. For 

those who missed it there 

was to be at least one encore 

presentation later in the week. Griot’s 

Garage was kind enough to supply 

an elaborate care package for our wash 

station at the hotel, which allowed us to 

sample all of their latest wares. The Bug 

Off! seemed to be the favorite. 

An impromptu test driving session followed 

which allowed quite a few folks to 

drive Todd Nagler’s 1937 25/30 Gurney 

Nutting sedanca de ville, Roy Margenau’s 

1934 Bentley 3½L Thrupp & Maberly 

three position drophead coupé, this author’s 

1939 Wraith Park Ward enclosed 

limousine, and Andrew Dunn’s 1999 

Bentley Arnage Green Label. Smiling 

faces were abundant and bobbled gear 

changes scarce. 

On Thursday, we set off to Sault St. Marie 

for the day. “Sault” is a 17 th century French 

word for rapids, which is exactly what 

this area was before locks were built to 

enable cargo vessels to safely navigate 

the 21-foot drop from Lake Superior to 

Lake Huron. Even today, approximately 

25% of the iron ore consumed in the 




Bill Vatter (l), ably assisted by Bob Cowley, demonstrates proper 

tube replacement on an EPW wheel. 



Jim Tamblyn (l), Sandy Barrett, Doug Wolford and this author 

entertain a black bear cub at Oswald Bear Ranch. 

At Van Dam Custom Boats you get what you pay for: bespoke 

design, superlative craftsmanship, solid mahogany. 

United States passes through “The Soo Locks.” Moving iron 

ore through the locks was such a critical element in World War 

II, 7,000 infantrymen and several anti-aircraft batteries were 

stationed here to defend against German attack. Exactly how 

a German incursion would escape detection this far inland is 

not clear. 

Although the morning was a bit brisk, strong sunshine prevailed 

and made for a very pleasant 

tour of the locks by boat. The Sault St. 

Marie Chamber of Commerce greeted 

us with smiles and warm handshakes 

as we boarded the Bide-A-Wee—a very 

nice touch! 

After the boat tour, the plan was 

to have lunch on our own. The staff at 

Freighters Restaurant in the Ramada 

Plaza Ojibway had no idea we would 

all decide to have lunch there, but responded 

without flinching. Listening 

to my impromptu dissertation on the 

possibility of desktop Cheetos manufacture, 

Doug Wolford lapsed into a 

bout of convulsive snorts and guffaws 

that had our entire table paralyzed 

with side-splitting laughter. 

We had a number of suggested destinations 

in the Upper Peninsula for an 

At the Plouffe’s Motor Region Wienie Roast, the local news 

wanted to know all about Bill and Rita Wetzel’s Phantom III 

(3AZ182) Gurney Nutting saloon. 

Our youngest tourers, Alex and Sam Stockwell. 

afternoon’s drive: Tahquamenon Falls and Oswald Bear Ranch. 

Both options took us past Whitefish Bay, which is quite near 

where the Edmund Fitzgerald sank with all hands during a gale 

in November 1975. 

At fifty feet, Upper Tahquamenon Falls is the second largest 

waterfall east of the Mississippi by volume, although not quite 

to the same scale as Niagara. The water is characteristically 




Castle Farms in Charlevoix. 



Dave Brooke’s 1929 Phantom II Thrupp & Maberly tourer (3XJ). 

brown which is a result of the tannin leached from the hemlock, 

spruce, and cedar swamps upstream. 

The Oswald Bear Ranch is a family-run attraction whose primary 

purpose is to rescue orphaned cub bears from all over the 

US. We had the opportunity to have our picture taken with one 

of the cubs—the bears are clearly intelligent and are not lacking 

in personality. 

Back in St. Ignace, the evening’s wienie roast (literally) was 

hosted by Jim and Margaret Plouffe and sponsored by the Motor 

Region of the RROC. The out-of-towners really got a taste 

of popular Michigan-made goodies: Dearborn hot dogs, Faygo 

pop (soda to non-Michiganders), Vernor’s ginger ale, and Better 

Made potato chips. Many thanks to the Plouffe’s for allowing 

us to overrun their wonderful waterfront estate and to Mark 

Kretz for hauling the lion’s share of the food up from Detroit 

earlier in the day. 

Charlevoix, Boyne City, and Petoskey 

For those signed up to see the Gnome Houses and take the 

Castle Tour on Friday, a fairly early departure was required to 

cross Mackinac Bridge and travel down to Charlevoix. Stragglers 

had a leisurely breakfast at Java Café and motored down 

to Boyne City just in time to rendezvous for lunch in Veteran’s 

Memorial Park. Rick and Sandy arranged for a fabulous boxed 

lunch of deli sandwiches. Given our location, lunch turned into 

an impromptu car show for the local folks who came by to see 

what all the fuss was about. 

After lunch, we drove a few blocks to Van Dam Custom 

Boats. I thought this would be interesting, but had no idea how 

David and Christine Seidman pose with their 1936 4¼L Van 

Vooren (B125GP) saloon. 

Dan and Phyllis Strayer's 1934 4¼L Park Ward (B111CW) dhc. 

good this part of the tour was going to be. Steve Van Dam 

opened the shop for us to roam freely with an invitation to talk 

with anyone we bumped into and ask questions. Each sailboat 

or motorboat commission starts with a clean sheet design with 

Michelle on his Computer Aided Design station. Once all of 

the details are worked out with the customer, the boat moves 

on to production where a dozen craftsmen with various trade 

skills make all of the individual pieces, assemble the frame, lay 

up the hull with alternating layers of wood and adhesive, and 

finish the entire ensemble into one of the finest luxury conveyances 

this author has ever seen—absolutely extraordinary. 

There were audible groans as we climbed aboard our Rolls- 

Royces for the next destination: wheel barrows by comparison. 

Our next stop was Great Lakes Motor Works across the 

street: a treasure trove of restored and hot rod vehicles and a 

full-service shop. It also serves as the headquarters for Classic 

Instruments. As the name suggests, they make reproduction 

instruments for classic cars. We saw some relatively rare 

cars, mostly Fifties and Sixties American with a few Amphicars 

thrown in for good measure. 

Our final tour hub, the Holiday Inn Express in nearby Petoskey, 

was our next destination. After settling in, we made our way 

to cocktails and dinner at the Bay Harbor Golf Club. This 

was an extremely impressive setting with the club house 

overlooking the 18 th hole with the sun setting over Lake Michigan 

beyond. I missed the memo on wearing a silly hat for 

cocktails, but after a Manhattan or two before dinner, my selfconsciousness 

subsided. 




Bram Over (l) with Bob and Elizabeth Ann Cowley and their 1956 

SC I Hooper (SZB27) saloon. 



On Saturday, we were off more or less 

on our own to charming Harbor Springs 

for a stroll amongst the galleries, clothing 

stores, and marina before we set off for a 

very memorable drive through the “tunnel 

of trees” to Cross Village. Officially 

Michigan Route 119, it twists and turns 

through rolling terrain dense with hardwood 

as it meanders northward along the 

Lake Michigan coastline. The speed limit 

is 45 mph; however that is not possible 

even on a sport bike. (Ten years ago, this 

author attempted that feat on a 1998 Triumph 

Speed III but to no avail!) What 

waits at the north end of the tunnel is a 

very unusual bar and restaurant known 

as Legg’s Inn. Made from antlers, sticks 

and root balls and perhaps designed by 

Dr. Seuss, the building stands defiantly 

against all things rectilinear. 

The owner opened a half hour early, 

by popular demand. Polish Bloody Marys 

were the drink du jour, complete with 

a pickle, olive, and slice of kielbasa as 

garnish. We would have stayed longer, 

but were expected at Jervis and Diana 

Webb’s summer home on Burt Lake for 

lunch. They welcomed us like family and 

after lunch we explored the Webb’s car 

collection including a brace of Morgans 

all tucked away on two floors in an old 

dairy barn adjacent to the main house. 

Our final dinner was at the Hidden 

River Golf and Trout Fishing Club. One 

last nightcap at the hotel exhausted the 

remainder of our happy hour combustibles. 

We toasted our hosts Rick and Sandy 

and recounted how fortunate we were to 

spend time in our magnificent cars with 

such pleasant company in a place of such 

breathtaking natural beauty. 

Sunday morning was a somber scene of 

handshakes and hugs. One by one, cars 

left, southbound mostly, on their own 

and in small groups, back to so-called 

civilization. Roy Margenau and I caravanned 

homeward on state roads. Our 

cars continued to run effortlessly, exhaust 

manifold leaks notwithstanding. Roy calculated 

that his 3½L achieved 21 mpg 

and my Wraith saw 15 mpg—not bad at 

all for a 5,000 lb limousine and a relatively 

green engine. 

Certainly this tour will not be our last! 

People and Cars on Tour 

1913 SG 2442 Saoutchik tourer Mermie Karger 

1919 SG 20PP Kellner laundaulette Charles Puttkammer 

de ville 

1929 P II 3XJ Thrupp & Maberly tourer Dave Brooke & Frank Heidler 

1936 P III 3AZ182 Gurney Nutting saloon Bill & Rita Wetzel 

1937 25/30 GRP18 Gurney Nutting 

Todd Nagler 

sedanca de ville 

1939 W WEC40 PW limousine Jon Waples 

1949 SW WGC66 PW saloon Bill & Lynn Vatter 

1955 SC I SWA190 saloon Tim, Kathleen, Alex & Sam 

Stockwell 

1956 SC I SZB27 Hooper saloon Robert & Elizabeth Ann Cowley 

1958 SC I LSHF213 saloon Chuck LaRocco & Joel Cutler 

1959 SC I LSLG4 saloon George & Janie Gugino 

1961 SC II LSZD385 saloon Driver: Kelly Kyle & Hal Caudell 

1961 SC II LSWC44 saloon John & Marcy Lovick 

1971 Corniche DRH10887 MPW dhc Raymond & Barbara Bain 

1972 SS LRA14777 saloon Mary Lou & Scott Hastings 

1973 SS SRB15956 saloon Dan Docherty & Gloria Hannon 

1977 SW II LRF30586 LWB saloon Jim Stryker & Joy Stevens 

1982 SSpirit SAC-03962 saloon James Atten & Georgia Derrick 

1984 SSpur NAE-09252 LWB saloon Mike Logozzo & Lynn Golonka 

1984 SSpirit SAE-09238 saloon Jim Tamblyn 

1985 SSpur NAF-12056 LWB saloon Jim Godwin & Lynnda Bradley 

1987 Corniche DAH-20374 MPW dhc John & Judy Pachi 

Robin James, RROC President, presents tour hosts Rick and Sandy 

Barrett with an award acknowledging their hard work. 




George and Janie Gugino 

John Pachi and Maryann Rock 



1987 Corniche DAH-16920 MPW dhc Drivers: Bill & Laura Borchert 

1989 SSpur NAK-27317 LWB saloon Mansel “Ken” Battles III 

& Kenneth Steel 

1934 3½L B111CW PW dhc Dan & Phyllis Strayer 

1934 3½L B14CR Thrupp & Maberly Roy Margenau 

3 position dhc 

1935 3½L B69FC H.J. Mulliner saloon David Deppe 

1936 4¼L B30HK PW dhc Rick & Sandy Barrett 

1936 4¼L B125GP Van Vooren saloon David & Christine Seidman 

1937 4¼L B147KU H.J. Mulliner saloon Mike & Christine Heroy 

1948 Mark VI B340DA saloon Drivers: Rick & Nancy York 

1949 Mark VI B189LFU saloon Charles & Carol Cook 

1950 Mark VI B240HR saloon Richard & Joyce Pofahl 

1953 R Type B15UL saloon Doug Wolford 

1967 T Type SBH3097 saloon Gary & Maryann Rock 

1989 Mulsanne SBK-26557 saloon Paul & Kit Racette 

1988 Mulsanne SBJ-22782 saloon Bloor & Molly Redding 

1997 Turbo RL PBV-59527 lwb saloon Robin & Michelle James 

1997 Brooklands EBV-59378 saloon Dick & Nikki Jones 

1999 Arnage LBX-02221 saloon Andrew Dunn & 

Doug Shimosaka 

2006 GT CR6-34633 coupe Drivers: Harvey Moyses 

& Don Moehring 

Luggage Van Hagerty Insurance Bob DeKorne 

Riders: Howard Fradkin, Vernon Frost and Buddy Shurtleff, Peter Kohnken, Bram Over 

Unique hats were de rigueur for cocktails on 

the deck at the Bay Harbor Golf Club. 

A Silver Ghost heads south, back 

across the Mackinac Bridge. 











Howard Krimko 

This photograph was taken at an Atlantic Region 

RROC event hosted by Peter and Barbara Regna 

on September 7, 2008. Excluding the region’s 

Annual Meet at Greenwich, this is their most 

popular event, drawing 165 attendees this time. 

The day began with a luncheon at the Tuxedo 

Club in Tuxedo Park, New York, followed by 

a caravan procession to tour three homes in Tuxedo 

Park. This was the first gated community in 

the United States, founded in 1885 by tobacco 

millionaire and sportsman Pierre Lorillard and 

is now a designated Historic District. Lorillard 

acquired some 5000 acres of land from his relatives, 

some by purchase and some by winning at 

a poker game. 

Architect Bruce Price and engineer E.W. 

Bowditch brought in 1800 workmen from Italy 

who completed the 30 miles of roads, the infrastructure, 

the mansions called “cottages,” a 

police station, club-house, village and stores in 

nine months. It became the capital of the leaders 

of American wealth and society, where the 

“New York Four Hundred” came to play. The 

New York debutante season always started with 

a young lady’s presentation at the Autumn Ball 

at the Tuxedo Club. It was at this ball that Lorillard’s 

son, Griswold Lorillard, first donned in 

America what is now called the “tuxedo.” He was 

described by a reporter at the time as appearing 

“in a tailless dress coat and a waistcoat of scarlet 

satin, looking for all the world like a royal footman.” 

Because a Lorillard wore it, the Tuxedo 

quickly became accepted by society. 

Located a mere 38 miles from NYC in the 

midst of the Ramapo Mountains Tuxedo Park 

offers three private lakes, 2500 acres of mature 

forest, and some of the finest examples of residential 

historic architecture in the US. 

The home in this photograph is owned by 

Mr. & Mrs. James Cacioppo and was built in 

1900. The cars in the photo range from a Springfield 

Silver Ghost to modern ones. 






2007 Peking–Paris: 

Silver Ghost 7KG 

Tom King (NZ) 

Photos by Bruce McIlroy and Stephen Fowler 

Editor’s Note: Rather than wasting space here on describing 

the event itself, we direct the reader to the various books 

about the 1997 and 2007 rallies we have reviewed in these 

pages; see FL08-3 for the most recent. 

The author is the editor of the New Zealand Rolls-Royce 

& Bentley Club’s bi-monthly magazine which may be perused 

on the club’s web site at www.nzrrbc.co.nz. 

new Zealand is a small and sparsely populated country 

(think Colorado; about the same size and population, 

with the bulk of that population stuck in grid-lock 

around the respective major cities of Denver and Auckland), 

situated about as far as is possible from anywhere. The bigger 

of the two islands has just one million residents, and driving 

here is still fun, while the scenery changes radically every 50 

miles or so. Our isolation and the relatively benign nature of 

our climate has meant that, until our recent discovery of the 

disposable car, our cars would live to a ripe old age, cared for 

like one of the family. 

Our dependence upon farming has meant that we are subject 

to wild fluctuations in our currency, and consequently there 

has been a steady flow of Rolls-Royces and Bentleys both into 

and out of the country. Over 100 years ago a Rolls-Royce Heavy 

20 Long Chassis and a Light Twenty Short Chassis arrived here 

new, as well as several Bentleys in the 1920s. 

The New Zealand Rolls-Royce and Bentley Club (Inc.) was 

founded in the early 1970s, and now has around 300 members 

scattered from the far north to the far south, divided by Cook 

Neville Jordan and Bruce McIlroy all decked out in their driving garb 

but with apprehensive expressions at the start on May 27, 2007 in 

Beijing. Their mascot, Kingi Kiwi, had its own web page “Talk to Kingi 

Kiwi” where people could leave messages for the team. Many kids 

posted here, prompting Kingi to say: “If I have inspired young Kiwis to 

get out of their cozy burrows and learn more about the world, then 

the anguish and trials of this Rally will have been well worthwhile.” 

7KG at rest in the Gobi Desert 

Strait, a rather pesky stretch of expensive and stormy water 

between the capital city of Wellington and the port of Picton at 

the north-east of the South Island. 

The account which follows reflects what we like to think of 

as our rugged ability to cope under arduous circumstances, in a 

car which has been a part of our history all of its 85 years. 

Some History 

Robert McDougall, a businessman and philanthropist from 

Christchurch, New Zealand, ordered 7KG, a 1922 Silver Ghost 

with Regent Carriage Company V-windscreen saloon coachwork, 

and went to Britain to fetch it. He and his family toured 

Europe in the car and then shipped it home. Unusually in those 

days of rapid depreciation, he kept the car for 25 years, and 

such was his affection for 7KG that there is a story that its keys 

were in his waistcoat pocket when he was buried. 

After McDougall’s death in 1942, 7KG went into storage 

until it was bought in 1947, for £150, by alto saxophonist 

and bandleader Pete Davey, and the car had a new career as 

band bus. In 1954 the car was sold again, to John Soutar, who 

intended to use it as a taxi based at Arthur’s Pass in the Southern 

Alps, but since a public service vehicle required four-wheel 

brakes, an unsuccessful attempt was made to graft front brakes 

from another car, probably a Hudson. Instead, 7KG became a 

private car again, this time in the hands of Roly Parker, and was 

based at Otira on the western side of the main divide for 30 

years, during which time a flood swept away it and its garage. 

There is a press report of a wheel being found two miles downstream, 

caught in some willows. Arthur’s Pass, then a gravel 




Neville, Stephen Fowler, Diane Jordan, and Bruce at the start. 



oad, was until the recent construction of the viaduct always a 

challenge, the more so with two-wheel brakes. 

Restoration was undertaken progressively by several owners, 

and the decision was made to re-body the car as a copy of 

14KG, a very attractive Windovers barrel-sided tourer also in 

the South Island. 14KG is a short-wheelbase chassis, so the six 

inches of extra length on 7KG was used to make a four-door 

tourer, rather than the three-door body on 14KG. After its purchase 

by Neville Jordan, a new wooden dashboard and a new 

top were made by Bruce McIlroy Ltd. in Ashburton, who also 

completed the mechanical and chassis work, and have continued 

to look after 7KG. 

Neville and Diane Jordan took part in the Centennial Tour 

of New Zealand in 2004 using 7KG, and so enjoyed this experience 

that they decided to replace the fairly serious long-distance 

yacht racing, from which Neville had recently retired, 

with some ambitious touring in 7KG. The Silver Ghost was 

prepared in Bruce McIlroy Ltd.’s workshop for its trans-continental 

tour of North America, which was completed successfully. 

Next came a drive from Seattle to San Francisco, and in 

2006 the Jordans and 7KG attended the Silver Ghost Association 

event in Tennessee. 

What next With the centennial of the 1907 Peking to Paris 

drawing near, and a Peking to Paris Challenge being professionally 

organized, Neville decided to enter the Silver Ghost, inviting 

Bruce McIlroy to be his co-driver. An event celebrating the 

1907 run had taken place in 1997 but followed a more southerly 

route, whereas the centennial celebration would follow the 

original course, including the detour to St. Petersburg where 

the winning entrant of 100 years ago, Prince Scipio Borghese, 

attended a ball in his honor. 

The Preparation 

A quite formidable amount of planning went into the preparation 

of 7KG, actually consisting of four months of continual 

work. The equipment and modifications were extensive but 

were designed with the intention of easily returning the car to 

its original specifications afterwards. 

An auxiliary 150L fuel tank augmented the original 85L fuel 

capacity and supplied fuel via electric pumps. The tank was 

installed in the rear passenger compartment which also held a 

locker for tools and spare parts. Fuel pumps and spare pumps 

were carried, together with spare tubing and hoses. The electric 

pumps were used only to supply the transfer of fuel to the 

original rear-mounted tank. A hand pump primes the system to 

half a pound for starting. From there on the original air pressure 

pump supplied fuel at 2 psi, and it continued to perform 

faultlessly throughout the Challenge. 

The original exhaust cut-out was eliminated, and in view of 

the car’s all-up weight of 2900 kilograms instead of its original 

2500 kilograms, an extra leaf was added to each rear spring. 

To ensure accurate distance recording, an electronic pickup 

was added behind the gearbox and connected to the rally 

computer. In the event, the rally computer rattled to destruction 

within a week and the spare lasted only ten more days. The 

GPS navigation system was relied upon implicitly, and a target 

average speed of 50 kph was combined with approximately 8–9 

miles per gallon. As someone has commented, “About the same 

as a Silver Shadow around town!” 

An extra water overflow tank (the dark cylinder mounted vertically 

behind the radiator) was fitted to 7KG. 

A first aid kit, fire extinguisher, GPS navigation equipment, 

and satellite telephone were of course mandatory fitments. Two 

efficient air filters and a radiator overflow tank which blend in 

very well with the original under-hood machinery were fitted. 

Sand ladders, to assist with the anticipated bogging down in 

places where roads were sketchy or non-existent, were carried 

under the running boards, and a comprehensive undertray in 

two pieces was built to protect the underside of the car. Protective 

shields were also installed under mudguards, in an attempt 

to minimize stone damage, and as an afterthought a mesh radiator 

screen was made, carried in a box in the aeroplane to China, 

and installed with rubber mountings. 

The months of thought, planning, and preparation contributed 

by Neville, Bruce, and the team seemed to be in some 

contrast to the approach by others, as a great deal of fairly rudimentary 

work was being carried out by many competitors in the 

Beijing hotel car park just before the official departure. Scrutineering 

to FIVA standards was carried out in Beijing. 




This Vauxhall 30/98 crew from Britain, Michael Power and Anthony 

Malcolm-Green, impressed the New Zealanders with their attitude and 

commitment. Michael Power has recently bought a 1920 Silver Ghost, 

which might be a comment on the impression the Rolls-Royces made. 



“Can you hear me now” 

Modern Beijing 

The first sight of modern Beijing traffic was from the relative 

security of a bus on the way to retrieve the cars from the warehouse 

where they were stored, and then it was total immersion 

as Bruce and Neville navigated their way to their Shangri-La 

Hotel base. 

About this time came the pleasure of meeting the other 

competitors and renewing acquaintances, and Bruce stresses 

the feeling of camaraderie throughout the Challenge. This is in 

some contrast to the intensely nationalistic feeling of 100 years 

ago, when the Italian prince’s single-minded determination to 

win in his Itala has been reported as his neglecting to advise of 

the breakdown of the Contal tri-car in the Gobi Desert, with 

the consequent near death of its crew, Auguste Pons and Octave 

Foucault. M. Pons does not seem to have been deterred by his 

experience, though, for he entered the New York–Paris race 

the next year, in a Sizaire Naudin. This was still a single-cylinder 

car, albeit one with four wheels, but it broke an axle at 

Peekskill, NY after only 40 miles, and could not be repaired. 

Opera buffs will know that his daughter was the noted coloratura 

soprano Lily Pons (1898–1976). 

The other two Silver Ghosts were both built in Springfield, 

MA. Team 16 were Frederick Brown (USA) and Thomas Stevenson 

(CAN) in 1923 Silver Ghost 333HH, which had had 

its RRCCW ¾ convertible body replaced for the Challenge 

by a plywood deck and a roof incorporating a roll bar. They 

took one of the Gold medals in the Pioneer class, as did 7KG. 

Bruce McIlroy and 7KG “somewhere” in the Gobi Desert. Bruce is 

the go-to man in matters RR/B. He is a member of the Rolls-Royce 

and Bentley Specialists Association, an authorized Rolls-Royce 

and Bentley dealer, and his firm deals exclusively with these two 

marques. He has a Ghost of his own: 1922 tourer 60ZG. 

This car was rebodied in the 1960s by Cassini & Tonolo of Nairobi, 

Kenya. Due 

to climatic 

conditions, they 

specialized in 

aluminum panels 

on metal frames. 

They did four 

other Ghosts, a 

P I, and possibly 

two Bentleys. 

Number 17 was a 1926 Brewster Stratford S348RL, entered 

by Albert and Monique Eberhard of Portugal, and although 

they encountered many problems, they still took one of the 

Bronze medals. Together, the Ghosts took the Team Prize. 

Conditions 

As can be imagined, with the northern spring, high latitudes 

and altitudes all contributing, the weather varied wildly. On 

one occasion, because of Neville’s and Bruce’s running position, 

they had arrived at the camp site in Saynshand (Mongolia) 

before the worst of a sandstorm arrived, and were able 

to secure their tent to best make use of 

7KG’s shelter and weight. Bruce speaks 

admiringly of competitors’ determination 

to keep going, no matter how bad conditions 

seemed at the time. 

Neville and Bruce shared the driving 

60/40%, with 2-hour stints on the longest 

days. The level of navigational concentration 

needed to cross-reference the 

many amendments to the instructions 

meant that anything other than a state 

of heightened alertness was insufficient. 

Interestingly, the B.F. Goodrich “Silvertown” 

tires on 7KG were still up to New 

Zealand Warrant of Fitness standards on 

its return. 

This Bugatti Type 44 did 

not leave Mongolia under its 

own power and was replaced 

by the Type 35 (above) for 

the European section of the 

Challenge. (Always good to 

have an extra Bug on tap.) 






No rest for the wicked. 7KG being worked on in Ulaan Bataar. 

Below: the team and their equipment 

during the front spring repair to 7KG. 

Soviet leader (1964–1982) Leonid Brezhnev did this to a 1966 Silver Shadow 

(a gift to the Soviet state from British Prime Minister Harold Wilson) when 

he drove it in Moscow in 1980, and his shade is at its wheel in the Riga 

Motor Museum, Latvia. 

Mongolia 

The relative ease of travel on the roads through China was in 

stark contrast to the almost complete lack of roads as soon as 

they crossed the border into Mongolia, apart from a short distance 

around the capital city of Ulaan Bataar. To give some idea 

of the damage that could be inflicted upon the competing cars, 

imagine the forces required to break the steering box off an R 

Type’s chassis. 

Accommodation was in “cities” of collected yurts or ghers 

constructed on brick bases and bare earth or in tents, with toilet 

and shower facilities appended. The harshness of life in Mongolia 

is perhaps reflected in the Mongolians’ attitudes. Even 

our New Zealanders were unable to achieve much rapport with 

them, and were relieved to make the border crossing into Siberia. 

Of the 134 cars that started at Peking, 34 did not emerge 

from Mongolia under their own power. 

Trick road signs in Russia: some destinations are 

listed only in Cyrillic script. 

Russia 

Our travellers were overwhelmed by the beauty of the 

countryside as spring transformed it, with a wealth of 

silver birch forest and rolling wheat fields. What life 

must be like here in the winter is hard to imagine, 

for although the Stalinist apartment blocks presumably 

have some insulation, the wooden houses so often 

encountered did not appear to make any concessions to 

human comfort. 

On the day they drove from Perm and approached 

Kazan, a black Volga with darkened windows and an 

impressive collection of antennae overtook 7KG and 

indicated with honking and flashing that Neville and 

Bruce should stop. They were reluctant to do so, but 

after the Volga drew alongside its occupants left no 

doubt that they were determined. Neville stopped but 

left the car in gear in case of any difficulties, and two 

occupants of the Volga got out and insisted, despite all 

protests to the contrary, that Neville and Bruce accept 

1,000 roubles in cash “to help with the police.” They 

then shook hands all round and departed. 






7KG is carbon neutral—the Russian factory in the background 

obviously not. 

Neville and Bruce enjoyed the Russians they encountered, 

but the closer they travelled to Moscow, the more attitudes 

seemed to harden. Near the border to Estonia, after rain had 

left the road greasy, a Russian truck made a U-turn in front 

of the Ghost, forcing them off the road and into a ditch. That 

truck departed, but another stopped and helped Neville and 

Bruce by towing them back onto the road. 

As can be imagined, the “rest days” provided during the 

Challenge were notional rather than actual, but Neville hit 

upon the idea of hiring a taxi whenever some spare time was 

available, so that the two New Zealanders had a chance to see 

these cities with the benefit of an experienced guide. 

Estonian countryside. 

Europe 

Again fortunate in their early starting position, Neville and 

Bruce had minimal delay in leaving Russia, with none of the 

“traffic infringements” which seemed to have been attached 

to so many other cars. They were, however, very glad to leave 

Russia for the delights of Estonia and the special sections 

organized on gravel roads through beautiful countryside. The 

Challenge stayed overnight in Tallinn, Estonia’s capital city, and 

then toured and rallied through Latvia and Lithuania, staying 

for a rest day in Gdansk, Poland, where 7KG was treated to a 

thorough servicing. 

Enquiries led them to a workshop vacant on that day where, 

behind a closed door, they met its owner. As the day progressed, 

and relations warmed, he became more and more interested in 

7KG and its crew’s ministrations, and kept industrial-strength 

coffee flowing. He was a retired admiral from the Polish Navy, 

late of a rocket ship in the Baltic Sea, who now runs a business 

converting vehicles to hand controls for the disabled. 

The Challenge route took competitors to Potsdam, in the 

former East Germany, and Sanssouci, the vast former palace of 

King Frederick the Great of Prussia, where the Potsdam Treaty 

was signed by Churchill, Stalin, and Truman in 1945. Driving 

the two-wheel-braked 7KG in 2007 traffic conditions in Europe 

was a major challenge, and the crew could not afford to relax 

as they approached their goal. An Itala crew, apparently as a 

result of communication problems, actually spent a night in jail 

in France, and the driver of a Lancia, who had driven solo since 

his co-driver had jumped ship at an early stage, was involved in 

a traffic accident with a modern Mercedes. 

Bruce stresses that the best possible way to see Paris is from 

a Silver Ghost as it makes its triumphant way to the Place de 

Vendôme. The satisfaction at having achieved their goal is evident 

on Neville’s and Bruce’s faces in photographs taken both 

there and at the final dinner, held at Intercontinental Hotel. 

To round off the saga of 7KG’s exploits over its 85 years, Robert 

McDougall’s granddaughter, who lives in Paris, sat in the car 

at the finishing venue at the back of the Ritz Hotel. She had 

brought photographs taken when her family owned the car. 




Robert McDougall’s granddaughter lives in Paris, and appears in 

Stephen Fowler’s photograph while sitting in 7KG’s passenger seat 

chatting to Diane Jordan. The mark on the mudguard visible beside 

its mounting was caused by conditions in the Gobi Desert, and is the 

only evidence of the car’s recent adventures. 



We are assured that this is the best way to view Paris. A little over a 

month after the start in China, the end is near. 

S348RL, the1926 Ghost entered by the Eberhards from Portugal. 

Man and machine cleaned up nice for the final dinner at the 

Intercontinental, Paris. From left, Bruce McIlroy, Neville Jordan, 

Malcolm Fair, and Diane Jordan. 

Caption not required! 

Rick Brown (USA) took a Gold medal in the Pioneer class. 

While the Peking–Paris was his first rally/time trial, he’s 

taken this Ghost to 55 countries since he bought it in 

1996! (He likes to do solo trips to where “no Ghost has 

gone before.”) The original RRCCW cabriolet body is being 

restored presently and the pick up-style body that is now 

in use is a replica of a 1907/08 utility body that Graham 

Mead (UK) is using on one of his Ghosts. 






Some Anecdotes 

The New Zealanders’ position at the start of each day meant 

that they were in close touch with only those in their starting 

group, and they tended to be somewhat busy, when not 

driving or navigating, in tending to the car, securing tents, and 

maintaining communication. Some epics of improvisation were 

achieved. Car #6 was a 1911 Knox Type R, an American 7166 

cc car of heroic proportions. A cylinder literally burst quite 

early on, so it was disconnected and the car became one of 

three cylinders. Later breakages were repaired by cannibalizing 

parts from the remains of the redundant cylinder, and the Knox 

reached Paris, having run on three for 10,000 kilometers. 

One Itala ended up with a Volga engine and gearbox 

installed. 

Some cars travelled for considerable distances aboard trucks 

when an immediate repair was impossible, and the owners of 

a 3L Bentley had to sit up there in it for several days because 

there was no room in the truck’s cab for them. A 1910 Talbot 

suffered a badly bent front axle and was driven with pronounced 

negative camber to Novo Sibursk, where help could 

be expected. A Peugeot agency was first call, but staff with a 

clipboard appeared, a Land Rover agency could not help, so 

the Talbot team approached a railway workshop. They could 

not gain access there for security reasons and were reluctant 

to leave the car, but after they took some officials to lunch they 

returned to find the Talbot sitting repaired and ready for the 

road. 

An American couple, Robert Pattison and Julie Fitzsimmons, 

in a very original Chrysler 65, suffered a run big-end 

bearing in Mongolia. The engineer they were lucky enough to 

find tapped the connecting rods to determine which one didn’t 

ring true, and repaired the problem. They later broke an axle, 

and after this was repaired they drove day and night to resume 

their place. 

The “Fangio Replica” Chevrolets, so popular among competitors, 

had leaves removed from their springs, and this made 

them handle well on sand and rough surfaces, but on sealed 

roads they were quite awful. 

Fuel 

Fuel was a problem for many cars; Aston Martin DB5s were not 

designed to run on fuel that varied between 65 and 85 octane 

points, but the Ghosts thrived on it. 7KG was fed an upper 

cylinder lubricant as a supplement. Fuel had to be ordered 

before it was pumped, and the uncertain nature of the pumps’ 

calibration—and language difficulties—were other variables, 

along with uncertainty of how much fuel was needed. 

How 7KG Fared 

7KG had just one tire problem, caused by a rock which went 

through the sidewall and also bent the wheel, but this was later 

repaired by Russian hammers in Novo Sibursk. The most serious 

problem occurred when a front spring leaf broke in Mongolia. 

A garage was eventually located, and to give some idea 

of the conditions under which transport and communications 

are maintained in Mongolia, some details of the methods used 

are worth setting down here. The garage was built with mud 

bricks and had a dirt floor. An electric welder, powered by an 

extension cord with wires wrapped around and held by a support 

person, and an angle grinder powered by bare wires comprised 

the equipment, while sunglasses protected the eyes. The 

welder was used for cutting steel and boring holes as well as 

more conventional tasks. A spring leaf and u-bolts from an old 

truck behind the garage were used, with the spring cut to the 

right width, the u-bolts cut and rewelded. The threads were 

damaged, but oil and a very long extension pinched up the nuts. 

Food and drink arrived at about midnight, Bruce and Neville 

refuelled at an all-night fuel station, drove to the campsite, had 

some breakfast, and departed on their day. 

The repair eventually failed, but Bruce and Neville were 

able to clamp the axle and improvise a strop to the dumb-iron. 

This held until a replacement spring leaf was obtained. Bruce 

had made a call to his colleagues P & A Wood in England, 

and Andrew Wood brought the leaf with him when he flew in 

a business jet to service some of his customers’ cars in Novo 

Sibursk. Bruce speaks slightly nervously of the experience of 

dismantling the front of 7KG again, using bottle jacks, in the 

hotel car park, while the nuts installed in Mongolia were a 

challenge to undo. 

Neville and Bruce became bogged in sand only 

once and so made the decision to jettison the sand 

ladders. They now sit somewhere in the Gobi Desert. 

The protective aluminum undertrays which 

had been so carefully fabricated for the journey 

were removed in the hotel car park at Novo Sibursk 

and may still be there. 




After there was no further use for the undertrays they 

were left behind and are now probably gracing a Novo 

Sibursk hotel car. 



This Duesenberg 

Model J won 

First in Class. 

B55GP (1936 4¼ Litre). This 

pillarless 4-door saloon by 

Carlton started out as a 

Rippon saloon. The elegant 

lines are enhanced by the 

delicate two-tone paintwork 

(Hendrik Lüddemann). 

Castle Ludwigsburg 

Concours d’Elegance 

“Retro Classic Meets Barock” 

Klaus-Josef Roßfeldt (Germany) 

visitors from the US 

would have felt 

almost at home at this 

year’s “Retro Classic Meets 

Barock,” an event now in its 

5 th year at the Ludwigsburg 

castle near Stuttgart in Germany. 

A major topic of the 

event was to celebrate the 

100 th anniversary of Ford’s 

legendary “Tin Lizzie” and an 

impressive array of Model Ts 

was on display. An immaculate 

1929 Duesenberg Model 

J represented the other end of the scale of American motorcar 

production from a by-gone era. 

Rolls-Royce and Bentley motorcars were represented in limited 

number, uncommon for a FIVA A-ranked event. This may 

have been due to a scheduling overlap this year between the 

RREC Annual Rally and the Castle Ludwigsburg Concours. 

Only Bentley 4¼ Litre B55GP Carlton pillarless saloon had a 

German registration; the others came from France and Switzerland. 

The sole Rolls-Royce car was 25/30 GMO37, from 

Switzerland, with Jarvis replica body. It won the Rolls-Royce 

History Award. 

GMO37 (1937 25/30), 2-door saloon. Originally delivered 

with a fabric limousine body by H.J. Mulliner the car 

was rebodied by N.C. Jarvis in conjunction with Clanfield 

Restorations (Stephan Steinmann). 




1929 Moon 6-28 Dual Windshield Tourer. At first glance this 

car could be mistaken for a Rolls-Royce open tourer. But the 

similarities are only as superficial as the imitation RR grille. 

The 1920 Moon 6-28 was the biggest model ever built by 

that company from St. Louis, Missouri (1905–1931). 



Make Your Own 

Threaded 

Components 

Jon Waples (MI) © 2008 

From time to time, situations may arise when you have a 

threaded part such as a stud, brake rod, or throttle linkage that 

needs replacement. If there is no replacement part available, the 

next stop is the local machine shop. When it comes to threaded 

items, it is quite often easier to make it yourself rather than try to 

describe the nuances of antediluvian threadforms to your machinist. 

The clutch adjuster from a 20/25 1 is an excellent example. 

Once disassembled, the only part that needs to be replaced is a 

threaded rod with a hex in the middle, right hand threads on one 

side and left hand (reverse) threads on the other. 

In order to duplicate this part, there are a few things that 

need to be ascertained: (1) threadform, (2) material selection, 

and (3) sequence of steps to yield a good part. 

Threadform 

Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars used several different threadforms 

over the years. One could make a career out of describing 

the minutia associated with these threadforms, but for the 

purpose of duplicating parts, only the basics are required. 

Outside diameter refers to the overall diameter formed 

by the peaks of the threads as they wind around the part. This 

1 

Broken clutch adjuster from Rolls-Royce 20/25. 

Outside 

Diameter 

Core 

Diameter TPI 

Std. Hex 

Size 

3/16˝ Prewar Rolls-Royce fasteners that fit 3/16 BSF tools 

are typically 2BA threadform 

1/4˝ 0.2500 0.2007 26 0.445 

5/16˝ 0.3125 0.2543 22 0.525 

3/8˝ 0.3750 0.3100 20 0.600 

7/16˝ 0.4375 0.3664 18 0.710 

1/2˝ 0.5000 0.4200 16 0.820 

9/16˝ 0.5625 0.4825 16 0.920 

5/8˝ 0.6250 0.5335 14 1.010 

11/16˝ 0.6875 0.5960 14 1.100 

3/4˝ 0.7500 0.6433 12 1.200 

7/8˝ 0.8750 0.7586 11 1.300 

Table 1 – Common BSF Threadforms 

is effectively the size of the rod stock from which the part is 

made. Angle of thread refers to the steepness of the slope 

of the thread (the lower the number, the steeper the slope). 

The number of threads per inch (TPI) is self explanatory. 

Core diameter is the diameter formed by the thread valleys 

as they wind around the part. 

There were many types of threadforms in common use prior 

to WWII. The majority of the threads found on prewar Rolls- 

Royce and Bentley cars are known as British Standard Fine 

(BSF). You may find an occasional British Standard Whitworth 

(BSW) as well as Unified Fine Thread (UNF) on Bijur 

fittings and British Standard Parallel Pipe and 20 TPI “Engineer’s 

Thread” on certain pipe fittings. UNF (and UNC, Unified 

Coarse Thread) threaded fasteners are the “normal” parts 

found in US and Canadian hardware stores. The UNF, BSF, 

and BA families have different thread angles: 60, 55 and 47.5 

angles of thread, respectively. Similarly, these three families do 

not have the same number of threads per inch for any given 

outside diameter. (It is possible to confuse the UNC, the coarse 

thread version of UNF, with BSW which is the coarse version 

of BSF. Fortunately for us, UNC was “never” used on a Rolls- 

Royce or Bentley, although an astute reader may prove this 

statement wrong for a small number of cases.) 

The early postwar cars (Bentley Mk VI, et al.) were conceived 

prior to WWII as the “rationalized range” and perpetuate the 

use of BSF and BA threadforms. The Silver Cloud and Bentley 

S use UNF for all sizes between ¼ and ¾ and BA for sizes 

less than ¼ with the exception of purchase parts such as the 

dynamo, starter, carburettors, and exterior lighting. According 

to the Silver Cloud Service Manual, all sizes ¾ and above 

use 16 threads per inch and thus fall under the Unified Special 

category. The 

Silver Shadow 

carries this philosophy 

forward with 

no notable exceptions. 

Inasmuch 

as the Silver Spirit 

and Spur resemble 

the Shadow 

Measuring outside diameter. 

3 

Handy thread gauge, BSW/BSF shown. 

underneath, the 

same scheme carries 

forward with 

metric fasteners 


2 





Outside 

Diameter 

Core 

Diameter 

TPI 

Std. Hex 

Size 

0 0.2362 0.1890 25.38 0.412 

1 0.2087 0.1663 28.25 0.365 

2 0.1850 0.1468 31.36 0.324 

3 0.1614 0.1272 34.84 0.282 

4 0.1417 0.1105 38.46 0.248* 

5 0.1260 0.0980 43.10 0.220 

6 0.1102 0.0852 47.85 0.193 

7 0.0984 0.0758 52.91 

8 0.0866 0.0664 59.17 

*Prewar Rolls-Royce fasteners that fit 4BA tools often have the 

5BA threadform 

Table 2 – Common BA Threadforms 

Outside 

Diameter 

Core 

Diameter TPI 

Std. Hex 

Size 

#8 Silver Cloud Era and newer Rolls-Royce fasteners 

that fit 11/32˝ inch-size hand tools are typically 

2BA threadform 

1/4˝ 0.2500 0.2270 28 7/16˝ 

5/16˝ 0.3125 0.2850 24 1/2˝ 

3/8˝ 0.3750 0.3480 24 9/16˝ 

7/16˝ 0.4375 0.4050 20 5/8˝, 11/16˝ 

1/2˝ 0.5000 0.4680 20 3/4˝ 

9/16˝ 0.5625 0.5260 18 13/16˝, 7/8˝ 

5/8˝ 0.6250 0.5890 18 15/16˝ 

3/4˝ 0.7500 0.7090 16 1 1/8˝ 

Table 3 – Common UNF Threadforms 

infiltrating on supplied parts as the car evolved through the 

1980s and ’90s. Naturally, Spirit and Spur owners will find this 

information the least useful as just about everything is still 

available at the dealer parts counter. 

For Derby and Crewe cars through the end of the Shadow 

series, most small fasteners less than ¼ inch in diameter are typically 

British Association threads. There are some quirks: 2BA 

Alloy Description Machineability 

Yield 

Strength 

(psi) 

12L14 Ultra machineable Excellent 60,000 

carbon steel, 

contains lead 

1215 Easy to machine 

carbon steel 

Excellent 60,000 

1144 High strength, easy 

to machine 

Very Good 100,000 

41L40 Like 4140 with Very Good 85,000 

lead added for 

machineability 

4130 Easy to weld 

Good 63,000 

aircraft grade, 

similar to 4140 

4140/4142 Multipurpose 

Good 60,000 

alloy steel, a.k.a. 

“chrome moly” 

Table 4 – Steel Alloys Suitable For Threaded Parts 

fasteners on Derby-built cars often used a nut with a hex size 

that would fit a 3 / 16 BSF wrench. Thus, a set of BSF wrenches 

is all that will be needed unless you delve into the electrical or 

chassis lubrication systems. If you do delve, you may find 5BA 

nuts with 4BA size hex size and 1BA nuts with 10mm hex size. 

Silver Clouds and Silver Shadows use 2BA fasteners with a hex 

that fits an 11 / 32 inch wrench. 

Why is any of this important Knowing the model year of the 

Rolls-Royce or Bentley from which the threaded part came 

narrows the field before you get started. Next measure the 

outside diameter with a caliper. With your knowledge of what 

type of threadform it may be, consult tables 1–3. For example, 

our clutch adjuster has an overall diameter of 0.3665, which 

is pretty close to 0.375 inches 2 . Because the part is from a 

prewar car, it is most likely BSF. Thus the threads should be 20 

threads per inch. This is verified in with a thread gauge 3 , a 

handy tool available from your specialty tool supplier. 

Material Selection 

Almost all of the threaded parts on your car are made from a steel 

alloy. It may be possible to research the specific alloys if you dig 

deep enough into the General Arrangement drawings. Oftentimes 

they only specify “grey bar” or “black bar” which is not 

much of a clue. In the absence of a specification, there are plenty 

of steel alloys to choose from. The most important considerations 

for a threaded part are machineability and yield strength. 

Table 4 shows a list of steel alloys that would be easy to work in 

a home workshop environment and offer good tensile strength. 

In order to keep it simple there are no stainless steel alloys specified 

in this article. It is tempting to switch to a corrosion-resistant 

alloy, but there is a major tradeoff: lower tensile strength 

(usually) and poor machineability. It can be done, but not in a 

home workshop and probably at the expense of originality. 

If you are looking to fabricate rod bolts, flywheel bolts, or head 

studs, the subject requires careful study beyond the scope of 

this article. The specific geometry and composition of these 

components is very carefully chosen so that the part operates 

in the elastic region of its design envelope when torqued to 

specification. 

Suggested internet sources for the alloys listed are onlinemetals. 

com, mcmaster.com, and mscdirect.com. If you live in a town 

with some semblance of industrial activity you may very well 

be able to source it locally. For the most part, the material is 

inexpensive but it is dense and shipping charges will quickly 

double the price of your order. When ordering, choose the bar 

size so that the diameter is the same or slightly larger than the 

outside diameter of the threads on the finished part. Since BSF 

and UNF outer diameters are in the same fractional inch sizes 

as commonly found bars, all is well. The only hitch is in the BA 

sizes, but you can get close. 2BA dies will work nicely on 3 / 16 in. 

diameter rod. 




For our example part, I chose 3 / 8 rod made from 12L14 steel. 

Because the clutch linkage is a mission-critical part, some mathematical 

analysis is in order. Once the part is threaded with 3 / 8-20 



4 

Round bar marked and fixed in vise. 

5 

3/ 8 BSF thread cutting die. 

6 

Die in die stock ready to cut threads. 

7 

Right hand threads complete, bar cut to final 

length. 

8 

High strength Loctite 262 applied to adjusting nut. 

BSF threads, the core diameter will be 

0.310 inches. Thus the area of the minimum 

cross-section through the part 

will be 0.0755 in. 2 (Area = π × (diameter 

÷ 2) 2 = 3.14159 × (0.310 ÷ 2) 2 = 

0.0755 in. 2 Tensile strength of the part 

is calculated by multiplying the area of 

the minimum cross section by the yield 

strength of the material. (P = 0.0755 

in. 2 × 60000 lb./ in. 2 = 4529 lbs) 

In the Machinery’s Handbook (Tenth 

Edition, ca. 1939), a safety factor of 6 

is specified for steel parts that experience 

varying tension such as this clutch 

adjuster. Thus, this part can comfortably 

receive a tensile load of 755 lbs. 

(4529 lbs. ÷ 6) and expect a long life. 

Since the mechanical advantage from 

the clutch pedal to this part is seven 

or eight to one, reaching 755 lbs load 

at the part is not possible because the 

clutch pedal will begin to disengage 

long before ~100 lbs of force can be 

exerted at the pedal. Therefore, the 

easiest to machine steel (12L14) can 

be used and still yield a robust part. 

Sequence of Operations 

Forming threads with a die requires 

a respectable amount of force to be 

applied to a firmly gripped workpiece. 

When gripping the part firmly 

enough, using either a vise or a 

chuck in a lathe, damage to the bar 

stock will inevitably occur. Thus, 

you need to plan out the sequence 

of operations so that the damage will 

be where it can be machined or cut 

away in the final steps. 

For example, our clutch piece 

requires a 5 inch part with two inches 

of useable right hand 3 / 8 BSF thread on 

one end and two inches of left hand 3 / 8 

BSF thread on the other. There is one 

9 

The finished product. 

complication: the 3 / 8 BSF sized hex in the 

middle of the part. Unlike the original, 

which was machined from 0.600 hex bar 

stock, our reproduction will run right hand 

thread past the center of the part which 

will allow a 3 / 8 BSF nut to be threaded 

down to the center and fixed in place with 

high strength Loctite 262. 

Our sequence of operations: 

1 Cut a 6 or 7 inch piece of 3 / 8 round bar 

stock. Install it in the vise at one end 

and mark the point where the threads 

will stop. 4 

2 Cut right hand 3 / 8 BSF threads down to 

the mark. 5 , 6 , 7 

3 Install the center nut and temporarily 

lock it in place with the second locking 

nut. Grip the piece in vise by the 

center nut and cut it to length. 

4 Cut left hand 3 / 8 BSF threads for two 

inches. 

5 Remove locking nut and use Loctite 

262 to secure remaining nut in place. 

Assemble finished product. 8 , 9 

Thread Cutting Tips 

There are a number of ways to thread 

a part, but the best and easiest for one 

or two parts is to use a threading die. 

UNF dies can be purchased at better 

hardware stores, Sears, mcmaster.com, 

and mscdirect.com. Dies with more esoteric 

threadforms and left hand threads 

are available from online specialty suppliers 

such as britishfasteners.com and 

rdgtools.co.uk. 

Make sure you have a die stock that 

will securely hold the die. Fix the part 

firmly in position. Lubricate the part with 

light oil or WD-40. Rotate the die stock 

clockwise (CCW for left hand thread 

dies) while applying firm, even pressure 

down the axis of the part. It is very 

important to start the die evenly, otherwise 

the threads will be uneven 

from side to side and as a result, 

the part may bend or the die 

might break. 

Admittedly, a little practice is in 

order, so purchase extra material, 

and perhaps an extra die. 

Wear eye protection and watch 

out for and file down sharp 

edges. Do not ingest the metal 

chips or lubricants and hold off 

on the adult beverages until 

after the project is complete. 






Follow-up: FL 08-1 “Mallalieu” 

Reader John Parker (CT) sent these photos and writes: 

“I knew Denny [Mallalieu] when he built the first roadster. 

It was a very quick motorcar. He was a fun fellow, and 

Sybil was such a good lady, and fond of amusement, too. 

She and Denny were 

instigators and major 

participants in the 

filming of the classic 

The Great Rolls-Royce 

Bank Robbery. 

Shortly after meeting 

them, Amy [John’s 

wife] and I took one 

of a number of holidays 

in Britain. This 

time, in 1969, we came across 

the car in these photos. It was 

not a Mk VI but a prewar chassis, 

probably a 4¼L. The craftsmanship 

was superb and I can 

personally attest that it went like 

the proverbial scalded cat. The 

owner and creator was in the process 

of creating another similarly 

attired chassis in his shop, which 

I believe was in either Midhurst 

or Goodhurst. He said he did not 

Books 

My 

Lifetime in 

Motorsport 

by S C H 

“Sammy” Davis 

Herridge & 

Sons (in US: 

MBI, www. 

motorbooks. 

com), 2008. 

192 p., 140 

b/w illos. 

Hardcover. 

ISBN-13: 978 1 

906133 02 3. $44.95/£22.50 

The subtitle “His Final Autobiography“ 

alludes to the fact 

that this is Sammy/Sydney Davis’ 

third version. The first two were 

published in 1932 and 1949. 

This last one was first submitted, 

unsuccessfully, in the 1960s for 

publication when Davis (1987– 

1981) already was in his eighties. 

It remained a work in progress 

and passed, posthumously, 

through several custodians until 

editor Peter Heilbron undertook 

to edit and illustrate it, as 

well as append it 

with supplemental 

materials. Among 

the latter is a transcription 

of one of 

Davis’ logbooks 

that records all his 

motoring activities 

in 1913/14, from 

picnics to races to 

road tests. Aside 

from being one of 

the early Bentley 

Boys, Davis had a 

colorful professional, and private, 

life that mainly revolved around 

anything to do with motorbikes 

and cars. Belying an unassuming 

almost nondescript appearance, 

Davis’ formidable Welsh temper 

and dry wit could find expression 

on the racetrack as much as 

on the page. While being a race 

driver he also assumed, for several 

decades, the role of Sports 

Editor of The Autocar. 

One must assume that Davis 

intended for this third version to 

supplant the earlier ones but it is 

know Denny, but it is amazing to see the resemblance of his 

car to B146FV on FL p. 8776. 

Perhaps someone can shed light on this chap and 

his work” 

not clear if he deemed them deficient 

or unsatisfactory or just 

incomplete. At any rate, this version 

tells the whole story of his 

life from childhood to old age and 

everything in between. The writing 

is largely as he set it down but 

edited to remove duplication etc. 

(Despite a career in writing, 

Davis was dyslectic.) An epilogue 

talks about his son Colin, who 

wrote the Foreword. Many of the 

photos have not been published 

before; there are a large number 

of Davis’ cartoons. Extensive 

appendices, Index. 

Car Collecting 

by Steve Linden 

Motorbooks, 2008. 160 p. Softcover. 

ISBN-13: 978 0 7603 2809 

5. $24.95 

Collecting is not cheap, and 

expensive mistakes are easily 

made. Written by an appraiser 

and restorer, this book dispenses 

advice on all stages of 

collecting, from deciding what 

type of car you want to sourcing, 

Readers are reminded that 1969 was the very 

year in which the Parkers were introduced 

to 83AG, the chassis-only 1921 Silver Ghost 

that prompted the epic 10-year-long project 

of John resurrecting the car and building his 

own body. 

acquiring and, ultimately, maintaining 

it. While the book seeks 

to address both novice and seasoned 

collector it is really mostly 

the former who should expect 

to gain from it, especially in the 

sections on the not-so-obvious 

aspects of auction buying (premiums, 

financing, registration, etc.) 

and insurance and appraisals. 

On the other hand, the section 

on valuation and trends is best 

ignored. (“Today’s $20,000 cars 

will become $30,000 cars” hardly 

explains why last year’s $250K 

1970 Plymouth Superbird strug- 






gles to bring half that today— 

and it has nothing to do with the 

depressed economic climate.) 

The book is written in a conversational 

style, with lots of 

quotes and anecdotes, and well 

illustrated with mostly modern, 

mostly American cars. Index. 

The reader is reminded 

of Keith Martin’s Guide to 

Car Collecting, reviewed in 

FL07-3, which remains our top 

recommendation. 

The Model T 

A Centennial History 

by Robert H. Casey 

The Johns Hopkins University 

Press, 2008. 166 p., 110 b/w illos. 

Hardcover. ISBN-13: 978 0 8018 

8850 2. $24.95 

I am the Ford. 

I lend wings to the feet 

of all men. 

I am the magic carpet 

of the multitude. (1915) 

Not hyperbole, this. The world 

as we know it today was made 

possible by delivering on this 

promise. 

New and Noteworthy 

II PY, by Edward Evans. Book 

Guild Publishing [www. 

This fine book was supposed 

to be reviewed alongside our 

“Two Henrys” article in FL08-4 

but hadn’t been published yet. 

This centennial year of the Model 

T has begot a host of publications 

on the subject. One would not 

think it likely that this well-trodden 

ground should yield new discoveries 

or unexplored facets, 

and while this book does not do 

that (although it does introduce 

new photos), it tells a complex 

story uncommonly well. Written 

by one of the curators at The 

Henry Ford, it makes its case 

with great economy, precision, 

and clarity of expression. On a 

mere 120 pages, not counting 

Notes and Appendices, it tells not 

just the history of this one model 

but how it fits into the world at 

large, or, rather, how it and the 

infrastructure and societal changes 

it spawned, indelibly shaped 

American, and, by extension 

world society. A brief survey of 

“Automobility in 1908” lays out 

the context and is followed by 

well-illustrated chapters on various 

aspects of the Model T story, 

including ownership experiences 

and driving impressions. Very 

nicely illustrated. Chapter notes, 

bibliography, index. 

50 Cars to Drive 

by Dennis Adler 

The Lyons Press [www.globe 

pequot.com], 2008. 256 p. Hardcover. 

ISBN-13: 978 1 59921 

230 2. $45 

A panel of car guys consisting of 

Jay Leno, Carroll Shelby, Stirling 

Moss, Bob Bondurant, Dan 

Gurney, Sam Moses, Bruce 

Meyer, and Luigi Chinetti, Jr. 

surveyed the automotive firmament 

and settled on 25 of these 

bookguild.co.uk], 2008. 308 p. 

Hardcover. ISBN 978-1-84624- 

238-0. £17.99 

A crime novel revolving 

around cocaine concealed in 

an auction-bought 1933 P II. 

Written by a RREC member 

who owns 2PY. Minimal RR 

content. 

Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild 

Exhibition Catalog, by John 

Jacobus, Ron Will, F.A. Sharf. 

50 cars, the remainder being 

chosen by the author based “on 

discussions over the years” with 

experts. It is not disclosed how, 

or even if, the panel deliberated 

amongst themselves or how consensus 

was achieved or ties broken, 

etc. The MO was to select 

from only those cars that “are 

greater than the sum of their 

parts.” (Don’t ask. No point overthinking 

this.) At any rate, the 

idea here is to present the reader 

with the choices “professionals” 

would make for the cars they’d 

most like to drive. Since the driving 

experience is the common 

denominator, the choices are not 

at all the “usual suspects.” (Yes, 

Rolls-Royce is included, the Silver 

Ghost, in rank #13.) Each 

car is described in 4–6 pages, 

with lots of photos (some period) 

and basic narrative. Many 

cars have their unique driving 

characteristics or cockpit impressions 

called out, in red type. 

Adler’s claim to fame is photography. 

It is thus puzzling to note 

that several, especially the largesize 

chapter opener photos, are 

Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 

2008. Item 900680. 64 p., 93 

oddly unsharp. Artistic choice or 

improper enlargement 

An appendix lists the 50 most 

interesting car museums by state. 

 

Engines & Enterprise 

The Life and Work of Sir Harry Ricardo 

by John Reynolds 

Haynes (in US: MBI, www. 

motorbooks.com), 2008. 264 p. 

ISBN 9781 84425 516 0, $49.95 

Now in a revised and expanded 

2 nd edition, this prize-winning 

book recounts the story of 

“one of Britain’s best-kept technological 

secrets,” the Ricardo 

engine research establishment in 

Sussex founded by Harry Ricardo 

in 1919. Ricardo’s influence 

on engine design was enormous, 

both through his books 

and through his firsts like the turbulent 

cylinder head, the world’s 

first diesel car, fuel octane ratings, 

and the engineering for 

air-cooled sleeve valves for aero 

engines. Ricardo (1885–1974) 

knew Rolls from around 1907, 

and in later years was friendly 

with Royce. Ricardo was closely 

involved with Rolls-Royce Ltd. in 

various projects (early examples 

being the Kestrel and Buzzard 

illos. Softcover. ISBN-10: 0 

9818865 2 3. $20 + S/H, 

contact 

So what’s your 13-year-old 

doing Building model cars 

from scratch—and winning 

$4000 for it, in 1946 dollars 

See FL06-1 for full details on 

the book and the organization 

on which this retrospective at 

the MFA is based. 






aero engines), and the biggest of 

all, the Crecy aero engine. Had 

the jet not come along this would 

have been the ultimate piston 

engine: a two-stroke V12, fuel 

injected, turbocharged, and with 

single sleeve-valve construction. 

Several were tested and Ricardo 

established that it would have 

produced 5000 hp from a weight 

of 2000 lbs. 

It’s an extraordinary story 

of a largely unsung engineering 

giant. His company thrives today 

as the world’s foremost research 

consultancy with centers around 

the world. It has been involved 

with most of the breakthroughs 

of recent years. Two examples of 

recent work include the transmission 

of the Bugatti Veyron and 

powertrain software for the JCB 

Dieselmax land speed record 

car. John Reynolds is known for 

his books on that heroic French 

figure Andre Citroën, and on 

Citroën cars, but in this book he 

has found a British hero with an 

enduring legacy. Index. 

—Tom Clarke 

100EX Model Car 

This handmade 1:24 scale model 

of the Rolls-Royce 100EX Centenary 

Experimental Car is now 

available to ordinary mortals. 

RROC members may even obtain 

it at a temporarily reduced price 

of $2700 (price subject to change; 

dealers may further discount). 

This limited-time offer is available 

through the dealer network, 

which is aware of the reduced 

price and can order the model 

through RRMC’s online After 

Sales system. 

Only 50 of this limited edition collectors’ 

item were originally made and will never be 

repeated. Only a few of these models still 

remain. Each of the 35 individual parts of 

which the model is made up was first modeled 

in wax using technical details drawn 

from the original Rolls-Royce computer files 

used to create 100EX. Based on these wax 

models, special molds were then produced 

from which the individual components of the 

model were cast in metal. Each mold can be 

used only once. Every individual part of the 

model was then perfected and finished by 

hand. In order to replicate 

the two-tone appearance of 

100EX, certain areas of the 

model have been polished 

to a high gloss, contrasting 

with the matte silk finish 

used on other components. 

The whole surface finish has 

been enhanced through the 

application of a layer of platinum 

to the whole model. This was achieved 

through a special galvanizing process, also 

done by hand. 

In order to add even more value to 

this beautiful model, the Spirit of Ecstasy 

radiator mascot, door handles, inner and 

outer mirrors, windscreen wipers, and steering 

wheel and column were made in solid 

silver (925/000) and then plated with platinum. 

Following these steps each individual 

component was carefully checked and then 

assembled by hand to create the finished 

model. The authenticity of the model is 

assured by the enclosed certificate. 

RRMC has models of all their current 

cars but 100EX is the only one now available. 

(In September RRMC was to release 

a 1:43 model of the Phantom Drophead 

Coupé manufactured by Minichamps. Price 

is expected to be below £45.) 

The model was exclusively designed and 

produced by Robert Gülpen Engineering 

in Germany [www.guelpen.com]. Gülpen 

founded his company in 1999 

after being a DaimlerChrysler 

R&D engineer. The investmentgrade 

models, in 1:24, 1:18 or 

custom scales, are solely made 

of precious metals such as sterling 

solver, gold, or platinum. 

Different surface colorations are 

achieved by applying gold or 

platinum alloys and the company 

can accommodate all sorts 

of custom specifications. Car 

windows may be done in mountain 

crystal and wheels in black 

onyx. The models are mounted 

on a black marble base and 

come with a protective case. 

One model may take 150–200 

hours to complete. 






RRMC






Bazaar 

CARS FOR SALE 

Fax to: 

RROC Headquarters at 

717-697-7820 

Rates: For Non-Members AND/OR Commercial classified ads are $1/word PLUS $50 per photo 

sent electronically to HQ, b/w or color. Members pay $25 per electronically submitted 

b/w or color digital photo; text (up to 100 words) is free. There is an additional $25 

scanning charge for each photo print submitted by mail by Members, Non-Members, 

and Commercial. 

Deadlines: 12/1, 2/1, 4/1, 6/1, 8/1, 10/1. 

SILVER GHOST (46LM) 1924 Brewster 

Newmarket. This convertible sedan is an 

excellent touring car; see ad on p. 8911 of 

FL. $230,000. Bob Mace 5305 Gresham, 

SC 29546 843-362-1134 or email: r.g.mace@ 

wildblue.net 

PHANTOM II CONTINENTAL (27TA) 

1934 H.J. Mulliner sedanca coupe (3-position 

dhc). Original chassis, original engine, 

original body, Yes original body. 

Cook’s roller cam added a few years ago, 

new top, front seat cushions, radiator rebuild. 

Driven at freeway speeds to shows and never 

trailered. Wife is happy because of roll up 

windows (it’s a hair thing) and now 27TA is 

ready for her new driver and/or Pebble Beach 

restoration. Pictures on pages 93 and 241 of 

The Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental by 

Raymond Gentile. $550,000 Brent Heath 

CA brentp2@comcast.net 

20/25 (GAU3) 1932 Jack Barclay shooting 

brake. Brewster; daily runner; new clutch, 

new head for unleaded gas, all repairs done 

by Vintage Garage; a real head turner, 

nothing needed except attitude; cruises at 50; 

includes picnic basket. Great summer vehicle, 

no heater, must see; my daily driver 

(summer) since 1984; illness forces sale. 

$125,000 firm. Christopher Hutchins ME 

207-947-4242 or call Alex Finigan, MA 978- 

768-6919 

20/25 (GAE73) 1934 Hooper saloon. Black 

and maroon paint w/ maroon leather trim; 

purchased in 1975 and carefully restored & 

maintained and driven every summer since; 

or mail to: 

Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club, 

191 Hempt Road, 

Mechanicsburg, PA 17050 

ready to be driven anywhere; photos available 

on request. $40,000. Bruce Sadler Brockville, 

ON Canada 613-345-2885. 

25/30 (GZR17) 1938 Park Ward saloon. One 

(club member) owner since 1970; was recently 

w/ Sam Rawlins RR Service for major 

mechanical and coach work; since driven to 

the Rebel Region Annual Meet, round trip 

of over 1000 trouble free miles; car runs very 

strong; has much documentation of service; 

leather looks extremely good as do the carpets, 

woodwork, etc. Some of the body panels 

could use a little fine tuning but overall 

very smart and rare 25/30. I value the car at 

$48,000 and will sell it for this amount. 

Vernon Smith Chicago area 847-284-0966 

or email: helvern@comcast.net 

SILVER WRAITH (LALW7) 1952 H.J. Mulliner 

lwb limousine. LHD; 7 Passenger; black 

w/ silver side panels; brown leather front, 

electric rear windows and glass partition; beverage 

cabinet and jump seats; former U.S. 

Embassy car; R100 headlamps; functioning 

trafficators; mechanically sound and in good 

condition; standard transmission; 92,856 mi. 

$40,000 Nick Manoy NJ 201-501-0650 or 

email: nmanoy@aol.com 

SILVER WRAITH (LELW92) 1956 H.J. 

Mulliner touring limousine. A very famous 

car from the 1981 Oscar winning movie 

“Arthur”, starring Dudley Moore, Liza 

Minnelli. The car has automatic transmission, 

a/c, power window divider, bar. All missing 

tools have been found and all is working; car 

is being driven at least once a week; a perfect 

daily driver car; the sale includes the movie 

rolls from the Arthur movie for movie 

theatres. Asking $ 129,900 obo For more 

details / history call Kai Hessemer FL 

561-843-6664 or e-mail: khessemer@pmc 

motors.com 

SILVER CLOUD I (LSDD404) 1957 saloon. 

LHD; white w/ burgundy leather; 6 cylinder; 

power steering, power brakes, automatic; a/c; 

new white wall tires; old restoration; nice car. 

$30,000 Rudy Langer Kansas City, MO 816- 

931-1188 or www.kcvintagecars.com 

SILVER CLOUD I (LSGE214) 1958 saloon. 

Black w/ grey hides. LHD; power steering, 

factory a/c (with rare clear plastic discharge 

ducts); an E series car, w/ all factory updates 

up to time of manufacture, including 4.9 liter 

six in its ultimate form (8.0:1 compression, 

twin HD8 carbs); last series to have complete 

Bijur one-shot lubrication system; numerous 

major and minor repairs, updates, and improvements 

over past six yrs.; a presentable, 

solid, dependable and most enjoyable driver; 

can be driven anywhere, right now; displayed 

at 2008 Annual Meet; always garaged (with 

cover); 105,000 mi. $45,000. Mark Dwyer 

NC 919-671-4637 

SILVER CLOUD III (SGT89) 1964 saloon. 

$16,600. Tom Kindler IL 815-539-7146 




A picture is worth 

a thousand words 



SILVER CLOUD III (SKP181) 1965 saloon. 

RHD; great condition; original interior with 

beautiful wood; 4 speed automatic gearbox; 

owner for the past 25 years. Available 

immediately! 47,000 mi. $39,000 obo. Jeremy 

Bernard NJ 917-797-8629 or email: her 

shee212@hotmail.com 

SILVER SHADOW (SRX1173) 1966 saloon. 

LHD; Regal red exterior; beige hide interior; 

new paint; overhauled motor; excellent mechanical 

condition; orig. owner’s manual and 

tool kit; a/c; maintenance records available; 

3rd owner; 62,000 mi. $20,500. James Allison 

Lexington, KY 859-272-8081. 

SILVER SHADOW (SRX6894) 1967 saloon. 

Repainted exterior w/ original dark green 

leather interior; a/c, power brakes, power 

steering; very nice driving car; one owner; 

27,000 mil. $21,500. Rudy Langer Kansas 

City, MO 816-931-1188 or www.kcvintage 

cars.com 

SILVER SHADOW (LRA12624) 1972 lwb 

saloon. Silver/black w/ red pinstriping; Everflex 

vinyl top; beautiful award-winning 

Shadow; last of the all-metal bumpers; just 

In house abilities include paint, upholstery, 

woodwork, mechanical repairs, metal forming, 

coach building, and all structural repairs. 

www.enfieldautorestoration.com 

returned from service at Rolls-Royce certified 

mechanic; everything works with the exception 

of the cruise control; original tool set and 

most records; if you want an early lwb formal 

sedan, this is the one for you. Unfortunately, 

an out-of-state move forces sale. $25,000. 

Bernie Rowe CA 562-397-5066 

SILVER SHADOW (SRC 18311) 1974 saloon; 

silver mink; excellent condition; garaged; 

driven regularly; owner since 1990; 112,000 

mi.; $28,000 John Nading TN 615-948-3227 

or email: jhnading@comcast.net 

SOLD 

SILVER SHADOW II (SRX31434) 1978 

saloon LHD; dark green hides in excellent 

condition with factory dyed matching lambswool 

carpet overlays; interior wood in great 

condition; all glass in perfect condition; excellent 

compression; new tires; excellent condition 

overall; original owner’s manual plus 

other documents; garaged always; photos 

available by request; aggressively priced to 

sell, come and drive it; 73,000 mi.; $13,000. 

Dan Collins Lawrenceville, GA 770-277- 

4326 or email: dan300@bellsouth.net 

SILVER SHADOW II (SRL39777) 1980 

saloon. Flawless maroon w/ biscuit interior; 

repair & maintenance history; service by Jeff 

Palmero (International Motorcar, Hopewell 

Jct., NY) personal/private use, never a limo or 

film car; summer use only, in alarmed/heated 

Over 40 years experience restoring Rolls 

Royce, Bentley, and other fine marques 

to levels ranging from quality drivers to 

Pebble Beach standards. 

Complete or partial restorations, accident 

repairs, service work, detailing, and show 

or tour preparations. 

Enfield Auto Restoration, Inc. 

Enfield, CT • 860-749-7917 

garage; all owner’s manuals/tools included; 

photos emailed to interested parties; 42,000 

mi. $35,000. Anthony LoBalbo Stormville, 

NY 845-878-6078/cell 914-548-5450 cell or 

email: Anth1634@aol.com 

CORNICHE (DRD20404) 1975 Mulliner, 

Park Ward drophead coupé. Ivory exterior; 

saddle interior; new tan top; all systems functioning 

appropriately; records; cosmetically 

pristine; 79,000 orig., properly maintained mi. 

$49,500. William Newman Valdosta, GA 229- 

292-0220 or email: w.j.newman@earthlink.net 

CORNICHE (CRK50090) 1979 Mulliner, 

Park Ward coupe. Silver sand/chestnut color 

scheme w/ tan leather and woodwork interior 

in superb condition. All records accompany on 

meticulous maintenance since new; a pleasure 

to drive; very little needed to make this car a 

show winner. Always in California - first eleven 

years in Rancho Santa Fe; offered by fourth 






owner. Coupe body style is twice as rare as 

dropheads; less than 50 made worldwide in 

1979; 187,879 mi. $28,750 Lee Horstman 

One Whitehouse Creek Lane, P.O.Box 263, 

Davenport CA 95017 Cell: 415-710-7286 or 

email: lee_horstman@yahoo.com. 

CORNICHE (DAB-03809) 1981 Mulliner, 

Park Ward drophead coupé. Champagne/tan 

leather; Everflex top, lambswool carpets; well 

maintained, straight & solid; no door dings 

or road rash, little wear noticeable w/ interior, 

dash, windows, wood in very nice condition; 

fog lights, always garaged & covered; 

this beautiful auto runs like new, but alas, I 

can no longer drive her; 37,888 mi. $55,000. 

Roger Semerad VA 540-554-4858 or email: 

rsemerad@hughes.net 

SILVER SPIRIT (SAF-13787) 1985 saloon. 

Silver w/ two-tone grey leather interior, grey 

carpet, footrests & matching lambs wool overlays; 

all orig. owner’s manuals & binder intact; 

show condition or drive daily; 43,575 mi. 

$29,500. Gary Ketchum St. Cloud, FL 407- 

908-2893 

Silver Spirit (SAF-13832) 1985 This car 

is a daily driver with less than 107,000 miles. 

The car is white outside w/ beige interior; 

nearly everything is still original; in very 

good shape for a daily driver; the car drives 

excellent since it is daily driven; service was 

just done and a new radio w/ cd, bluetooth 

and iPod connection was added to it; less 

than 107,000 mi. Asking price $23,900 obo. 

Kai Hessemer FL 561-843-6664 or e-mail: 

khessemer@pmcmotors.com 

SILVER SPUR (NAG-14251) 1986 lwb sedan. 

White w/ tan Everflex roof, tan leather 

NEW ORLEANS VIA ENGLAND TOUR 

June 4–15, 2009 

Interregional Group tour of England (Rebel & Florida Region) 

Organized by Martin Mayer, host of the legendary EPW tour 

“Days of Wine and Redwoods” 

Start from New Orleans (or home), travel to England, attend the RREC Annual Rally, visit 

the Crewe Factory and other points of interest, and then, return in time for the RROC 

Annual Meet in New Orleans. The currently estimated tour to England price of $3,500 will 

include airfare, transportation, hotels and two meals per day. Space is limited. 

For details, contact host Martin Mayer at: mmayer110@netzero.net / (334) 264-3046 

interior; very fine condition Inside and out; 

drives superbly; in excellent shape mechanically; 

car is driven daily; serviced by RR dlr. 

& mechanic; Michelin radial tires and upgraded 

hubcaps; Blaupunkt stereo radio w/6 

cd changer and front & rear cell phones; 

owner for 14 years. 172,000 mi. $15,500. 

John Sullivan Bedford, MA 781-275-9227 

SILVER SPUR (NAG-15866 1986 lwb saloon. 

White w/ brown Everflex roof; all books, shop 

manuals, etc.; good condition; located near 

Traverse City, MI; 51,000 mi. $24,000 or best 

offer over $21,000 by 1/09. Jerry Dietrich 

MI 231-645-4496 

SILVER SPUR (NAH-16869) 1987 lwb saloon. 

Finished in Mason’s black w/ mushroom 

hides w/ black piping and black Everflex roof; 

recently serviced and properly maintained; all 

accessories work; ready in every respect for 

enjoyable & comfortable motoring; excellent 

condition throughout having traveled only 

34,000 orig. mi. $32,500. Philip Goodwin 

Chicago area 708-209-1060. 

SILVER SPUR (NAJ-22631) 1988 lwb saloon. 

LHD; grey w/ grey Everflex roof and 

red interior; tool kit, overlays, manuals; serviced 

with Mobil One; I am second owner; a 

California car, garage kept in Maryland; not 

concours, but very good condition. $21,000 

firm. William Morstein MD 410-988-9688 

SILVER SPUR (NAK-25034) 1989 lwb saloon. 

Stunning midnight blue w/ blue hides 

and piping; this beautiful classic has been 

maintained to the highest standards; options 

incl power steering, brakes, windows, seats, 

cruise, a/c, picnic tables, Lambswool overlays, 

am/fm/cd, unused toolset, chrome RR alloys, 

and more; excellent throughout; 34,000 mi. 

since new. $35,900. Norm Cohen GA 770- 

883-9115 

SILVER SPUR III (NAT-57042) 1996 lwb 

saloon. Black leather interior w/ red roping; 

meticulously cared for 6-7 passenger; private 

use only by family in Boston area; vehicle has 

been regularly maintained; kept in garage 

when not in use; amenities include cocktail 

caddy, audio system, flat TV, dvd/vhs player; 

additional photos available by request; 46,000 

mi. $80,000. Peter Roy MA 781-210-0285 

or email: pauljoleary@hotmail.com. 




Sell it in the B a z a a r 



Neal or Jackie Oliver 3023 Manning Dr., 

Marietta, GA 30062 770-509-1647 or email: 

bridgetiger@aol.com 

SILVER SERAPH (LAX-01699) 1999 saloon. 

Meteor (blue/grey metallic) exterior; 

cotswold hides (including headliner); 

French navy carpets; dash cover and steering 

wheel; veneer door panels; sunroof, 

phone, footrests, carpet overlays, factory 

optional car cover. Second place in class at 

2008 Annual Meet at Williamsburg, scoring 

378 out of possible 400; an exceptionally 

handsome car in exceptional condition. 

34,000 mi. $90,000. Mark Dwyer NC 919- 

671-4637 or email: mdwyer1@nc.rr.com 

SILVER SERAPH (LAX-02608) 1999 saloon. 

Beautiful black w/ tan interior; always gets 

lots of thumbs up and photos on the road & 

at restaurants; gorgeous paint job; all new 

hose system; wood paneling; wood tray tables; 

recent full computer check-up; all the extras 

you would want; only two owners; 37,000 mi. 

$69,900 Richard Honaker TX 972-625- 

2030 or email: drhonaker@familymedtx.com 

BENTLEY 3½ LITRE (B34BN) 1934 3- 

position drophead coupé French body by 

Kellner (very rare 1 of 6 built). Green w/ ivory 

leather interior; Marchal headlamps; engine 

rebuilt; has been on many tours; 61,000 orig. 

mi. $195,000. Lee Wolff OH 216-496-9492 

or e-mail: lwolff@mbjmanagement.com 

BENTLEY SPECIAL (B67PU) 1952 converted 

from a Mark VI saloon. Believed to be 

one of seventeen built in the 1970s by John 

Guppy & Dudley Beck at Blandford Forum 

in Dorset, England (see Road & Track article 

January 1977); engine #B183P; custom fiberglass 

body similar to an Excaliber-like sportscar; 

runs and looks good, but in need of some 

TLC; a remarkable unique motorcar. $17,500 

or near offer. Art Lewis MI 616-874-5967 

or email: arthurklewis@comcast.net 

BENTLEY S3 (B196GJ) 1965 saloon. RHD; 

exterior blue, interior ivory leather w/ blue 

carpet and orig. wood trim; meticulous restoration, 

pw, stereo & a/c; all work performed 

by Bentley specialist, paperwork available; 

overall excellent condition; always garaged 

and covered; serious buyer, for additional 

information or pictures send email; low mileage 

29,579 mi. $46,000 somewhat negotiable. 

BENTLEY T2 (SBL41568C) 1981 saloon. 

British racing green w/ tan leather; new tires; 

a very sound, beautiful automobile. $17,500 

obo. Ray Alexander 205 W. Chickasaw 

Pkwy, Memphis, TN 38111 901-458-9912 or 

email: aralexander@bellsouth.net 

BENTLEY TURBO R (RBK-25694) 1989 

saloon. Black w/ black leather interior; professionally 

maintained; excellent condition; 

ready to drive anywhere; 46,650 mi. $22,000. 

Ben Paster RI 401-474-1300 or email: 

Werkswell@hotmail.com 

BENTLEY TURBO RL (PBN-44567) 1992 

lwb saloon. Black, black, black; all records 






from day one; 2 phones; 3 TVs; DVD; navigation; 

cd and X-M radio; leather headliner; 

California/Oklahoma car; garage kept; Less 

than 100 mi. on new Avon tires; 68,000 mi. 

$43,000. George Pickens OK 918-457-1999 

or Cell 918-931-2183 

BENTLEY ARNAGE RED LABEL (LC1- 

05869) 2001 saloon. Crème exterior; elegant 

interior w/ crème hides w/ autumn piping and 

magnificent Birdseye maple veneer throughout; 

doorpane & picnic tables; 4 Bentley umbrellas; 

navigation; cd; autumn Lambswool 

overlays; built-in factory automatic trickle charger; 

Turbo 6.8L PFI engine; car has everything; 

absolutely perfect w/ no dings, marks or 

scratches; handled only by an authorized Bentley 

dealer for service; truly, one of a kind, stunning 

vehicle; 19,850 mi. $79,000. Jim Hairston 

TX 800-878-8136 or email: 3par@msn.com 

CARS WANTED 

MARK VI, R TYPE or SILVER DAWN standard 

steel saloon. Robert Nicholson P.O. 

Box 29281, Presidio of San Francisco, CA 

94129 415-346-8486. 

Pre- and postwar Rolls-Royce and Bentley 

cars wanted in any condition or price. Will 

travel anywhere. Glyn Morris Tel. 847-945- 

9603 or email: glyn@belmontgroup.net. 

Wanted: Pre and Post War Rolls-Royce and 

Bentley Motor Cars. Prefer Good, Original 

or Restored Cars but will consider any. 

Please contact Mark Hyman 314-524-6000 

or email: mark@hymanltd.com. 

WRECKED, RUSTED or DISASSEM- 

BLED. Postwar RR/B automobiles wanted. 

Now buying worldwide. Highest prices 

paid. Immediate decision and collection. 

Tony Handler, Inc. 2028 Cotner Ave., Los 

Angeles, CA 90025 310-473-7773 or Fax: 

310-479-1197. 

ROLLS-ROYCE CORNICHES wanted. We 

will purchase your RR Corniche top dollar 

anywhere in the country. Any year. Frank 

Corrente’s Cadillac Corner, Inc. 7614 

W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90046 

323-850-1881, Fax: 323-850-1884 or email: 

correntecadillac@sbcglobal.net. 

Bentley Continental R, T, SC and S3 wanted 

by club member as there is now room in the 

garage. Must be immaculate. Desire full records 

if possible. Brent Heath CA 510-430- 

0368 brentp2@comcast.net 

Wanted Rolls-Royce and Bentley - Silver 

Ghost, 20-25, 25-30, Wraith, Silver Wraith, 

Phantom I, II, III, IV, V and VI, Cloud I, II, 

III and any Rolls-Royce and Bentley from 

1900 to 2003 in any condition. Top Price Paid. 

Please call Peter Kumar NY 800-452-9910 

or email: gullwingny@aol.com 

PARTS FOR SALE 

Custom made GAITERS, LEATHER BOOTS 

and FABRIC COUPLINGS for Rolls-Royce 

and Bentley PREWAR Rolls-Royce PARTS. 

Rudy Rosales 4086 East 71st Street, Cleveland, 

OH 44105 800-248-RUDY, 216-641- 

7711 days or Fax: 216-641-0060. 

CARS, PARTS & RESTORATIONS 

Tel. 0031(0)252-527875 (The Netherlands) 

www.braboparts.com 

Donald Koleman, President of Competition 

Motors Ltd., as successor to the late 

John de Campi, invites you to visit our 

website www.competitionmotorsltd.com 

and view one of the largest inventories of 

prewar Rolls-Royce and Bentley tools available. 

Parts are also available upon request. 

You may email your needs to rrparts@competitionmotorsltd.com 

or contact Tom at 

603-431-0035 

MASCOTS and RADIATOR CAPS for all 

Rolls-Royce and Bentley models, usually 

in stock, and always priced right. Howard 

Schwartz NY 914-273-8949 

The Vintage Garage has been the name in engine 

rebuilding, mechanical restorations and 

service for decades. Now at our new facility 

in Vermont and ready to assist you with your 

Rolls-Royce or Bentley project. Contact Bill 

Cooke and Pierce Reid for restoration, parts 

and rapid turnaround component rebuilding 

at The Vintage Garage 802-253-9256 

or rpreid@pshift.com Visit us online www. 

vintagegaragevt.com 

We have in stock a very large selection of 

tools and accessories in connection with Rolls 

Royce and Bentley motor cars. We also acquire 

motor cars and a complete range of 

engine parts, wheels, interior fittings, radiators, 

light fittings, books, instruction manuals, 

badges and general memorabilia. ALL 

DIRECT FROM ENGLAND. Please do 

not hesitate to contact us either by e-mail: 

worspares@yahoo.co.uk or by telephone: 

0044 (0)1282 459778. Please also visit our 

web site to see our full listing of stock with 

photographs: www.rollsbentleyspares.com 

USED Rolls-Royce and Bentley parts for all 

postwar models. One of the world’s most inclusive 

stocks of engines, transmissions, mechanical 

and electrical components. Body, 

interior, trim pieces, and chassis cuts also 

available. Reasonable prices and knowledgeable 

assistance always. Phone calls preferred. 

“Your Post-War Rolls-Royce and Bentley 

used parts stockist”. Tony Handler Inc. 

2028 Cotner Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90025 

310-473-7773 or Fax: 310-479-1197. 

NEW MUSHROOM IGNITION COIL. Exact 

copy of original on the outside with modern 

core. STRONGER SPARK, better 

performance, $285. Also, we will recore your 

original coil, $225. Charles Tobin, River 

Carriage Shop 21188 Maplewood Ave., 

Rocky River, OH 44116 440-333-0561, or 

Fax: 440-356-5543 or 800-950-2415. 






Rebuilt postwar six SHORT BLOCK, RR 

PISTONS. $6,000 obo. See photos at http:// 

picasaweb.google.com/53Bentlley/RebuiltRollsBentleyEngine# 

Seattle, can deliver to 

your shipper. (Will need to be crated.) John 

Chattin-McNichols WA 206- 937-0310 or 

email: johnc-m@comcast.net 

DERBY BENTLEY SPANNER SET & 

TOOL ROLL - 7 piece reproduction jaw 

spanner set - includes the 6 open end spanners 

& distributor spanner w/ low tension 

contact feeler; are cold cad plated for concour 

only; hard to tell from original; black leather 

reproduction oil tanned tool roll; has tooled 

belting leather straps exactly like originals of 

the 30’s; approximately 25 x 12, holds approximately 

25 tools; very professionally made; can 

be used on any RR & B of the 30’s. Price, 

$300 ea. or $550 for tools & roll plus shipping. 

Noel Cook WA 206-232-6413 For 

pictures email: noelnjan@comcast.net. 

STARTER for 1955 Bentley, left hand drive, 

like new, rebuilt by Albers of Zionsville, 

$600.00 plus shipping. Russell B. Lamb 

1511 Bamboo Circle, Harlingen, TX 78552 

956-421-4606 

Reproduction IRVING SEAT BELT LABELS 

as supplied to 50’s and 60’s RR/B optional 

British seat belts. $10./label - $15.00/pair. 

Gary B. Klein CA 310-476-3955 or email: 

dsmclinic@sbcglobal.net 

PARTS WANTED 

WANTED FOR 1925 20 HP SERIES E 

ROLLS-ROYCE, as replacements for some 

of many original parts which have not been 

returned to me by a well-known restorer, the 

following: F52213 - Front spring shackle, NS; 

F51517 - a Front friction damper connecting 

tube, both sides; F51516a - Ditto, inner 

links, both sides; F51337 - Bottom end cap 

for above; F51377 - Top end cap for above; 

Correct Cambridge thermometer (calibrations 

at 5 degree intervals). Gordon T. Best United 

Kingdom +44-0-28-7083-3758, or e-mail: 

gordontbest@talktalk.net 

Wanted - a PAIR of 6 volt external TRUM- 

PET HORNS. I have a genuine British Silver 

Ghost Klaxon in excellent condition plus 

an early stop light made by the F.W. Stewart 

Corp. of Chicago as a swap. The horns 

I want were fitted on many 1920/1030s US 

cars, externally on either side of the car at the 

front. Mac McMeekin New Zealand email: 

mcmeekin@xtra.co.nz 

Still seeking a STARTING HANDLE 

CRANK for Derby Bentley 3½. Other small 

horsepower RR crank handles will likely fit. 

Please send details if you have a spare. Usable 

condition is fine. Ed Joy ID 208-664-4210 or 

email: emjoy43@hotmail.com 

PARTS LEFT OVER from your postwar 

Rolls-Royce or Bentley Turn them into cash 

or trade for needed parts at Tony Handler, 

Inc. 2028 Cotner Ave., Los Angeles, CA 

90025 310-473-7773 or Fax: 310-479-1197 

SERVICES OFFERED 

Brakes sleeved and rebuilt: masters, wheels, 

clutch, slave. Rebuilders of: calipers, servos, 

air conditioner throttle valves, ride control 

valves, actuator valves, shoes relined. Better 

than new. Quick service. Lifetime written 

warranty. White Post Restorations One Old 

Car Drive, PO Drawer D, White Post, VA 

22663 540-837-1140, www.whitepost.com. 

Brake backing plates: complete units, restored 

with cylinders and shoes. White Post Restorations 

One Old Car Drive, White Post, VA 

22663 540-837-1140 www.whitepost.com. 

RESTORATIONS BY LONE WOLF. Now 

accepting complete or partial restorations 

on all postwar models. Coast to coast closed 

car carrier service available. Contact us for 

more information. LONE WOLF ROLLS- 

ROYCE/BENTLEY SERVICE 909-464- 

1877 www.lonewolfrrbentley.com. 

IN-HOUSE REBUILDING PROGRAM: 

steering racks, hydraulic systems, water 

pumps, carburetors. For these and others 

contact LONE WOLF ROLLS-ROYCE/ 

BENTLEY SERVICE at 909-464-1877. 

www.lonewolfrrbentley.com. 

SWITCHES LIKE NEW. Dash switches refaced 

to showroom perfection. Re-engraved 

by hand, repainted, repaired. Master switch, 

carb, fog, wipers, or any other engraved plate. 

Pre-1976. Three week turnaround. Call for 

quote. Also: refinish sill plates. The Frawley 

Company 138 Main St., Parkesburg, PA 19365 

610-857-1099. 2 

Wood, leather, trim restoration. Factory 

trained Rolls/Bentley specialist, Gold 

Coast Auto Interiors, Inc., Philip E. 

Howland 16 N.E. 9 St., Ft. Lauderdale, 

FL 33304 954-467-1500 or Mobile: 954- 

205-1500, goldcoast@fdn.com. 

SHEEPSKIN RUG OVERLAYS & SEAT 

COVERS custom made by Easirider (UK) for 

all models RR/B, others. Outstanding qual- 

ity, comprehensive color selection. Contact 

American distributor Phil Brooks, Kexby 

Ltd. Co. 102 Carnoustie, Williamsburg, VA 

23188 757-258-8550, fax: 757-258-8850 or 

email: philip.brooks@wap.org 

Offering RR and Bentley Service, repairs and 

restoration since 1976 in Houston, TX 281- 

448-4739 www.britishcarpartsco.com. 

TRAFFICATOR TURN SIGNALS RE- 

STORED. Broken arms replaced. Solenoid 

and light repaired. New original type bulb 

installed. Send disabled trafficator for a 

prompt quote on cost. If you are looking for 

a trafficator, we have a large assortment of 

NEW OLD STOCK, and reconditioned trafficators, 

and self-cancelling switches. Charles 

Tobin, River Carriage Shop 21188 

Maplewood Ave., Rocky River, OH 44116 

440-333-0561, or Fax: 440-356-5543 or 800- 

950-2415. 

Rolls-Royce Phantom I, II and III, ALUMI- 

NUM CYLINDER HEADS, blocks, exhaust/ 

intake manifolds, mfg’ed to OEM Spec., made 

to order, other cast items mfg’ed on request. 

Empire Motors, Inc. 13451 Montana Ave., 

El Paso, TX 79938-9616 USA 915-856-9607 

or email: info@empiremotorsinc.com 

Concours Chrome Plating, Die Cast Restoration, 

and Stainless Steel Restoration. All work 

is 100% guaranteed. The Finishing Touch, 

Inc. 5580 Northwest Highway, Chicago, IL 

60630 800-403-4545 

Rolls-Royce & Bentley Engine & Chassis 

Restoration & Service and Parts. The Touring 

Shoppe, 3050 Sirius Ave, Las Vegas, NV 

89102 Wayne McMiniment, 702-940-0978, 

fax 702-943-1530 Web site Touringshoppe. 

com, e-mail wayne@touringshoppe.com 

INTERIOR WOOD RESTORATION and 

REFINISHING for all models. Meticulous 

workmanship combined with UV resistant finish 

creates an authentic appearance with enhanced 

durability. For additional information 

contact: N.S. Refinishing 3186 Irishtown 

Rd., Gordonville, PA 17529 717-768-0751 

MISCELLANEOUS FOR SALE 




Professional leather restoration/maintenance 

products, “Simply the Best since 1968” rejuvenator 

oil, prestine clean, crack filler, custom 

color Connolly dyes LEATHERIQUE 

WWW.LEATHERIQUE.COM 877-395-3366 



VINTAGE TIRES for RR & Bentley motor 

cars. Most brands and sizes. Personalized service 

from a fellow RROC Member. Over 52 

years selling tires. Wallace W. Wade 530 Regal 

Row, Dallas, TX 75247 214-688-0091, 800- 

666-8973 or email: wallacewade@earthlink.net 

TRUNK w/ leather attachment straps in 

fine condition, 36"x17"x19"; covering is some 

kind of black rubberized material w/ brushed 

nickel steel hardware; interior has three fitted 

suitcases that are green, one of which has a 

“Charring Cross” station, London sticker on 

it. Purchased several years ago to use on my 

’39 Wraith, I found that it is not quite wide 

enough to accommodate to the trunk stops on 

my car’s boot shelf. Lester Wolff Lithia, FL 

813-689-5309 or email: Leswolff@aol.com 

RARE FRANKLIN MINT 1:24 scale Rolls- 

Royce and Bentley CARS. Complete set of 18 

@ 1:24 scale, plus other Rolls-Royce cars and 

set of 13 Mercedes Franklin Mint. Robert 

Mouser, MD IN 317-663-8155. 

Put Yourself in the Picture 

NEW WHEEL DISCS AND RELATED 

PARTS. Now available to fit prewar: Rolls- 

Royce, Ghost to P III, Bentley 3½L to 8L, 

Jaguar, MK IV, Hispano-Suiza, H&J Series, 

www.pmcmotors.com 

Lagonda, Bugatti, Type 44, 46 & 57, Cord 

We are enthusiasts, we are RROC 

L-29, Delage, Delahaye, Talbot 110, Lincoln 

A-B, Isotta Fraschini, Alfa Romeo, Voisin, 

members and now we are serving 

over 35 different discs. Write, phone or fax 

you. Contact the owners direct: 

for full information. Lmarr Disk Ltd. P.O. 

info@pmcmotors.com 

Box 910, Glen Ellen, CA 95442-0910 707- 

~ Rubén Verdés +1-305-505-3062 

938-9347 or Fax: 707-938-3020 

~ Kai Hessemer +1-561-843-6664 

YOUR AD 

COULD BE 

HERE 

South Florida, U.S.A. 

worldwide service 

Purveyor of fine pre-owned Rolls-Royce & Bentley motorcars. 






We would like to congratulate these winners of the 2008 RROC National Meet 

and thank them for allowing us to share in their success. 

Phantom II 230 AJS 

Virgil Millet, Jr. Award 

First in Class 

Dennison-Jayne Motors, Inc. 

322 South Concord Road 

West Chester, PA 19382 

610-436-8668 

Phantom III 3 BT 187 

First in Class 




Member 

Specializing in Mechanical Restoration, Service, and Parts 

for Antique Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motorcars 

Electronic Ignition Conversions 



“Think it’s only an 

investment 

Hogwash!” 

Whether you bought a 

Springfield PI, T-Type Bentley 

or a Silver Dawn, you’d like 

to think that it was a 

shrewd move — a sound 

investment. And it can be. 

But getting your motorcar 

to perform as Henry Royce and his successors intended can 

double the expense if not the value. You’ll enjoy it more if you 

regard it as entertainment. By restoring and driving the car 

you’re having as much fun as money can buy. What’s more, 

you’re preserving the tradition of motoring excellence 

for the generations still to come. Well done. 

Whether you paid top-dollar for 

your car, or found it on e-bay 

for a song, it will still need work. 

If If not now, then some day 

soon. Seals leak, wires degrade 

and things you never imagined 

could break will. It’s It’s the the nature of of 

the beasts. Or Or you’ll want to to 

upgrade the the sound system, 

improve the the handling, handling, add add air air 

conditioning, redo the dial and 

conditioning, redo the dial and 

switch faces. Why not 

switch faces. Why not 

At The Frawley Company our 

goal is to keep your car running 

well and make every step 

enjoyable. We can handle prepurchase 

evaluations, normal 

maintenance, component 

repairs, engine or gearbox 

rebuilds, body-off restorations 

and insurance appraisals. Plus, 

once your car is on the lift, 

you’ll become part of of our family. 

Here the coffee’s always on. on. 

Royce would have felt at home here. 

You will, too. 




138 Main Street, Parkesburg, PA 19365 

610-857-1099 








Woodwork 

Refinishing, Reveneering 

& Repair 

How is your woodwork looking 

CHIPPED, SCRATCHED, CLOUDY, 

CRACKED OR DELAMINATING 

We Can Restore it to “Showroom” 

Condition!! 

• “Concours” Quality 

• Fastest “Turn-Around” 

• Unsurpassed Service 

• Expert Color/Veneer 

• Complimenting 

. . . Automotive woodwork is all we do! 

55-B Depot Road, Goleta, CA 93117 

Toll Free 800-800-1579 • Fax 805-962-7359 

ROLLS-ROYCE a n d BENTLEY 

M O T O R C A R 

S P E C I A L I S T S 

LARGEST INDEPENDENT DEALERSHIP 

IN PALM BEACH COUNTY 

PARTS - SERVICE - BODYWORK 

INTERIOR/EXTERIOR - RESTORATION 

Foreign car engineering 

CERTIFIED ENGINEERS 

FOREIGN TRAINED MECHANICS 




75 N. Congress Avenue, Delray Beach, FL 33445 

Tel: (561) 276-0114, (561) 276-0119 – Fax: (561) 274-9127 



IC 

IntroCar 

In Association with Healey Brothers 

Buy direct from the UK! 

The largest range of original, re-manufactured, re-conditioned and used products 

for Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motor Cars 1945 – 2000, including the full Healey 

Brothers product range. Illustrated below are just a few of the brand new additions 

to the range of re-manufactured spares we stock. 

$720.00 $450.00 

Silver Cloud / S-Type Brake 

Drums 

Radiator Hoses for all cars 

1945 - 98 

Rubber Suspension Bushes 

for all cars 1945 - 98 

Body Seals for all post-war 

models 

Modern Valve Stem Control 

Seals for all cars 1945 - 98 

Electronic Goods 

In recent months Introcar has embarked upon an ambitious programme of product 

manufacture and will be introducing a large number of high quality new 

components to the range in each issue, new examples will be illustrated here. 

Simply call or email sales@introcar.co.uk for more details. 

Exclusive Rolls-Royce owners Club, R-REC, Bentley Driver’s Club and 

Specialist Association discounts apply to the majority of the range. 

Introcar Limited 

Early Silver Shadow Viscous 

Coupling 

Brake Discs & Rear Hub 

Nut 

Suspension Pins & Bushes 

for cars 1945 - 65 




1 Manorgate Road, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, KT2 7AW, UK 

Tel: +44 20 8546 2028 Fax: +44 20 8546 5058 www.introcar.com 



PRE-1955 BENTLEY CREWE-BUILT ROLLS-ROYCE 

TRUST JACK BARCLAY TO KEEP IT IN PERFECT SHAPE. 

THE LEADING SPECIALIST IN GENUINE PRE-1955 BENTLEY 

AND CREWE-BUILT ROLLS-ROYCE PARTS. As the oldest and 

largest Bentley dealership in the world, nobody is closer to the finest 

luxury marques than Jack Barclay. Even more reassuring is the fact 

that we have the largest stock of Bentley parts there is, and as the 

only authorised global supplier of pre-1955 Bentley and Crewe-built 

Rolls-Royce parts, there is no finer choice when it comes to 

maintaining the definitive driving experience. So, whether it is timing 

gears for an R-Type Continental or an exhaust manifold for a Silver 

Dawn, Jack Barclay’s dedicated team has 80 years behind it to keep 

your car in perfect shape for the road ahead. 

JACK BARCLAY LIMITED 

2-4 Ponton Road, Nine Elms, London SW8 5BA, United Kingdom. 

Pre-1955 parts hotline: +44 (0)207 978 2223. 

Parts hotline: +44 (0)207 738 8333. 

e-mail: parts@jackbarclaybentley.co.uk or visit 

www.bentleymotors.com/jackbarclay 




The name ‘Bentley’ and the ‘B’ in wings device are registered trademarks. © 2007 Bentley Motors Limited. 



Preserve our past 

and secure our future 

THE 

ROLLS-ROYCE FOUNDATION 

RESEARCHR 

LIBRA 

RY AND EDUCATIONAL MUSEUM 

The only organization in America dedicated to the preservation of the Rolls-Royce 

and Bentley automobiles and their heritage. The new museum and library is located 

next to the RROC headquarters. Please come visit the cars and library and consider 

joining the foundation to insure our heritage for future generations. We are a 501C3 tax 

deductible organization and would greatly appreciate donations of automobiles, parts or 

literature. 

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION 

 

 

Dues (check one): $30 Annual $450 Lifetime $2,500 Benefactor 

Name .................................................................................................................................................... 

Mailing Address:.................................................................................................................................... 




City: ...................................................... State: ................... Zip: ......................................................... 

Mail to: 

ROLLS-ROYCE FOUNDATION, 189 HEMPT ROAD, MECHANICSBURG, PA 17050 • 877-795-4050 



TRUST CREWE GENUINE PARTS TO KEEP IT ORIGINAL. 

Whatever the age of your Crewe-built Rolls-Royce or Bentley thoroughbred, you can rely on Crewe 

Genuine Parts and servicing to maintain both performance and originality. Every Crewe Genuine Part 

comes with a limited warranty that covers replacement of defective parts for three full years, if fitted 

by an Authorized Bentley Retailer. 

You will find the latest information and special offers on Crewe Genuine Parts on our website at 

www.crewegenuineparts.com. Alternatively, you can contact your local Authorized Bentley Retailer 

for more information. 

www.crewegenuineparts.com

Dedicated to Rolls-Royce & Bentley Motorcars ... - Magazooms

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