Rolls-Royce Celebrates Centenary Of The Silver Ghost

WEST SUSSEX, England - May 30, 2007: The largest gathering of Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts ever, took place on Saturday, May 26th, at the Rolls‑Royce head office and manufacturing plant at Goodwood, West Sussex. More than 60 of the historic motor cars, built between 1907 and 1926, were displayed before they embarked on a 17-day, 2000-mile tour.

Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost photographed by Malcolm Asquith, at the Midland Hotel Manchester in 2004.

The event marks the centenary of a reliability trial that established the reputation of the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost in 1907 as the world’s finest car. The commemorative cross-country tour includes stopovers in Derbyshire, the Lake District, Inverness, John o’Groat’s and Dundas Castle in Edinburgh. The tour has been organised by the 20-Ghost Club, which encourages the restoration, maintenance and use of Rolls-Royce cars built before 1945.

Members of the club have brought cars from as far away as the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa and India. The vehicles represent some of the finest examples of their type, including the car that carried out the actual endurance test in 1907.

Two special new cars were also on display. The limited edition Rolls-Royce Phantom Silver has been built to mark this centenary and only 25 will be made. In tribute to the specifications of the original, the car is finished in a new Bespoke paint, Metallic Ghost Silver and includes a host of special features, including a solid silver Spirit of Ecstasy.

The second car is the recently launched Phantom Drophead Coupé – a two door, four-seat convertible. This spectacular new car is exciting customers around the world and a substantial order bank has been established. The whole of 2007 production has been sold and there are currently only a few build slots left in 2008. Production of the new model begins in the summer.

Speaking at the event, Chairman and CEO, Ian Robertson, said, “We are delighted to support the 20-Ghost Club on this unique occasion. We are especially pleased and honoured to present these wonderful motor cars together at Goodwood, the new home of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. The Silver Ghost was designed and built with an obsession for quality combined with the highest level of engineering and this remains the foundation of our company today.”

Notes:

• First built in 1907 specifically to publicise the then new Rolls-Royce 40/50 h.p. six-cylinder model, the Silver Ghost established the Rolls-Royce reputation for reliability and engineering excellence. The name was bestowed upon the car by Rolls-Royce Managing Director, Claude Johnson, by virtue of its silver coachwork and its ‘extraordinary stealthiness’. In the year of its manufacture, the original Silver Ghost, registered AX-201, competed in the 1907 Scottish Reliability Trial, for which it won the gold medal in its class for hill climbing speed and reliability. The Silver Ghost went on in that year to break the world record for a non-stop motor run, covering a London to Glasgow route 27 times, with mileage totalling 14,371 miles.

• The Phantom Silver forms part of a wider Bespoke Collection launched by Rolls-Royce to customers earlier in the year. Several unique specifications will be launched throughout 2007, with the first, Phantom Pearl, having already accounted for more than 25 cars.

• Annual Rolls-Royce sales figures since launch:
2003 - 300
2004 - 792
2005 - 796
2006 - 805

• Rolls-Royce has 80 showrooms around the world.

• In 2007, the Rolls-Royce product line will be: Phantom, Phantom Extended Wheelbase and Phantom Drophead Coupé.

• 101EX, our second experimental car, was unveiled in 2006.