The Stan West Collection
1923 Rolls-Royce 40/50hp Silver Ghost Pall Mall Tourer
Registration no. BF 5157
Chassis no. 314XH
*Built by Rolls-Royce of America Incorporated
*Right-hand drive
*Acquired by Stan West in 2010
*Extensively restored by P&A Wood
Footnotes:
Although the 40/50hp model would have earned its 'The Best Car in the World' sobriquet in any event, Rolls-Royce's decision to drop all other types only served to focus attention on what would become known as the 'Silver Ghost'. Prior to 1908, when it relocated to a new factory in Derby, the company founded by engineer Frederick Henry Royce and entrepreneur the Honourable Charles Stewart Rolls had manufactured a variety of models at its Manchester premises. Cars with two, three, four and six cylinders were made, and even an abortive V8, before Managing Director Claude Johnson's decision to concentrate on the range-topping 40/50hp. The latter had first appeared at the 1906 Motor Show and became known as the 'Silver Ghost' the following year when chassis number '60551' was exhibited wearing silver-painted tourer coachwork by Barker.

The heart of the Silver Ghost was its magnificent engine, a 7,036cc (later 7,428cc) sidevalve six equipped with seven-bearing crankshaft and pressure lubrication. A sturdy chassis comprised of channel-section side members and tubular cross members was suspended on semi-elliptic springs at the front and a 'platform' leaf-spring arrangement at the rear, though the latter soon came in for revision. The transmission too was soon changed, a three-speed gearbox with direct-drive top gear replacing the original four-speed/overdrive top unit in 1909. In the course of its 20-year production life there would be countless other improvements to the car, one of the most important being the adoption of servo-assisted four-wheel brakes towards the end of 1923.

After a successful 2,000-mile trial under RAC supervision, the factory demonstrator - chassis '60551', 'The Silver Ghost' - was entered in the Scottish Reliability Trial, completing the 15,000-mile run with flying colours to set a new World Record. From then on the car's reputation was assured, not the least in North America where the wide-open spaces placed a premium on reliability and comfort. Royce's uncompromising engineering standards demanded only excellence of his staff in Manchester and later Derby, and no chassis was delivered until it had been rigorously tested. The Silver Ghost remained in production in England until 1925 and at Rolls-Royce's Springfield plant in the USA until 1926, the longest production run of any model from that celebrated company. Cars were right-hand drive up to 1925 and left-hand drive thereafter.

Unlike its British-built counterpart, the American product could be ordered with 'factory' bodywork, usually by Brewster, which would be taken over by Rolls-Royce in December 1925. Before Brewster's acquisition, bodies supplied under the 'Rolls-Royce Custom Coach Works' programme were built by various independent coachbuilders, while from 1923 some bodies were built in the company's own coachbuilding facility in the old Knox Automobile Co factory; the latter, though, was mainly employed in finishing bodies built by outside contractors to Rolls-Royce Custom Coach Works' designs.

Like their British counterparts, the majority of US-made Silver Ghosts carried closed formal coachwork, making this example, with its Pall Mall open tourer body, rare indeed. '314XH' was first registered to Stan West on 27th July 2010. The car comes with a history file mostly consisting of numerous invoices from renowned marque specialists P&A Wood relating to extensive restoration works undertaken between 2011 and 2017 at a cost of around £163,000. The file also contains an invoice for an interior re-trim by Rick Turner (£2,320) and a (part) V5C document. Described by P&A Wood as 'an extremely good long distance touring car', this rare Silver Ghost Pall Mall tourer would enhance any prestigious private collection.