Rolls-Royce.
How the mighty fall. A once-proud Rolls-Royce, "the best car in the world", reduced to a grubby, tattered rolling chassis, roped onto the flatbed body of a 1950s Commer lorry. Twenty-plus years earlier the chassis, glistening and immaculate, was delivered to one of several coachbuilders, who then fitted a body of the new owner's choosing. Quite which model is shown here I'm not sure. The photographs came in a small batch that also included shots of a vintage Phantom II on a tour of Europe (photos here), however while there are similarities, the car shown below has a spare wheel mounting visible on its offside, close to the steering column, while the aforementioned 1929 Phantom bears no such fitting. The other possibility I thought of was the 20/25, but the six-cylinder engine doesn't match those I've seen in other photographs of 20/25s. All advice welcomed, sadly the car's registration isn't visible.
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The first of the two photographs shows the rolling chassis and the Commer in their entirety, while the second focuses on the Rolls-Royce's engine and forward chassis. There is very little evidence of the body that the car once wore, there is a small section of ash framework strapped to the rear (possibly part of the scuttle), and the bulkhead remains in its correct position. The seats may give a clue, they appear to have folding backrests, so is this a clue that the car was fitted with a saloon rather than open body? The caked-on mud evident on the chassis suggests that the car led a hard life, and perhaps wasn't treated as well as a car of this standing deserved. Perhaps it had just been rescued from a scrapyard, or was on its way to one ... a sad sight whichever was the case.
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(Please click the thumbnails to view the full-size images.) |
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Next, a detailed close-up of the car's engine and ancillaries. The spare wheel bracket and curved support further down, can be seen. I'm sure someone very au-fait with these cars will recognise the model based on the components visible here. The front wheel centre bears the manufacturer's name, while the front tyre (a re-tread?) bears numerous cracks to its sidewalls, another sign of neglect and of a hard life.
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If more information on this tattered relic turns up, I'll update this page.
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Return to Page 17 in the vintage gallery.
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