Rolls-Royce is marking 120 years since its iconic 40/50 H.P. — the car that would come to be known worldwide as the Silver Ghost — was unveiled at the Olympia Motor Show in London. According to the marque’s own archives, the six-cylinder car that took the stage in 1906 was praised as the quietest and most reliable motor car of its era, taking its name from Claude Johnson, the company’s first Commercial Managing Director.
The Chassis That Broke 100mph at Brooklands: “The Sluggard”
One of the emblematic cars of this 120th anniversary is chassis 1701, nicknamed “The Sluggard.” The car completed the entire 1911 London-to-Edinburgh Reliability Trial locked in top gear without a single downshift, and that same year, with test driver Ernest Hives at the wheel, became the first Rolls-Royce to exceed 100mph, reaching 101.8mph at Brooklands. Preserved today at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, the chassis repeated the same London-to-Edinburgh run once again in 2021.
The marque’s most recognisable emblem, the Spirit of Ecstasy, also made its debut on a Silver Ghost — the car belonging to Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. Sculpted by Charles Sykes, it was officially adopted by the company in 1911. The model was also favoured by notable figures of its time: opera singer Dame Nellie Melba, Sir Winston Churchill, Howard Hughes and Paris Singer among them; the Government of India ordered eight Silver Ghosts for King George V and Queen Mary’s 1911 visit. Between 1906 and 1925, 6,173 were built in Britain and a further 1,703 at the Springfield, Massachusetts plant in the United States.
Andrew Ball, Head of Corporate Relations and Heritage at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said of the anniversary: «The Silver Ghost occupies a special place in Rolls-Royce history.»
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