1924 Rolls-Royce 40/50hp Silver Ghost

Registration No: RPL 600
Chassis No: 36LM
MOT: Exempt

• Initially supplied with Pullman Cabriolet coachwork by H. J. Mulliner
• First owned by Otto Oppenheimer of the De Beers diamond empire
• Part of a significant private collection of predominantly Rolls-Royce and Bentley since 1987
• Highly worthwhile and likely rewarding ‘blank canvas’ restoration project
• Boasting its original engine
• Supplied with RREC chassis records and V5C document

PLEASE NOTE: The registration number ‘XT 1692’ confirmed in the text is only believed, not confirmed as the original registration number.

The model upon which Rolls-Royce's reputation as makers of 'The Best Car in the World' was founded, the 40/50hp debuted at the November, 1906, London Motor Show. A somewhat conventional yet beautifully executed design, the newcomer was based around a massive ladder-frame chassis equipped with all-round leaf-sprung suspension, powerful rear wheel brakes and spiral-bevel final drive. Displacing 7,036cc (7,428cc from 1910), its superlatively smooth six-cylinder engine featured a seven-bearing crankshaft, full pressure lubrication and twelve spark plugs (fed viâ a dual magneto/coil ignition system). Allied to four-speed manual transmission (though a three-speed gearbox was utilised from 1909 to 1913), the sidevalve unit proved both wonderfully torquey and eerily quiet. Possessing a legendary eye for detail, Henry Royce continued to develop the 40/50hp throughout its eighteen-year production life. Thus, late Silver Ghosts boasted considerably more horsepower (up from 48bhp at 1,250rpm to 80bhp at 2,250rpm) and higher top speeds than their earlier brethren.

This long-wheelbase Silver Ghost chassis would have been a wonderful sight when new, with its opulent six-seater H. J. Mulliner Pullman Cabriolet coachwork. Originally registered ‘XT 1692’, the first owners were given as L. M. van Moppes & Sons of 14-17, Holborn Viaduct, and Otto Oppenheimer of 1, St. Andrew’s Street, Holborn Circus. Oppenheimer (1882-1948) was part of the famous diamond-trading family and controlled the London arm of De Beers for his brother Sir Ernest Oppenheimer. L. M. van Moppes was a London diamond merchant founded in 1893, which became one of De Beers’ first Sightholders.

Chassis 36LM was specified with equipment including an extra spare wheel, side lamps on the wings, a Lucas lighting set, a Smiths eight-day clock and a “cobra horn” (we think this actually refers to the boa constrictor-shaped horn which was one of the more extravagant early motoring accessories).

Oppenheimer later kept the car at his Berkshire country residences, Lynwood Chase in Bracknell and Waltham Lodge in White Waltham. Lynwood Chase was a large Victorian house with the interior partly remodelled during Oppenheimer's tenure by country-house architect Oliver Hill, though sadly it has all since been demolished. In 1927 ownership passed to the estate agent Stanley Prior of 6, Bromley Road, and 4, Station Buildings, in Catford. There is little later history but the car was registered ‘RPL 600’ in 1952 and had only one recorded owner between then and 1987 when it was bought from a Sotheby’s sale by the vendor’s father, an enthusiastic Rolls-Royce and Bentley collector. As bought, it carried a Phantom I body, which the owner proceeded to mount on a Phantom chassis. The Ghost was on the road at the time, but obviously has not been used since the body was removed and it will now require rebodying and some further restoration, though at initial glance the chassis and engine look to be in good condition.

A true diamond in the rough, 36LM is sold with the current V5C, an MOT from 1987 and copies of the Rolls-Royce chassis records. The chassis number has been recorded incorrectly on the logbook, but the chassis plate is present.

For more information, please contact:
Paul Cheetham
paul.cheetham@handh.co.uk
07538 667452