Lot details
Registration No: VA 2343
Chassis No: 107EM
Mot Expiry: Exempt

- Fitted with unique Shooting Brake coachwork (ex-chassis 1346) that HRH the Prince of Wales had Barker refinish to his own design in 1923.

- Current family ownership since 1994 and enjoyed on numerous 20-Ghost Club events plus tours through Europe, South Africa and Australasia etc

- Maintained by Cliff Long and will be driven to the sale

- Matching chassis and engine numbers, Whitehead front wheel brakes

Further Info:

The exemption from capital gains tax for only or main residences has distorted property prices in the interim but when new a Rolls-Royce 40/50hp Silver Ghost was not so much the price of a good town house - as its modern equivalent would be today - but rather the price of a good street. Thus, it is no surprise that initial or subsequent owners often sought to prolong the lifespan of their Silver Ghosts by re-bodying them. The elegant Barker Shooting Brake coachwork which adorns the lot on offer (chassis 107EM) was originally fitted to chassis 1346 which in turn had been supplied new to W.J. Stevens Esq. of Margate, Kent as a Barker Limousine. The more sporting / utilitarian body is thought to have been constructed in 1921, a year before the car was acquired by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. The future King Edward VIII decided to put his own stamp on the Shooting Brake during 1923 by commissioning Barker to apply a bespoke walnut effect finish to its aluminium panels.

An article entitled `A Royal Shooting Brake' which appeared in Country Life magazine some five years later remarked: `It is not, however, generally known that the idea of grained wood finish originated with H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, whose Rolls-Royce Shooting Brake set the fashion . . . The idea was original and experimental, but the car thus painted five years ago has been in commission ever since and has only once been revarnished. The painting is still as good as the day when it was turned out and the finish has proved as durable as any ever placed on the road . . . Experience with shooting cars suggests that they have to do all kinds of work and carry abnormal loads over impossible ground. Keepers and loaders with nailed boots, retrievers, lunch hampers, bags, gun cases and weighty cartridge magazines - all these are things which are very definitely productive of excessive wear and tear. A journey along a rather overgrown wood ride to a lunch hut will play havoc with either paint or panel that is not of the best, and there are few cars which could stand two successive shooting seasons without showing very marked exterior deterioration'.

Whether there is any truth to the rumour that H.R.H. the Prince of Wales used the Shooting Brake to smuggle Wallis Simpson into and out of Balmoral is unknown (its rear compartment contains black `pull down' silk blinds). Acquired by Sir H. Mackenzie in September 1940 and Allan Grey Esq. some eight months later, the Rolls-Royce certainly spent a considerable amount of time in Scotland. Part of the Ayrshire-based John C. Sword Collection for many years, it achieved the highest price of the day - £3,100 - when the first part of the Collection was dispersed by auctioneers John Watson & Son of Glasgow on 7th September 1962. Autocar magazine carried an illustration of the Shooting Brake a week later as part of its sale report, while the successful purchaser was a Canadian solicitor John Burnett Esq. On display at the Niagara Falls Antique Auto Museum for several years and bought by Californian B. Paul Moser during 1972, chassis 1346 was subsequently divorced from the Barker Shooting Brake body and currently wears Roi-des-Belges-style tourer coachwork.

The lot on offer - chassis 107EM - was supplied new to John Gardener Esq. of Glasgow as a Windovers Torpedo Tourer. Mr Gardener had Whitehead front wheel brakes fitted to the Silver Ghost in 1927 before selling it to R.G.W. Berkeley Esq. of Worcester. The latter retained the car until 1966 when D.A. Payne of Birmingham took ownership. Sporting Sunbeam Tourer coachwork for a while, the Rolls-Royce had been stripped to a `matching numbers' rolling chassis by the time that marque enthusiast David Toms Esq bought it from Adrian Liddell of Andover (who owned the famous Straker Squire Brooklands racer for many years). Mr Toms not only recommissioned chassis 107EM but also fitted it with the discarded ex-H.R.H. the Prince of Wales Barker Shooting Brake coachwork which had previously adorned chassis 1346. Although not road registered until 1924, chassis 107EM was built in 1923 the same year that the future King Edward VIII had Barker apply the wood grain effect finish to his trend-setting Shooting Brake.

Partially restored since entering the current family ownership in 1994, the Barker Shooting Brake has continued to transport notable personages (including eight Lord Mayors on one occasion) as well as being enjoyed on numerous tours and rallies in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, South of France, Alps, Pyrenees and Ireland etc. An accompanying letter from Cliff Long - the former proprietor of Cliff Long (Engineering) Veteran, Vintage & Classic Car Restorations - recalls that after pre-purchase vetting `The car was sent into my workshops for regular servicing and maintenance. When I retired I continued to service and maintain the car at the owner's home on a regular basis, so therefore the car has always been well looked after and hopefully ready for any long distance rally as required at any time'. Currently MOT tested until 24th July 2015, it is anticipated that chassis 107EM will possess a fresh certificate by the time of sale. Starting readily upon inspection, the lady vendor has every intention of driving the Rolls-Royce some 95 miles to Burghley House. The Dark Green hued wings and Black leather upholstery exhibit a certain amount of patina but the car remains in fair to good cosmetic order. Boasting Royal connections thanks to the provenance of its unique Barker coachwork, this imposing Rolls-Royce 40/50hp Silver Ghost would grace many a collection (especially if the new owner had access to a suitable estate).

H&H are indebted to renowned Rolls-Royce historian and co-author of `The Edwardian Rolls-Royce' John Fasal for his assistance in the preparation of this catalogue description.