Stories by Bennett Oghifo

One motor car changed the course of automotive history. Today, the legend is re-told as Rolls-Royce Motor Cars proudly announces the creation of a collection of 35 model year 2018 Rolls-Royce Ghosts, created in homage to the original Silver Ghost’s achievement. In 1904, a pioneering motorist, a brilliant entrepreneur and an intrepid engineer were united by a desire to succeed. Three years later, this success was recognised by the world’s media. An unfathomable challenge unprecedented of its time and legendary to this day, was completed by The Hon. Charles Rolls and Claude Johnson in Sir Henry Royce’s ‘Silver Ghost’. The car achieved a non-stop long distance endurance record of 14,371 miles. This challenge was to shape automotive and luxury history, creating a world-renowned benchmark for excellence in the process. It was the twelfth 40/50hp chassis, completed with a Barker & Co 4/5 seater touring body, commissioned by Claude Johnson, then Managing Director of Rolls-Royce Limited that was quickly recognised for its ability to demonstrate the marque’s prowess. The ethereally quiet running of this extraordinary automobile and the silver paint with silver fittings, led Johnson to select this very car for high-profile competitive trials, bestowing the name, ‘Silver Ghost’ upon it.

In celebration of this extraordinary feat of engineering excellence, a special collection of model year 2018 Bespoke Ghosts will be created at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, West Sussex. Thirty-five patrons of the marque will delight in a contemporary masterpiece of automotive history, as the Bespoke Collective of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars envisions the ‘Silver Ghost Collection’. Speaking from the Home of Rolls-Royce, Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, commented, “The extraordinary accomplishments of our marque’s founding fathers are honoured by the creation of this elegant ‘Silver Ghost Collection’.