STORIED ROLLS REBORN
In the early 1980s, Canberra-based teacher Ian Irwin acquired the chassis and running gear of a Rollsroyce Silver Ghost, chassis 1404. This car was commissioned by Lord John Scott-montagu, grandfather of the present Lord Montagu, with a Barker Roi des Belges body. It was delivered in 1910, registered AA 19.
Artist and sculptor Charles Sykes, then art editor of Car Illustrated, was commissioned to produce a mascot for Rolls-royce, and it is widely accepted that he chose as his model Eleanor Thornton, secretary to Lord Montagu – the magazineʼs editor and proprietor. It has long been acknowledged that the first Spirit of Ecstasy was affixed to Lord Montaguʼs Rolls-royce, 1404.
The car then passed through several owners before heading to Australia in 1922. At some stage the body was replaced by a more sporting type, then in ʼ39 it suffered an accident with another owner. Within a matter of weeks the car was broken up; the rolling chassis was abandoned in the town, and the mechanicals taken to Queensland.
Ian had known the location of the Queensland parts and, realising the importance of 1404, set out to find the abandoned chassis and axles. The motor had been left in the open for 20 years, and the remainder had been stored beneath a house in Buderim, 75km north of Brisbane.
Following Ianʼs treasure hunt, and a 30-year rebuild, the car is complete and wears a period-style Roi des Belges body (below). Ian has spent thousands of hours researching the Montagu connection, the mascot and the carʼs ownership history for a book to be published in 2024.