Engine : 6 cylinder in line configuration
Transmission : Cone type clutch, 4 speeds and reverse
Chassis : Pressed steel, parallel girder with tubular crossmembers
Dimensions : Wheelbase 135 1/2 or 143 1/2 inches
Performance : Late models with lightweight body max speed 84 mph (135 km/h)
The name Silver Ghost was a later
creation of C
G Johnson and at first was used only for one
demonstrator. Curiously though during the time that the model was being
produced this name found
more acceptance than the term given
by the factory and
in the end was in general usage
for all examples of this model.
Production in 1907 was limited to about four cars per weekafter the new works in Nightingale Road in Derby opened in July 1908, a higher
A material increase in capacity
from 7,036 cc to 7,428cc in 1909
was attained by a longer sroke.
It did not take long for it to
become obvious to both Rolls and Johnson that a considerable number of
drivers lacked even basic skills in how
to handle a motor car. Rolls-Royce
opened a drivers' school of instruction
which held its first training course in 1910.
No other manufacturer offered the
benefit of a driving school and effective advice regarding the choice of
coachwork at that time.
This service was followed up by
the provision of a service which ensured the car's uninterrupted readiness
for use.
Travelling mechanics visited the
customers regularly
or on request and carried out maintenance
work or repairs
immediately in the owner's own
motor house.
The Silver Ghost
dominated the Austrian Alpine Rally in 1913
with a top speed of 80
mph, and although the outbreak of the First
World War in 1914 raised fears that the company might have to
close because of lack of orders
for their class of car production was
kept alive by the provision of
armoured cars based on the
Silver Ghost chassis.
The longevity of these cars is documented
by the fact that several
were still in regular use at the
outbrake of World War II.
Between 1906 and 1925 at the factories
in Manchester and
Derby 6,173
Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts were built.
This motor car, more than any other,
symbolised luxury
and wealth.
Like the Tsar
who had chosen a Silver Ghost,
Lenin, his
communist successor, also chose a Rolls-Royce.
The Emperor
of Japan had taken delivery of two Silver
Ghosts
in 1922 and the aristocrats and
magnates who drove
Silver Ghosts were legion.
The Silver Ghost had confirmed in the eyes of the world that
Rolls-Royce really did build"The Best Car in the World" and when the time came for a replacement model to be found
it was going to be a hard act to follow.