Around sixty cars of various types were produced when Henry Royce started to work on a new six cylinder car, designed to rival the finest vehicles on offer. The Type 40/50hp would start a tradition of super luxury Rolls Royces that remains to this day. Best known as the Silver Ghost, the car combined this luxury with a very refined six cylinder engine. Production would last for almost three decades, underlining the excellence of its design.

In the first decade of the 20th century engine design was still very primitive, but with the six cylinder engine found 40/50hp Rolls Royce took a major step forward. There were other straight six engines available, but those either suffered from a flexing crankshaft or were very long to accommodate a strengthened crankshaft. Henry Royce designed a press lubricated crankshaft, which was mounted on seven bearings, creating a perfectly balanced six cylinder engine. Today's designs differ only in detail from the crank designed by Royce.

Displacing just over seven litres, the 'six' was installed in a simple ladder frame, but special attention was paid to prevent chassis flex. Bolted on the engine was a huge four speed gearbox, which was equipped with an overdrive. Suspension was by live axles and semi elliptic leaf springs. Two drums on the rear axle took care of the braking. A completed chassis was first shown at the 1906 London Motorshow in Olympia, where their closest rivals only had four cylinder vehicles on display.

Production started in a new factory, in Derby, early in 1907. One of the first cars produced was equipped with an all silver Barker body and was extensively used to market the 40/50hp by driving it on 2000 mile public trial. This specific car was nicknamed 'The Silver Ghost', a name that was soon adapted for the 40/50hp model. The marketing efforts paid off and the Silver Ghost quickly was a hit among the rich and famous. When the British production finished in 1925 well over 6000 examples were produced. Between 1921 and 1926 Rolls Royce also produced 1703 examples in the United States.

Pictured is a Silver Ghost bodied by Schebera of Germany with a 'Skiff' type body. At the dawn of motoring these boat shape, predomantly wooden coachworks were very popular on sportier chassis; wood is a natural composite and much like the modern exotic materials it combines strenght and low weight. While the Skiff was first introduced by the French Labourdette company, others like Schebera quickly followed suit. By the start of the 1920s wood was replaced by light materials like aluminum, which were considerably easier to use.

The featured Skiff bodied Silver Ghost is seen here at the 2005 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, where the rare remaining Skiffs were celebrated with a separate class. Earlier that week, the owner also completed the Tour d'Elegance with his completely original Rolls Royce. WM



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Roberto?

I saw this when you originally posted it Dom ....I have nothing to add at this time ...this strange car is very very old, I have no comment at all really ...I really like the brass snake though.

Yea, it's pretty weird! Half part is made of wood! But it's pretty cool!