Thread: Knowledgeable RR Owners

Not Range Rover but Rolls Royce.

I emailed the RROC and sent this photo of my father's Rolls (Mum in pic) when we were living at Hume Weir (in what are now holiday cottages) about 60 years ago and asked if they could identify the body builder. Dad told me the other day that the car was a 1924 Silver Ghost. Dad had swapped his Pierce Arrow for the Roller. Dad was the foreman of the mechanical workshops at the weir.



I had a reply from the Rolls Royce Club the next day. The car is still around but rebodied. It seems Dad bought it in 1952 when he was 32. I rang him today with the info and the fact it was made the same year he was born, not 1924.

Guessing that your father is also called Ron Beckett, I can offer the following [annotated] history of the vehicle in question, from the notes in the book 'Rolls-Royce and Bentley in The Sunburnt Country' by Tom Clarke and David Neely.

Rolls-Royce 40/50HP 'Silver Ghost'] Chassis No. 51FW, engine K42, short chassis 'speed model', off test May 1920, Hooper tourer in grey with black wheel discs via Boyd Edkins Ltd to Reg J. Fagan, 'Sunnyridge', Mandurama, NSW, reg'd NSW-19-017 (Motor Life 21 Oct. 1922 p.27, 16 Dec. 1922 p.7,4 July 1925 p.15; Rolls-Royce Bulletin Apr. 1922 p.8). Stove enamelled blocks were specified. Fagan had ordered his new chassis in late 1916 and sold his [Silver Ghost] 1884 when 51FW eventually arrived; [sold to] W. Thompson, Darlinghurst, 1929 and body altered by Auto Body Builders, Sydney into allweather with windows, reg'd NSW-122-767; [sold to] J.H. Skerry, Melbourne, 1930s, reg'd VIC-1-611 Dec. 19??, VIC-88-638 May 1934. Martin & King saloon fitted; [sold to] Ronald Beckett, Albury, NSW, 1952; [sold to] J.G.Drage, Glen Creek, Vic, regd' VIC-GLM-140 Feb. 1956; [sold to] John McClegg, Yackandandah, Vic 1956; [sold to] Mark Halford, used in skiing district; [sold to] John U. Best, Kallista, Vic, 1958 with half of Martin & King body removed; [sold to] Julian W, 1995 as chassis with some Hooper footboard remains. Replica tourer by [Roger] Fry fitted 1995 reg'd WA-20-GHOST.

So to directly answer your question, based on the match of name, dates and locality it is almost certain that your father's car was a 1920 40/50HP Rolls-Royce (aka Silver Ghost) with a Martin & King saloon body. The picture you provided is very evidently of a Martin & King saloon so that makes the identification even more certain.

Attached is a photo of 51FW with its current Roger Fry tourer body, taken in 2003 in York, WA. The car is still in regular use in WA in this form.

At least one owner is missing from the list. Dad sold it to a Jerry O'Keefe who, whilst drunk, crashed the Rolls into a gravel truck which then rolled over (not the Roller, the truck!) There was a pic of the crash in Albury's Border Mail newspaper.

I found the pic of two of my sisters and me at the back of the car:



And I've received these pics from the current owner: