1920 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Tourer

As your author pens this auction listing description, the vendor is heading off to Le Mans in his classic Bentley.

He is an enthusiastic and experienced Rolls-Royce and Bentley afficionado and bought this Silver Ghost in order to scratch a long-term automotive itch: namely, to complete the 2023 RREC Alpenfahrt tour on the centenary of the original 1913 event. 

That the 103-year-old car completed the 1,850 tour without missing a beat should tell you a great deal about its mechanical and dynamic integrity, and the amount of time and money that has been lavished upon it.

Originally built with a Barker Limousine body, the car’s first owner was Sir Alfred Butt.

No, we hadn’t heard of him either.

But maybe we should.

Sir Alfred was something of a renaissance man and achieved a considerable degree of fame, fortune and, indeed, notoriety in all sorts of different professions and ventures.

In no particular order, Sir Alfred was a successful racehorse owner and breeder, a theatre manager, the MP for Balham and Tooting, the Director of Food Rationing during WWI, a Baronet, and an impresario who introduced Anna Pavlova, Fred Astaire and Buster Keaton to the British public.

Investigations into the propriety of his fiscal dealings while Director of Food Rationing led to an untimely fall from grace in 1936.

But we digress.

By the mid-1990s the car had become somewhat derelict and the then owner took it upon himself to have the car re-bodied as a Barker-style Tourer and totally renovated and restored.

He entrusted the restoration to Reg White who, in turn, commissioned John Knight to build the ash-framed, aluminium-clad Barker-style body.

The vendor thinks the proportions, lines and silhouette they achieved look very good indeed. We agree.

The original engine was replaced with another authentic Silver Ghost engine.

The vendor has carried on with the rolling restoration of the car and has entrusted the work to, among others, A.J. Glew, Carl Ford, Paul Jaye and Gary Wright – all highly esteemed and respected specialists in their fields.

Recent work included creating a new mahogany dashboard and moving it closer to the bulkhead, as befits a Tourer-bodied car. Much time and effort was expended in hunting down and acquiring the correct instruments.

The steering assembly, hand-brake and gear lever were taken out and sent off to be nickel-plated. So, too, were the wheel centres.

The steering wheel was re-covered.

The existing hood frame wasn’t quite right, so the vendor worked with Paul Jaye and Gary Wright to create a new, improved design for the frame. A new hood, tonneau cover and hood bag were also made.

To get the car nearer to the Tourer specification it now embodies, the vendor had the pedals moved to the correct positions and altered the height of the seats to be period- and body-style-correct.

Wherever possible, the original leather was retained during an interior re-trim that, alongside the attention paid to the upholstery, included new interior door panels and new carpets.

The car was the entirely deserving recipient of ‘The Cherished Choice Award’ at the Stony Stratford Car Show held on 1st January 2024.

The bodywork is true, straight, and untroubled by any dinks, dents, creases, ripples or folds that we can see.

The panel gaps and shut-lines are crisp and clean, and all four doors close with weight, accuracy and certainty.

The car’s blue paintwork has a tremendous lustre and depth of shine to it. So, too, does the gloss black finish on the wheel arches. The aluminium bonnet is in pristine condition.

Even entirely standard scuffs, scratches and stone chips are more notable for their absence than their presence, and the car overall looks like what it is – a concours-standard vehicle.

The black fabric hood is in first-class condition, as are the tonneau cover and hood bag.

The chrome work on the grille, lights and trim is shiny and bright, and the wheels and tyres appear to be in thoroughly good order.

The trunk, battery box and other external fixtures and fittings are following the same script in terms of presentation and condition.

The interior is every bit as impressive as its exterior counterpart and is equally devoid of any signs or wear, tear, use or abuse.

The soft leather upholstery, front and back, has yet to earn more than a light crease or two, let alone any ingrained patina.

The door cards are beyond reproach, as is the splendid mahogany dashboard.

The carpets and mats are excellent, as is the hood lining.

We didn’t press every button, flick every switch or twiddle every knob, but the vendor assures us that any we might have chosen to press, flick and twiddle would surely have responded as expected. 

The engine bay is spotlessly clean, dry and tidy. Everything appears to be in its right and proper place.

The undersides of the car look to have a great deal of structural integrity and seem to us to be wholly uncompromised by weather, use or the passage of time. 

The car comes with plenty of bills, invoices and receipts covering both recent and more distant work carried out over the years.

The vendor spent over £5,000 with A.J. Glew preparing the car for the 2023 Alpenfahrt. 

And he spent over £10,000 in November and December 2023 having the car properly shaken down after its Alpine adventure. Carl Ford conducted a series of road tests and corrected, rectified, repaired, refurbished or replaced anything that needed attention as appropriate after each test.

There are copies of the original build sheets with the car.

This exceptional car ticks all the right boxes for provenance, diligent curation, fabulous aesthetics and, as evidenced by its proven ability to cover nearly 2000 miles through the Alps, its first-class mechanical condition. 

It really is very, very good indeed.

We are happy to offer this car for auction with an estimate in the range of £150,000 - £200,000.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at Bonhams|Cars Online HQ. Viewings are strictly by appointment.  To make a booking, please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, and read our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.