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Books Models Highlights Cars
of 1998 Detailed information on the Rolls-Royce 20/25 H.P. in this book: |
Car
of the Month - July 2002 |
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For almost 50 years this Rolls-Royce remained a sort of "Sleeping Beauty". From 1951 to 2001 she was rarely ever used, spent months and years carefully garaged. The period immediately after she was finished by Park Ward might have seen more activity because the Continental Touring Saloon was delivered to an avid Rolls-Royce owner. Before the order for #GRC56 was noted in Rolls-Royce' order book his name did appear there as purchaser of another Rolls-Royce 20/25 H.P., chassis no. #GEX50 - and later again for #GHG20.
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A true high speed train however was used by a gentleman from France,
when in 2001 he decided on "Thalys" as his means of transport
from Paris to Germany. The reason was that he had been given to understand
the owner might consider to part with #GRC56 because she preferred a
Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn from the early post-war period. The following day
the new owner rolled at a leisure pace towards the French Atlantic Coast. Some
600 miles were covered |
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As far as the
history of this car is known, she was acquired in 1951 as part of an
estate in England; there the car had been "mothballed" during
World War II. The car was left untouched until 1962 - then the new owner
applied for H.M. Customs and Excise document "Identification Form for
a Motor Vehicle exported temporarily from the United Kingdom". At the
same time the car was modified according to Swiss Safety Regulations. It
wasn't registered though in Switzerland but got a German registration
instead. Every other year the car had to pass the German TUEV (an
equivalent of a MOT-test) and the TUEV-checklists noted the mileage, too.
Quite often the mileage was identical to that from two years ago, proving
beyond doubt that the car had not been used at all. During the early 90ies
the car changed hands again - this time changed into female hands to be
exact. The annual mileage at an average didn't exceed 100 miles. The
vastest distance covered in 1998 were some 750 miles to Berlin to attend
the launch of the new 
with absolutely no incident despite some snow and
black ice on the roads. This marked the end of the "Sleeping
Beauty"-period. For the only Rolls-Royce registered in that
particular French department the authorities kindly issued a special
registration and the car is being driven almost regularly. Definitely that
is the best that could happen to this fine Rolls-Royce motor car, not
least because now she is in the custody of an enthusiast who enjoys the
reputation of being one of the top Rolls-Royce experts in the world.