The Rolls-Royce 911 Silver Ghost at The St Regis Doha. After going around the world, the vintage beauty has found its destiny in Qatar. PICTURE: Jayaram
By G John
It has come a long way, to be precise, 100 years! And now the Rolls-Royce 911 Silver Ghost is sitting pretty in the immaculate setting of The St Regis Doha. Mounted atop four marble platforms perched over the lobby’s main water feature, what was once the ‘Best Car in the World’ has taken the pride of place at its new found home in Qatar for the rest of its life.
Its shiny black and silver exterior, vintage coachwork, folding Victoria top and bulb horn are a throwback to the early 1900s when British car manufacturer Rolls-Royce built some of the legendary automobiles in the world. Rolls-Royce has held on to the tradition even today. The Silver Ghost is the model on which the manufacturer’s legacy was built, a true masterpiece of engineering and design from the founders Charles Rolls and Henry Royce, epitomising their shared value for the pursuit of perfection.
The car has had an illustrious journey. It all began in 1907 when Claude Johnson, a head honcho of Rolls-Royce, ordered a car to be built as a demonstrator by the company. Painted in aluminium colour with silver-plated fittings, the car was named the “Silver Ghost” to emphasise its ghost-like quietness. Johnson avidly promoted this new model increasing its visibility to a wider section of patrons, which was then limited to a select group of aristocrats. In the reliability trials later, the car broke all records by completing a 15,000 mile (24,000km) test run that cemented its reputation as one of the most reliable cars of the time. Autocar called it the ‘Best Car in the World.’
In the past century, this 1911 Silver Ghost has been the subject of two restorations, as well as being showcased in numerous pictorial references, — the car is featured in the Lawrence Dalton book Those Elegant Rolls-Royce and was immortalised in the Melbourne Brindle/Phil May book Twenty Silver Ghosts where it is illustrated with the Taj Mahal as its backdrop.
Following the celebration of King George VI’s coronation on the sub-continent, its ownership was passed to Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV, Maharaja of Mysore, India. Soon after, the unique Mulliner Pullman limousine coachwork was removed and re-bodied with this open Midnight Blue Victoria style bodywork to suit the tropical climate, complemented by Consort Red leather interior. The car was then used exclusively for parades and similar ceremonial occasions.
The dignitaries riding in the elevated rear seat were protected from the sun by a folding Victoria top. The large umbrella in the rear was to provide partial shading for the guards and retainers standing at attention in the sun; a very thoughtful gesture on part of the Maharaja.
Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV was the 24th ruler from the Wadiyar dynasty, which ruled the princely state of Mysore from 1399 to India’s independence in 1947.
The Maharaja was widely loved by the people and is credited for transforming Mysore into one of the most progressive states of the time. His rule is often referred to as the ‘Golden age of Mysore’. Arguably one of the world’s wealthiest men, the Maharaja was worth an estimated £35bn at his death in 1940.
The car returned to the United Kingdom in the early 1960s, as property of Victor Barclay, son of Jack Barclay founder of the famous sales agency for Rolls-Royce. Barclay would offer the car for sale at the first collector’s car auction of motorcars held by Sotheby’s in November 1965. The buyer on the day was James Leake, the famed collector from Oklahoma, USA, who paid something of a record price for its day. A little over a decade later, Leake returned the car to the UK for the celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee at Windsor in 1977.
James Leake would keep the car for more than 20 years passing it on to Tom Barrett of (Barrett-Jackson fame) in 1987, from Barrett it was sold to Ghost collector Raymond Lutgert, in 1993 before passing briefly to Silver Ghost aficionado Millard Newman of Tampa, Florida.
Newman sold the car to Richard Solove who is one of the most noted collectors of the model to date, The Maharaja’s car becoming the 11th in his quest for a ‘full-set’ of each year of Silver Ghost from 1907-1915. On achieving this goal in 2007, Solove nobly sold the collection publicly to benefit cancer charities at which point the car joined the penultimate member of this impressive chain of Silver Ghost owners, the late John M O’Quinn.
In 2011, one century after its original hand over, this priceless Silver Ghost was acquired by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Doha, and can now be found on display in the elegant setting of the St Regis Doha, the finest address in Qatar, standing as a testament to the unwavering stately luxury that every Rolls-Royce Motor Car encapsulates.
Says Tareq Derbas, General Manager, The St Regis Doha: “The Rolls-Royce 1911 Silver Ghost has been a welcome addition to the lobby of the St Regis Doha, and has drawn admiration and interest from our guests from around the world. The Silver Ghost represents luxury, comfort and timeless elegance, and we feel it is a very natural fit here at the finest address in Doha.”
There is no greater statement of this than the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Class win that it achieved at the 1995 Pebble Beach Concours d’ Elegance, following a refurbishment at the hands of noted specialist David Hemmings, although its condition has aged just a little since.
Its engine number 91K, a straight six with 7036cc displacement offering 48hp managed by a three speed manual transmission, is actually the unit originally fitted to one of the Maharajah of Mysore’s other Silver Ghosts and must have been exchanged at some point during its service.
