Rolls-Royces on the Track

In the days when Rolls-Royce was making its famous Silver Ghost, unkind people were apt to say that its quiet running was achieved only by using a larger engine operating below its power capacity.

When this luxury car appeared in a Brooklands race I wrote to the makers to ask for information on how its speed was obtained. The reply was that they did not encourage owners to race their cars.

In 1911 Rolls-Royce gave a demonstration run with a Silver Ghost chassis with a square cowl over its radiator, disc wheels and a simple body with open-ended tapering tail, from which the steering column and outside levers rudely protruded. This covered a flying half-mile at 101.8mph.

1914 was the first time a six-cylinder Rolls-Royce was entered at Brooklands; the driver was a Mr Morrison but the car was a non-starter. A D Sanderson in 1921 entered a 1920 Silver Ghost with a touring body and won the 75mph Short Handicap with a best lap of 83.42mph. In the same year he also came third in a Long Handicap with a fastest lap of 86.17mph. In the next year a Mr Summers had also entered a 1920 Silver Ghost but retired, and in 1923 Sanderson entered his Ghost in a couple of Long Handicaps without success, though he did achieve victory in the Winners Handicap in the September MCC speed trials (above).