Alpine Ghosts

The re-run of the 1913 Alpine Rally by the R-R EC/20 Ghost Club, sponsored by Motorola, went off with great gusto. The event was confined to 40/50 hp Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts, the entry of which numbered 40, the oldest a 1911 tourer from Australia. John Kennedy had put his 1913 tourer into full “James Radley” specification, Radley having been the top performer in this arduous trial 80 years ago, but it rewarded him with a broken arm when he was hand-cranking it and Cohn Crabbe had to take over.

The only “gate-crasher” was a 1914 Vauxhall from New Zealand but a Phantom 1 tourer and three closed Phantom 11 RollsRoyce were used as official cars, covering the entire route. The event lasted for 15 days and the Ghosts covered over 1700 miles and ascended more than 47,000 ft of mountain passes. That was the route mileage. But one Ghost from Dawlish covered a trouble-free 4725 miles. Not one retired. Good show indeed!

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