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1924 Rolls-Royce 40/50 HP Silver Ghost Shooting Brake

Long wheelbase chassis number '101EM' was delivered to coachbuilder Windovers Ltd in March 1924 for bodying as an 'enclosed drive limousine.' The car was first owned by Bracewell Smith, Esq (later Sir Bracewell Smith, MP), whose address is recorded on the accompanying copy chassis cards as the Shaftesbury Hotel, London WC2 and later as the Park Lane Hotel, London W1, the latter being part of his property empire. There are no subsequent owners listed.


In 1959, George du Boulay bought the somewhat dilapidated Silver Ghost from Carr Brothers in Purley for £99. He subsequently dubbed the car 'Gawain' after the mighty knight of Arthurian romance. Gawain comes with a fascinating account, written by George's son Giles, of the Ghost's ownership by the du Boulay family and the many happy memories associated with this unique Rolls-Royce.


The body had been converted some years previously to a 'shooting brake' with a platform on the roof, another folding down at the rear, with fittings for a third at the front, all for the mounting of ciné cameras. It is understood that the conversion was carried out for a film company, and '101EM' may have been one of two such camera cars. Indeed, '101EM' is known to have appeared in the 1951 motion picture 'The Man in the White Suite' starring Sir Alec Guinness.




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