1924 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost

Sold for $214,500 at 2016 Bonhams : The Amelia Island Auction.
This first Springfield Silver Ghost models were assembled from kits of parts brought from England. The Springfield works steadily added American vendors for electrical systems and accessories and expanded its manufacturing capabilities. Within a few years, even managers from Derby were rating the Springfield built Rolls-Royce automobiles the equal of those built in Derby.

Updates and mechanical refinements were first applied to Derby-built Rolls-Royces, then added to the Springfield-built cars. Thus, American product was late to get such improvements as four-wheel brakes. Many of the American components, however, were better than those available in the United Kingdom and the Springfield-built Rolls-Royces soon featured American-made Bosch magnetos and coil ignition, Bijur generators and starters and American-made wire wheels.

Springfield cars had several unique features, including the tubular bumpers and drum-style headlights. All were bodied with American-built coachwork, sometimes by Brewster but mostly - at least during the Silver Ghost era - by a number of coachbuilders which worked to open orders for cataloged bodies from Rolls-Royce which were then identified only as made by Rolls-Royce Custom Coachworks.

By Daniel Vaughan | Apr 2016