1925 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Piccadilly Roadster

This Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost was delivered new to Albert B. Wells of Southbridge, Massachusetts, and President of the American Optical Company. He specified a formal Pickwick Limousine body produced by Rolls-Royce Custom Coachworks, and actually constructed by Biddle & Smart. The car remained with Mr. Wells until 1933 when it passed briefly to J. Work and then through the coachbuilders and Rolls-Royce agency of Brewster and Company in New York.

A common practice during the era was to have the bodies upgraded or exchanged between cars, allowing the cars to accommodate various purposes, or to be updated as trends changed. Formal coachwork often lost its appeal quicker than a more sporty body, so when it came time to sell, the heavy, formal coachwork was often shed.

It is believed that this car lost its formal coachwork at Brewster's workshop, replaced by a lighter and sportier Piccadilly Roadster coachwork which had formerly clothed a Phantom I (S160PM). Brewster's managing partner J.S. Inskip sold the car to Captain A.W. Stone. A succession of owners followed, the first being Fred Buess, Jr. of Glendale, California, in 1951. In 1959, it was sold to John Spring of Los Angeles; in 1963, Alton Walker became its next caretaker. By 1969, it was in the care of Gene Littler of La Jolla, and four years further on it passed to John B. Zyrlo of Los Angeles.

Sam Flohr of Colorado acquired this Rolls-Royce in 1970 for his wife, Ruth Marie, with whom it would remain for the next two decades. A new owner purchased it in 2007, selling it in 2014 at Bonhams auction to its present caretaker.

At some point, early in the car's existence, the Silver Ghost's original engine was replaced with another unit. The owner who purchased the car in 2007 was able to find the correct motor, and its repatriation was entrusted to pre-war Rolls-Royce and Silver Ghost specialist Steve Littin of Ohio in 2014.

More recently, the car was given a cosmetic restoration, including refurbishment of some of the chrome and repainting of the front cowl and rear section of the bodywork, including the rumble seat and surrounding area.

By Daniel Vaughan | May 2023