PERSONAL CHOICE MY LIFE WITH PROPER MOTOR CARS

Robin Foster has long been devoted to Rolls-Royce and Bentley, and here he shares photos of the rare and famous vehicles he’s encountered. Also included is his own example, bought some 50 years after first dreaming of owning a ‘proper motor car’

Iwas brought up in the 1950s in a terraced house where the road ran parallel with the main shopping street, and every Monday and Thursday a gleaming blue Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith would park in the area, having delivered its two lady occupants to the department store. I was still at school so only saw this in the holidays, but it so impressed me that I chatted to the chauffeur and took some pictures with my box camera. Later I learned that the model was a 1954 Touring Limousine by Hooper and this impressive and immaculate vehicle started my interest and enthusiasm for Rolls-Royce cars. Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars were few and far between where I lived but over the years, I took photographs of the models that I saw on my travels. Reading about them, I learned that Rolls-Royce was the only 'proper car'; it could never suffer a breakdown but could only 'fail to proceed', that proper owners would never refer to it as a Roller, and that the correct abbreviation was not 'the Rolls' but 'the Royce'. So much for the legend...

My first car was a red Austin Mini Seven and I progressed to Fords, a Renault 16, Opel, Saabs, Rover 2200TC, and a Jaguar XJ6 where I believed I had reached my pinnacle: the Jaguar with its 4.2 engine and leather upholstery was easy motoring and amazing value. But I was wrong in my belief and a Rolls-Royce Silver Spur III eventually found its way into my garage.

Like a lot of enthusiasts, I think that the post-war models reached the height of elegance in the Silver Cloud, which has not been surpassed. I have, too, always been impressed by the post-war Phantom limousines and particularly those bodied by James Young. The partition between chauffeur and passenger, and the occasional seats for town travel, embody for me what a proper car used to be for its owner.

It is my interest in limousines that led me to some of the few places where they are still in regular use: the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace, Clarence House, and Kensington Palace. When security issues were not so strict, I was able to photograph some of the State Rolls-Royces, the Phantom V Landaulette of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and the James Young Phantom V built for the Duke of Gloucester in 1960, with its coachwork with gloss black front and rear wings, and matt black elsewhere. The Duke had also specified Lucas P100 headlamps for the car instead of the usual integral lights.

The pictures I took of the Queen Mother's landaulette in its closed and open position are now part of history: the Prince of Wales (now our King) inherited the vehicle and it has been converted to a somewhat ungainly closed limousine, with a fixed hood over the rear compartment. None of these royal limousines display the usual Spirit of Ecstasy mascot on the radiator: when a State car was carrying Her Majesty it had a figure of St George slaying the Dragon (except in Scotland when the mascot is a Lion); the Prince of Wales used Britannia atop the globe, first used by King George V on his Daimler, and the Duke of Gloucester has a Golden Eagle.

Chauffeurs are still employed by many local authorities for their civic heads and the only authority now which uses Rolls-Royce limousines is the City of London, which keeps three Phantom VIs. The Lord Mayor's vehicle has a unique registration mark, LM 0 and this has only ever been displayed on Rolls-

Royces. Some authorities in Scotland use a zero mark but LM 0 is the only one in England, obtained when Sir James Miller had been Lord Mayor in 1964/65. He had previously been Lord Provost of Edinburgh when his official car had the registration mark S 0 and he felt that the Lord Mayor of London deserved an equally distinctive mark, and arranged it. That is influence – those were the days!

Before I owned a Rolls-Royce, I became a member of the RREC and enjoyed their Bulletin and Advertiser, visiting rallies in my Saab and of course taking endless photos. But in 2005 my driving experience changed when I was left a legacy and was able to browse the RREC Advertiser with a purpose. Because of my interest in limousines – and I knew ownership of one such as a Phantom or Silver Wraith was not practical for me – I decided on another long-wheelbase model and looked for a Silver Spur. My patience was rewarded and I found a series III 1994 model with low mileage, in sapphire blue with magnolia upholstery, a combination which made for a good looking car. The seats were pristine and the rear doors had walnut panels; on top of the Axminster carpets were sheepskin rugs. All this for less than £20,000 compared with £130,000 when it was new.

I bought it from a private owner after a test drive. My mechanical knowledge is virtually nil but I was reassured by its service history and relieved when I had it checked by Colbrook Specialists at Stilton who declared it all sound! I researched its history through invoices and the DVLA records and was surprised by the rapid changes of ownership in its life. It had had 7 different owners before me and five registration marks – the first owner sold it within 2 months and others only kept it for a year or so. But this certainly did not appear to indicate that the vehicle had problems so far as my experience went. I had it serviced regularly but otherwise maintenance cost me little – to insure it was cheaper than that for my Skoda Octavia.

After driving ordinary cars all my life it was an impressive experience to be behind the wheel with the Spirit of Ecstasy leading the way and such effortless power beneath the bonnet. On the few occasions that I used kick-down, the Spur took off like a sports car but its real purpose in life was shown in wafting sedately along a lane or motorway, every journey a pleasure. I could never take the car out unless it was immaculate, and washing and polishing it was a joy, but I had to remember to switch off the battery when wiping it down with all the doors open otherwise the 12 interior lights did their own draining job! When I sold it after some three and a half years, I was then its longest-serving owner.

I may not own a ‘Proper Motor Car’ now, but I do have the memories and a library of photographs to show for it.