Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost History

Officially the 40/50 HP, the model earned the name "Silver Ghost" from the thirteenth chassis (no. 60551, registered AX 201), which Rolls-Royce managing director Claude Johnson had finished in aluminium paint with silver-plated fittings and named for its almost supernatural quietness. The nickname stuck to the whole model line.

It built the marque's reputation through endurance feats — most famously a 1907 run repeatedly shuttling between London and Glasgow to amass 15,000 virtually trouble-free miles — which led Autocar to dub it "the best car in the world," a phrase Rolls-Royce adopted for decades.

Around 7,874 were produced over two decades, including cars built at a Springfield, Massachusetts plant from 1921. It was succeeded by the Phantom I in 1925, by which point its side-valve six was outdated.