Comments about this vehicle

Author	Message
vilero ◊ 2011-06-17 19:51	For this HPI says it's from 1924 but....sometimes these sources are not reliables On this thumbnail on upper left -- Last edit: 2011-06-17 19:53:08
dsl ◊ 2011-06-17 20:48	DVLA details for XT 209 are: Date of Liability 01 11 2011 Date of First Registration 15 04 1924 Year of Manufacture 1924 Cylinder Capacity (cc) 7036CC CO2 Emissions Not Available Fuel Type Petrol Export Marker Not Applicable Vehicle Status Licence Not Due Vehicle Colour MAROON So it's still alive and should be a known car. But googling XT 209 leads to a photo-set at http://www.flickr.com/photos/duboulaybiggs/2046768460/ which is not quite what I expected. Was it once a 40/50 h.p.?
johnfromstaffs ◊ 2011-06-17 21:36	XT is a london registration issued between April and June 1924. That information is not taken from DVLA, and the only two models current were the Twenty and the 40/50, sometimes called the Silver Ghost. This car is obviously not a Twenty.
G-MANN ◊ 2011-06-17 21:53	john from Staffs wrote XT is a london registration issued between April and June 1924. That information is not taken from DVLA What do you mean exactly? The DVLA data says this registration was issued on 15th April 1924, which goes with what you say about XT. -- Last edit: 2011-06-17 21:53:58
johnfromstaffs ◊ 2011-06-17 23:44	There are so many inaccuracies in the DVLA information that I use another source, so my information is not taken from the DVLA. As an illustration, the engine size shown above is not correct, Royces never made an engine that size.
dsl ◊ 2011-06-18 00:02	john from Staffs wrote I use another source, so my information is not taken from the DVLA. I'm intrigued - tell us more (particularly as my back-up source - Glass's - did not give details of the XT xxx series). The engine size is confusing - the first 1906+ 40/50s did have 7036cc as DVLA claim, but 7428cc was introduced 1910; I don't know enough to be sure whether this was a replacement or additional size.
johnfromstaffs ◊ 2011-06-18 07:43	"Royces never made an engine that size." A rash statement made in error by me, for which I am sorry. There are however, many cases of inaccuracies in the DVLA lists, so I don't normally use them without a confirmation from elsewhere.
dsl ◊ 2011-06-18 14:40	As a general comment, plate info for anything before mid-20s is likely to be incomplete and inconsistent, whatever the source. Before then it was all operated locally with lots of individual variations between counties and no central register of plates issued. In some cases for instance, if you moved house from one area to another, you had to re-register your car with a new number from your new county and the old one disappeared. I think there were some 2-letter combinations which existed in AB xxxx format which were allocated to issuing offices but have not been recorded as issued or picked up by sources available today - this XT xxxx series is a good example, with no trace in my Glass's (so I'm very interested in what your source is). As for this 40/50 with its registered cc, one possible explanation is it started as an early 1906+ car, but was later rebodied in the 20s style and re-registered in 1924 perhaps because it moved to London - with its previous identity now lost. So DVLA is as good as it gets, unless anyone can track and date the chassis number for the car which still exists as XT 209, although now with a very different body. Whether that is a convincing scenario is another matter ......
johnfromstaffs ◊ 2011-06-18 17:47	The 40/50 gained electric lighting and starting in 1919, and four wheel brakes in 1924. The car XT 209, as shown in 1951, definitely had electric lighting, and seems to have had electric starting also. The original bodywork is very 20s in style and looks decidedly Hooper to me. In the 2007 view the car has front wheel brakes. I have looked very carefully at the behaviour of the car in the film, and it seems to have had fwb in 1951, although there is no photographic evidence. I can see nothing to prove that the car was built earlier than 1924, but equally nothing to prove it wasn't.
johnfromstaffs ◊ 2011-06-20 13:30	It is very kind of you to take up my suggestion of Hooper as the coachbuilder, but it must be emphasized that this is only a guess, based upon evidence of similar looking bodies fitted to 6 1/2 litre Bentleys in various books. Harrisons also used the vertically and horizontally split front windscreen, to name one possibility. -- Last edit: 2011-06-20 13:31:44
BollingtonBob ◊ 2019-09-30 12:45	This is chassis 101EM, a 1924 car which was returned to the factory in 1925 for four wheel brake conversion. In 1951 it was rebodied as a camera platform car for use by Carr Brothers Ltd. This firm rented vehicles of all types to the film and TV industries. In 1957 it was sold to Professor George du Boulay and he used it briefly as a camping vehicle on family holidays before retiring it to a garage where it remained for a coouple of decades. In 2014 I bought the car in a run down condition and have been restoring it Currently a new clutch is being installed after a rebuilt engine, renewed bodywork etc etc.
johnfromstaffs ◊ 2019-09-30 14:51	Is it a cone clutch? Have you seen this one? /vehicle_686817-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-II-NR35XJ-1929.html -- Last edit: 2019-09-30 15:00:27
BollingtonBob ◊ 2019-10-01 19:47	Yes, the car has a cone clutch, just relined last week, and first test drive scheduled for tomorrow ! The original coach builder of the 1924 limousine was Barker - the body it still had for The Man in the White Suit.
johnfromstaffs ◊ 2019-10-01 21:39	Thanks for that. I’m surprised at Barker, but my coachwork spotting antennae are a bit wobbly on cars that old. A friend has a Humber of similar age with a cone clutch, and he is experiencing a bit of juddering at low revs. As he does a fairly low annual mileage, and it does not seem to be slipping, my instinct would be to leave well alone unless it becomes an annoyance, but it isn’t my car. Good luck with the relined clutch! -- Last edit: 2019-10-01 23:17:01
BollingtonBob ◊ 2019-10-02 18:49	Took it out for a longish drive, and with further clutch stop adjustments it is finished, mechanically, and drives very well. All that remains is for me to learn how to drive it ......
BollingtonBob ◊ 2019-10-02 18:53	The Ghost originally had a wet cone clutch, where the amount of oil was critical. We replaced the friction surfaces with modern materials from Friction Services, shot blasted evrything in sight and fitted new bearings. Now very progressive and no slip (always an issue if too much oil ....) with just the odd squeal which I think may be down to shop blasting. Very easy to engage first and reverse - previously very graunchy - and very smooth take up, before it was like a light switch.
johnfromstaffs ◊ 2019-10-02 21:49	I can’t really say anything more than well done! Not an easy task to take on, and it seems you have succeeded. Have you retained the style of the coachwork as it was when you bought the car? -- Last edit: 2019-10-02 21:52:31
BollingtonBob ◊ 2019-10-04 13:17	The car is as in previous photograph, taken in May this year. Actually, I have just checked the R-R archive, and the original limousine was actually by Windover, so the header on this record is actualy incorrect. Went to Windover on 24 March 1924, then back into R-R Hythe Road for front wheel brake conversion In March 1925. Here's another photograph of bodywork as restored to camera car specification. A lot of timber was rotten, so both roof sections and the lower tailgate have been remade, and several other sections replaced. We have uncovered the signage on the scuttle, but the words 'Carr Brothers' and 'Camera car' on the front doors are impossible to recover, so we think we'll have those repainted .... need to find a sign writer now ! -- Last edit: 2019-10-04 13:18:15
BollingtonBob ◊ 2019-10-04 13:22
johnfromstaffs ◊ 2019-10-04 16:26	Good luck! Shouldn’t be too difficult around Crewe.
Animatronixx ◊ 2019-10-04 22:06	BollingtonBob wrote ... need to find a sign writer now ! johnfromstaffs wrote Good luck! Shouldn’t be too difficult around Crewe. Not at all. The guys at Whitby Morrison still add a lot of hand-painted graphics when completing new or restoring vintage vehicles and some of their staff members are experienced sign writers. If you approach Mr. Ed Whitby, he may be the one to help you here.
BollingtonBob ◊ 2019-10-04 22:29	Thanks for the contact details

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1924 Rolls-Royce 40/50 h.p. 'Silver Ghost' Windover [101EM]

1924 Rolls-Royce 40/50 h.p. [101EM] in The Man in the White Suit, Movie, 1951

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