Bonhams is set to offer a truly iconic vehicle at their famous Goodwood Festival of Speed event on Friday, June 29. Yet many who recognise the Rolls Royce from the first time they saw it won't even remember it as being a Rolls Royce.
In fact the first thing which will strike many people when they first see the car - which is 100 years old - is that unlike most memories from one's youth this one looks bigger than they remember it…
The car in question is the 1912 Rolls-Royce 40/50hp Double Pullman Limousine, one of the most memorable of the whole famous Silver Ghost production series. But the brand name most associated with it is Corgi.
The luxurious design, echoes the great Pullman Railway carriages, and its coachwork owes its quality to the best coachbuilder of the time: Barker & Co. of South Audley Street, London.
Many Rolls Royce cars were damaged, destroyed or worked to death in the First World War, but not the example under consideration at Bonhams.
 1912 Rolls Royce Double Pullman Limousine (and Corgi toy) |
It has always been well looked after, having been first owned by enthusiast John M. Stephens in South Croydon. In fact Stephens had bought the first Silver Ghost that Rolls-Royce had ever delivered.
It went on to grace the world's finest known classic car collections: those of John C. Sword, Denis de Ferranti, Richard Solove and John M. O'Quinn.
It was after its sale as part of the Scottish Sword Collection in the 1960s that Corgi Toys chose it to be a model for their 'Corgi Classics' series. Many collectors may remember it simply as The Corgi.
Described by Sports Car Market magazine as "a masterpiece of elephantine Edwardian elegance," bidding for The Corgi is expected to exceed £2m ($3.2m).
