1914 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Tourer
Coined by the press rather than the factory, the Silver Ghost name traces to a single silver-painted demonstrator from 1907, whose aluminum bodywork and silver-plated fittings caught wide public attention during reliability trials.
By 1914, the model had accumulated seven years of competitive validation, including strong performances at the Scottish Reliability Trials and multiple Austrian Alpine Trials, and Rolls-Royce was fielding hundreds of orders that year from buyers across the British Empire and the United States.
Rolls-Royce supplied only the rolling chassis; coachwork was entirely the buyer’s choice. Respected firms such as Barker, Hooper, and Mulliner fitted bodies ranging from formal landaulettes to open touring configurations.
The 1914 cars incorporated several advances over earlier production, including a four-speed gearbox, cantilever rear springs, and an internal expanding foot brake acting on the transmission.
Beneath the coachwork sat a 7,428cc side-valve six-cylinder engine, with cylinders cast in two blocks of three. Rolls-Royce considered quoting horsepower figures distasteful; in practice, top speeds of around 80 mph were achievable under favorable conditions, and the New York chassis price in 1914 was approximately $7,000.
Of the 7,874 Silver Ghosts built between 1907 and 1926, 1,701 came from the Springfield, Massachusetts factory, making British-built Edwardian examples the earlier and less numerous portion of the total production.
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