01 Jul Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost

FMM has just acquired a remarkable motor car, a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. The chassis, number 14AC, was manufactured in 1915 and immediately commissioned by the British Admiralty for war duty. The car was sold back to R-R in 1918 and refurbished by Vickers before becoming the property of famous South African military commander Sir Pierre van Ryneveld. Sir Pierre kept the car until his death in 1972. Johan, Koos and Koos’ son Johan van der Wat collectively bought the car from the estate. The original body had been replaced but the Van der Wat’s had the car restored to a period London-Edinburgh Sports Tourer design. Since then the car has been regularly driven, shown and rallied by the Van der Wat family, and now it has become part of the FMM collection. A full story on this car’s history will appear in due course.