Prteclarvm the Federal Journal of the Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club of Australia
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ISSN 0159-4583 Quidvis recte factum quamvis humile praeclarum* PRtECLARVM The Federal Journal of the Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club of Australia. No. 6-95. December, 1995 SRH41400 John Elliott (A.C.T.) Thirty Years of the Silver Shadow * Whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble. — Royce, 1924. iROLLSl It’s not the destination, but how you travel. Uncompromising quality is the hall-mark of Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars and uncompromising standards of sales and service are what you can expect from York Motors in William Street, Sydney, officially appointed Rolls-Royce and Bentley Distributor. The pleasure of travelling in cars of such superb design and engineering has to be experienced to be believed. From the latest 1996 Silver Spirit Saloon, a motor car with seemingly limitless reserves of power, controlled by the world’s most advanced automotive technologies, to the sporting heritage of the range of Bentley motor cars. It really becomes a case of not where you are going but how you get there. We also have a wide selection of pre-owned Rolls-Royce and Bentley models available for you the discerning traveller. York Motors (Sales) Pty Limited Distributor of Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motor Cars 101-111 William Street, Sydney NSW 2011 DL428 Phone Ken Steeley 331 3377 AH (018) 689 589 DK17.275 PILECLARVM The Federal Journal of the Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club of Australia. PRAECLARUM (ISSN 0159-4583) is published six times per year by Issue No. 6-95. December, 1995 the Federal Council of the Rolls-Royce Owners' Club of Australia. Whilst every care is taken to check information published, no responsibility can be accepted for errors. Views expressed by the Editor and contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of the Club. Nothing in this journal, including any advertisement, should REGULAR FEATURES be construed as endorsement by the Editor or the Club of the quality or suitability of any product, service or procedure. Editorial 2652 Subscriptions: PRAECLARUM is available to overseas non-members on a subscription basis at $A50.00 per year by air mail. Such subscrip tions carry no membership privileges. Events List 2654 Change of Address: Club members should notify their Branch Secretary (addresses below), not the Editor, in the first instance to advise change of address or non-receipt of an issue. Subscribers From the Federal President 2655 should notify Dispatch (see FEDERAL PUBLICATIONS, below). Contributions: Articles, letters and/or illustrations for publication should be sent to the Editor, address below. Articles can be accepted Book Reviews 2670 as text file on 31*6* or 5 V4' computer disk, or as hard copy. FEDERAL EXECUTIVE Market Place 2671 PRESIDENT: David Vann, 6 Burgundy St., Carseldine, Old. 4034 ARTICLES 07-3263-8572 (h) 07-3865-3287 (w) 07-3865-4822 (FAX) SECRETARY: Ian Dunn, 48RM — The Troubles and the Fixers P.O. Box 163, Lyneham, A.C.T. 2602 06-207-5455 (w) 06-251 -4040 (h) 06-207-5468 (FAX) Pat Brassil tells how two fellow Club members ‘mucked, in’ and helped with 48RM’s engine 2656 TREASURER: David Miller, 9 Banvard PI., Chapman, A.C.T. 2611 06-276-2172 (w) 06-288-6910 (h) 06-276-1223 (FAX) Thirty Years of the Silver Shadow FEDERAL PUBLICATIONS Ron Magrath marks the thirtieth birthday of the Silver Shadow and Bentley T Series family of cars 2660 PRAECLARUM EDITOR: Martin Bennett, ‘Allambi’, RMB 3310, Goulburn, N.S.W. 2580 048-29-7140 (’Phone/FAX) The Oregon Ghost Trail Kerry Wherry writes of her experiences on the REGISTRAR (‘CHASSIS PLATE'): George Forbes, 345-53 Clarendon St., Sth. Melbourne, Vic. 3205 scenic S.GA. ‘Ghost Train’ to Seattle 2664 03-9690-1455 (w) 03-9593-1455 (h) 03-9696-2996 (FAX) DISPATCH: Eric and May Goudie, The Silencing of ‘Henry R’ 25 Cowper St., Ainslie, A.C.T. 2602 Peter Heuzenroeder reveals the simple solution to 06-248-5183 a mysterious noise problem in his Silver Dawn 2667 BRANCH SECRETARIES Spot the Difference — 1 Australian Capital Territory: Joy Burns, 29 Packer St., An example of how coachbuilders used Weetangera, A.C.T. 2614.06-254-5495 airbrushing to amend existing coachwork designs 2668 New South Wales: Judith Merlin, 31A Terry Rd., Spot the Difference — 2 Denistone, N.S.W. 2114. 02-808-3329 If the camera never lies, Roger Thiedeman shows Queensland: that it can at least be made to fib just a little 2669 Graham Leacock, 8 Hamilton Rd., Wavell Heights, Old. 4012. 07-3266-5042 South Australia: Carol van der Pennen, P.O. Box 199, Willunga, S.A. 5172 08-383-0393 Victoria: Robin Hickman, P.O. Box 330, Vermont, Vic. 3133. 03-9872-3233 Front Cover Photo: Clouds gather and shadows lengthen as 1980Silver Shadow II (SRH41400) pauses briefly Western Australia: Jacqui Walker, P.O. Box 1362, for photography near Goulburn, New South Wales. Representing the closing year of Silver Midland, W.A. 6056. 09-298-9116 Shadow production, this dramatic photograph was taken by owner John Elliott (A.C.T.) 2652 PRtECLARVM From the Editor Silver Shadow thirtieth October of this year marked the thirtieth anniversary of the announce ment of the Silver Shadow and Bentley T Series motor cars, codenamed ‘SY’ within the Company. By October 1965 a few Silver Shadow and Bentley T Series trials and motor show cars had been completed. How ever, deliveries to owners did not AX 201 commence until January 1966, hence the compromise of marking this impor tant anniversary in this our December 1995 issue, in which you will find an interesting treatise on the Silver Shadow by Western Australia Branch member Ron Magrath, himself the appreciative owner of a Silver Shadow II. Possession is nine-tenths of the law? Klaus-Josef Rofifeldt, who contributes photographs to No doubt you will have already PRAECLARUM from time to time, and AX-20-1, the Silver Ghost, are both regulars at R.R.E.C. noticed the superb photograph of A.C.T. Annual Rallies. Both look perfectly at home in the fertile Northamptonshire countryside. Branch member John Elliott’s Silver Shadow II on the front cover. This for from Denver to Seattle, taking in the his which took us to London in June (see last tuitously arrived in the post just as I was toric and scenic Oregon Trail and ending issue) meant that we couldn’t also go to agonising over a suitable front cover at the R.R.O.C. Inc. Annual Meet in the U.S. in August, so we reluctantly had shot! Washington State. to withdraw from the Oregon Ghost Trail. Having been invited by Derek du Toit It was on the return run from Seattle Oregon Ghost Trail to drive his 1920 Silver Ghost (78FW), to Denver that Derek, driving his 1913 Also in this issue you will find an article Manuela and I had planned to join this Silver Ghost (2577) was tragically killed. by Kerry Wherry on the ‘Ghost Train’ S.G.A. tour. However, a pressing matter Back to the future The Bentley 4V6 Litre Supercharged Brian Mathews (Tas. Sub-Branch), whose lovely Silver Wraith we saw in these columns in P.4-95, — the famed ‘Blower Bentley’ of 1920s sent this shot of his 1928 Twenty (GBM32). The delightful roadster coachwork is by Martin & racing fame — is a model of which 55 King of Melbourne. It is seen here on display at the National Automobile Museum of Tasmania were built, of which more than 100 in Launceston, following a 14 month restoration. survive! Demand in the market place does funny things! Now, Jack Barclay Ltd, the famous Berkeley Square, London, Rolls-Royce and Bentley retailers, are improving the survival rate still further by building a batch of new ones! Needless to say, this has set the cat amongst the pigeons. From the point of view of the old car enthusiast — and one does not need to be an inflexible purist to adopt this view — this project does nothing to advance the cause. Quite the contrary, in fact, because the basis of each car is a Rolls- t Royce 20/25 chassis, which means one § o £ less 20/25 on the road for each Blower s Bentley ‘replicar’. The engines are s 09IZ genuine Bentley 41/6 Litre engines, of J which apparently more have survived £ than the cars themselves. However, they © o are not genuine Supercharged engines o £ — the superchargers are brand new. 6-95 2653 The problem also arises of determin ing what make of car we are looking at for registration and club purposes. In the U.K. cars must be registered according : I I to the origin of the chassis and the first of 111 these new Blowers is registered as a Rolls-Royce! The Bentley Drivers’ Club, naturally enough, has determined that the car is not a Bentley, though it is welcome to race at B.D.C. race meetings in Class 16, for ‘modern non-Bentley cars’. Most Vintage Bentley enthusiasts nowadays show a preference for the lightweight Vanden Plas tourer, and replicas of this body style have been built in considerable numbers in modern times. Despite the fact that when new The wedding of Fiona to Federal Registrar George Forbes in Melbourne ealier this year was a this was the cheapest body style, today true Rolls-Royce, and specifically Twenty Horsepower, affair. Two of the Twenties, George's it is regarded as the most desirable. GOK74 (left) and Terry Bruce's GYK47 are seen here with the happy couple. Predictably enough, these Barclay look alikes are bodied accordingly! issue he posed the question ‘I wonder Bentley is so called because local rail Ten are to be built over the next three whether any other Royce cranes came waymen drive to work in it! years and will retail at around £137,500 to Australia?’ A partial answer is that at each, which is about the same price as a least one other example existed at McDermott’s new showroom new Turbo R.