A VERY SPECIAL AUTOMOBILE
This is a beautiful 73 year old, between the World Wars, luxury car. It is fully registered and licensed and inspected in Texas. While it is a joy to drive, it is not easy. It is an enthusiasts car, someone who appreciates fine mechanical design and has the patience to deal with a 73 year old automobile.
The original Thrupp & Maberly aluminium body was removed. We think it was sometime in the thirties to make airplanes for the war, although it could have been later. The present body looks like a Southern Motor Company body. When we took the fenders off to repaint the rear half of the body, the wood underneath looked to be in very good shape. It looks like a great deal of restoration work was done before I got the car. The work I have had done on the car can best be classified as repair work. That work is detailed below.
Cars of this era were of a totally different world. Until you drive one of these cars for a period of time, you don't understand how different the world has become. For example, the gas gauge is mounted directly on the gas tank. The gas tank is under the floor boards of the "boot" or trunk, as we Americans call it. To see the gauge, one must remove any luggage covering the floor of the "boot" and lift up an inspection door which allows one to see the gauge. Two ignition systems are provided, a modern breaker points and ignition coil, but just in case, an earlier design magneto is also available to switched to by the driver if necessary. This is called an Owner Driven car in the advertisements of the period, but the manual still refers to the "driver" as a person who should do certain things, which the owner presumably would choose not to do.
Conversations stop when this car arrives. People break out in smiles. Usually they say something like "WOW". "That a Rolls Royce!". They know it is, but they can't believe they are seeing one right in front of their eyes, outside a museum, running, driving, stopping, like any other old car. Except this is a Rolls Royce!
GBM-5 was ordered on 17th March, 1928.
The sales order was from George Heath Limited, John Bright Street, Birmingham
in the amount of 1185 Pounds, (*less 9-1/2% commission). The new owner of
the car was Sir G. Marshall Sq., 14 Roker Park Road,
Roker, Sunderland. It was noted that 5 weeks would be required for delivery.
The buyer would be "Providing Own Coachwork".
Chassis No. GBM-5 was to be provided with a 20 Hp engine with Engine No. E6X of the Type MA Series. The chassis was Off Test On 25 April, 1928 and the D. I. was issued the same day. The Axle Ratio was specified as 11x50. We would call this a 4.55:1 axe, pretty good for around town driving, but not intended for the interstate. Of course, in Roker in 1928 there were no interstates, and few straight roads. Even today the roads aren't straight. The chassis was Dispatched on 27 April, 1928.
Invoice No. 2770 was sent to Thrupp & Maberly on 25 April, 1928 for a total of 1075 Pounds Sterling. The invoice was paid two days later (no thirty day terms here) and on the next day, the 30th, the Chassis was delivered to Thrupp & Maberly at 108 Cricklewood Lane N.W. The chassis was supplied with Dunlop medium pressure tyres on 5-1/2 inch wide rims of 21 inch diameter. The order number for the tyres was R-2182. An Exide battery was also supplied.
[NOTE: The 21 inch wheels with the 5-1/2" tyres produce a road assemble with almost exactly 100 inch circumference. Considering a recommended maximum engine speed of 2200 rpm and 11/50 gear ratio, 1ft. / 12 in and 60 min/hr and 1 mi / 5280 ft the maximum speed would be 242/5.28, or 45.8 mph. This is about what I have experienced. My Corvette runs a little over 70 mph at this same rpm. Many owners have changed out these low geared rear axle gears for ratios more suitable for our modern highways.]
Erection Particulars Dated 22 March, 1928 were from Rootes Limited. The Erection Sheet was (R)7450. The Coachbuilder's Drawing was sent on March 23, 1928. The Instruction Book was sent to Messrs. Geo. Heath Limited on May 16, 1928. The Steering Column was listed as "Raked" and the Levers as "Standard". The Fittings were specified as "Nickel".
Wheelbase was Standard, Radiator Shutters, "Matt finish white Metal" and the Springs were for a Saloon Landaulet , 9 stone.Seating was for 4 or 5, thought usually 2. Luggage was specified at 100 lbs. but was noted as usually nil. The cars was intended for use in the United Kingdom.
All of this information comes from
a one page photocopy of the original invoice provided by the Rolls Royce
Owners Club. If you own this car, you need to be in the RROC. Most of the
original drawings for the car are also available, as are parts lists.
The Chassis number GBM5,
engine no. E6X (Texas VIN E6X) was produced in 1928 by Rolls Royce
and Thrupp and Maberly added body number 5115, a Landaulet, for G. Marshall.
The car comes with the original
owners manual,
which illustrates the mechanisms and directs the owner through all of the
required maintenance procedures. See: Specs. from
the Owners Manual
The Body is what is called a "Southern Body". In the Thirties, Southern Motor Company of Clappem Park, Park Hill, refitted the chassis with a one of their Cabriolet Coupe bodies. This is a steel body, styled as shown above. Southern Motor Company produced these cars in the period before World War II, when aluminum was in short supply in England and so were new Rolls chassis, due to the production of aircraft for the impending conflict.
The Top is fully lined with a headliner and is a pleasure to put in it's down position. The front part of the top rolls up around the wood header bar that fits on the windshield and attached in the intermediate position shown above. When the big chrome S hinge bars on the sides are folded back the top easily drops to its full down position.
The Seats are upholstered in natural tan leather and are in near new condition. The seats are comfortable front and back. The head room in back is somewhat limited when the top is up. The seats sit high, and appear to have been intended for people of slight stature, such as children. A person over 6 feet will likely brush their head against the top fabric top while sitting in the back. It is quite easy to move the top up and down.
The Engine is a straight, in-line
six cylinder, with push rod activated overhead valves, with a displacement
of a little over three liters. The car is about 19 feet long and will fit
in a normal garage. This chassis was known as the Twenty in 1928, representing
that it was taxed for twenty horsepower. It actually has about fifty or
sixty horsepower, I would guess, but twenty was based on some formula that
was used to determine the tax to be paid. The big Phantom Rolls was taxed
at fifty horsepower I believe.
The Transmission is four speed, right hand shift. However, there were no syncromesh mechanisms in 1928 so it is up to the driver to synchronize the speed of the gears to the speed of car and engine. Double clutching, shifting to neutral, using engine speed to spin the gears and then clutching to shift, is a skill that is necessary to drive this car smoothly.
The Carburettor is a double arrangement, with a special section, a miniature second carburettor switched on for starting and then moving the appropriate levers to switch to the running carburettor. A lever for varying the timing of the distributor is on the steering column, as is a lever for adjusting the fixed throttle position. A foot feed for the throttle, of course, over rides this adjustment lever. There are two ignition systems, a magneto system and a coil and points system. I have always used the coil and points system, but the other one is there if required.
The Wood in the interior of the car is burled walnut and is beautiful. There is one flaw just below the glove box that is about 12" by 3/8". The finish is that of fine furniture and waxes up with a warm glow. The wood in the floor, sub floor, and frame of the body seems to be quite solid and show no signs of age or rot.
The Heater is highly polished brass and a work of art, stuck way down under the dash. Every time I tinker with the car I am struck by some new little nicety of engineering or craft that I had missed before. The way the wires are run in conduits, the little linkages on all of the levers and controls from the driver to the various parts of the engine, the sheen of all the aluminum castings in and on the engine and transmission. It is all very much a work of automotive art.
The Upholstery appears to have been done in the last five years I would guess. Every surface in the interior that is not wood is covered by the same natural tan colored leather. A lot of cows had to die for this look. Even the inside of the map compartments in the doors is covered in leather. The only signs of wear are in the front seats and that is minimal.
The Headlights are the large P-100 style that really set off this car. The chrome on the headlights, the grill, the flying lady and the chrome horns is perfect. The flying lady is somewhat larger, and stands in a different position from the later models. The RR emblem on the grill is on a red background
The Black Paint is perfect and shines like a dark mirror. There are some stress cracks in the paint on the boot (trunk lid for us Americans). The spare tire is mounted on the inside of the boot cover and is pretty heavy. The hinge is at the bottom. It seems to me that it wouldn't be very hard to modify to trunk area into a rumble seat and increase the capacity of the car to six people, two out back in the weather. Of course it has never seen rain while in my custody and from the looks of it not in any of the previous owners since it was restored.
The Condition of this car is exceptional. It can be shown, or it can be driven. This car was in somewhat impaired mechanical shape when I acquired it in November of 1998. It wouldn't start with the starter because a bunch of the teeth were gone from the flywheel. But that was OK, because even if you hand cranked it and got it running you couldn't stop. No brakes! The drive gear for the power boost servo was stripped. The transmission was pulled, a new ring gear fitted, new clutch affixed to the turned and balanced flywheel, NOS material. The transmission was fitted with a replacement gear for the brake servo and everything was tweaked back into operating condition.
The Service work was done by Balcones European Motors of Austin, TX, Patrick Jacks, owner. Mr. Jacks can be contacted at either 512-335-6911 or pbem@swbell.net
The Title is a standard Texas title. The car is eligible for an Antique Title, but that has restrictions on where and when you can drive. It is now fully inspected and tagged so you can go any where any time. It now runs, drives, stops and does all of the normal things that you would expect a car to do. It is legal to drive anywhere. (not just to antique car events.) It is a wonderful experience to drive. Wonderful, but not easy. It takes some strength to steer and some planning to stop. It often starts with a single push of the starter pedal on the floorboard or a single pull of the hand crank. Sometimes, when it hasent run in a while it take a hit of ether to wake it up.
The Price is somewhat negotiable. I will accept the best offer. The previous owner paid $111,000.00 for this car. See: previous title I would like to sell it for about half that for an immediate cash deal. I will also consider Porsche, Ferrari or other interesting trades.
