Car Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost 1923 for sale

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To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys' The London Auction event, 31 October 2026.
Offered Without Reserve | £30,000 - £60,000 GBP

Offered from 33 years of single-family ownership
Originally delivered to prominent American industrialist Samuel Frederic Houston
Formerly owned by early enthusiasts Stewart Cook and Alexander Stein
Unseen in recent years; a wonderful ‘Springfield’ Silver Ghost in attractively patinated condition

Please note this vehicle is offered without registration papers, bidders should satisfy themselves as to registration requirements in their own jurisdiction.

In 1919, Rolls-Royce acquired a factory in Springfield, Massachusetts, and began to manufacture the Silver Ghost on these shores. In addition to Brewster, American Rolls-Royce were bodied by many other prestige coachbuilders, a number of them under the hallmark of Rolls-Royce Custom Coach Work. Included in this bevy of eastern craftsmanship were such companies as Biddle & Smart, Willoughby, Merrimac, and Holbrook. In order to have cars ready for customers who wished to buy “off the showroom floor”, a range of standard designs was prepared, to be built by the aforementioned firms.

Chassis number 442HH, offered here, was originally fitted with an open-drive limousine body by New Haven, and supplied in August of 1923 to Samuel Frederic Houston, a prominent Pennsylvania railroad executive and industrialist, at his famous estate, Drum Moir, in the Chestnut Hill neighbourhood of Philadelphia. As regularly occurred in-period, it was eventually either traded back or reacquired by Rolls-Royce of America. In 1931 it was rebodied by Brewster with this Tilbury saloon, a Willoughby-built example originally mounted to chassis number 351LF, for a new owner, E H Glenn of Meadowbrook, Pennsylvania.

The car’s next known owner, Stewart Cook of Red Bank, New Jersey, acquired it by 1953, and appears to have sold it in 1956 to H L Robbins of Wyncote, Pennsylvania. It then passed in 1959 to the well-known early American enthusiast, Alexander Stein of Byram, Connecticut, and remained with him for at least a decade. Following ownership by one James Llloyd, the car moved across the Atlantic, becoming one of the few Springfield Rolls-Royces in England under the care of James Porter of London in 1987.

In 1993 the Silver Ghost was acquired in London by the present owner, and has since resided quietly in his collection in Portugal. Noted to have been unused in the last decade, it is nonetheless well-preserved cosmetically, in apparently very original condition, and boasts a wonderful and thoroughly charming patina of honesty overall. Owing to its long-term storage, bidders should note that the car will require mechanical inspection prior to being driven. It now awaits a new owner to awaken it further for touring and rally enjoyment, experiencing the quality of a well-loved Silver Ghost on British, European, or even once again North American shores.

Please note this lot has entered the UK on a temporary import bond, which must be cancelled either by exporting the lot outside of the UK on an approved Bill of Lading with supporting customs documentation or by paying the applicable VAT and import duties to have the lot remain in the UK.

To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at rmsothebys.com/auctions/lf26/.