Flight of fancy: America's Queen of Diamonds, her whims and her SS1

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Mabel Boll may not be a household name today, but in the 1920s she had a way for making a headline, not to mention stealing hearts. Born in 1893 to a bartender of Rochester, New York, she had to make her way in life by selling cigars for a short time, but her golden hair and deep, imploring eyes ensured that she didn't stay peddling tobacco for long. An older businessman, Robert Scott, swept her off her feet, and they married in 1909. They divorced in 1917, but in 1922 she married again, to Colombian coffee magnate Hernando Rocha. Rocha showered her with jewels, and seemed to be able to give her anything her heart desired. Mabel became a well-known figure in high society and was often splashed across the papers as the "Queen of Diamonds," it being said that she would wear $400,000 worth of jewellery in public.

As she entered her thirties, the "vividly blonde" Mrs. Boll became no less vivacious; if anything, she became even more so. Her spirit of adventure was captured by the burgeoning world of aviation, and she had riches enough to have a go at the old flying lark herself—at least, in a passive capacity. Like most of the world, she had read of Charles Lindbergh's 1927 transatlantic flight from New York to Paris, and she came to the conclusion that she should be the first woman to fly (i.e. be flown) across the Atlantic. It has been suggested that the inevitable publicity was as much of a motivating factor as the novelty and thrill of the experience itself, but it was to be a frustratingly difficult feat to achieve. Mabel offered $100,000 to the first pilot who would fly her over the ocean, but it seemed impossible to find a pilot and co-pilot who would both consent to it. Whether this was because they deemed it inappropriate to attempt such a risky journey with a lady passenger, or because they were unsettled by the mercurial blonde's past form, is hard to say. Possibly, nobody wanted to end up like J. Errol Boyd, whom Mrs. Boll apparently attacked with an alligator handbag on a previous flight because she disagreed with his decision to make an emergency landing in bad weather...

Nevertheless, Mabel succeeded in making the acquaintance of several leading long-distance aviators, including Wilmer Stultz and Oliver LeBoutillier, who agreed to take her as a passenger aboard the fabric-covered Wright-Bellanca WB-2 monoplane Columbia, for the first ever non-stop flight from New York to Havana in March, 1928. For this, she was rewarded with a picture on the front page of the New York Times. Mabel continued to solicit for an Atlantic crossing, and there was now a greater desire among Lindbergh and his Orteig Prize challengers from 1927 to be the first team to perform the journey with a woman. Mrs. Boll required no further encouragement but, unfortunately for her, Amelia Earhart and Germany's Thea Rasche had appeared and were equally enthusiastic. Alas for Mabel, she was all ready to set off from Newfoundland in Columbia when her pilot defected to join a South Pole expedition. Earhart, meanwhile, got airborne from Newfoundland in the Fokker F.VII Friendship, and 20 hours and 40 minutes later, landed victorious in Burry Port, Wales. It was the right outcome, really—Earhart was, by all accounts, a more sincere and suitable aviatrix, even though she did not pilot Friendship herself.

The low-priced car with the high-class look

We're afraid we don't know an awful lot about Mabel's taste in motor cars, or whether she was enthusiastic about motoring generally, but it goes without saying that she would have bought the very best machines available, whether she was inclined towards sports cars or luxury conveyances. By 1935, she was known as the Countess de Porceri, having wed Henri de Porceri, a Polish count, at a ceremony in Paris in 1931, though they divorced in 1933. It is as the Countess that we find her recorded as the owner of this elegant little 1935 SS1 tourer.

The SS1 itself was launched in 1931, after William Lyons had negotiated for a supply of Standard 16hp chassis onto which his Swallow Sidecars concern could fit its own, more exotic coachwork. Chassis modifications allowed the floor to be lowered five inches and the engine to be moved back seven inches, resulting in a model with almost exaggeratedly rakish dimensions. It looked like an extremely expensive car and yet its most notable quality besides its dramatic styling was its low price—the Daily Express hailed it as "The car with the £1,000 look for £310." During 1932, the chassis and styling were subject to numerous improvements, and in March, 1933, the four-seat tourer joined the existing saloon and coupé models. In October, 1933, the 16hp engine grew from 2,054 c.c. to 2,143 c.c., and the optional 20hp likewise was raised from 2,552 c.c. to 2,663 c.c., giving a top speed of 75 m.p.h. The 16hp tourer went on sale for just £335, with its 20hp sister at £340.

The SS1 had reached more or less the end of its development by 1935 and was an ideal little runabout for a woman of means like the Countess. It's a pity we don't know more about her adventures with the car, and whether she used it in Britain or Europe, but it seems likely that she may have shipped it to America, because by 1964 (15 years after Boll's death) it was resident in Hawaii. In 2013, it was brought back to the British Isles and was comprehensively restored, finally being put back on the road in 2019.

Finished in a very pleasant and rather understated cream, and fitted with the 20hp engine which, to the best of our knowledge, the Countess herself might have specified, it looks to us very much like the perfect car for fair-weather outings and maybe the odd concours d'élégance. It happens that it's for sale right now with Le Riche Automobile Restorers Ltd. on the island of Jersey, so why not think about a new toy for the summer?

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