1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III HJ Mulliner

The Concours of Elegance – famed for gathering together the rarest cars ever created – will showcase the most significant Rolls-Royce ever built at Hampton Court Palace this year. Taking place from 3-5 September, the event is renowned as one of the top three Concours d’elegance events in the world for the quality of cars it attracts; nowhere else in the UK can the public see such a high standard of rare historic vehicles.

The 1907 Rolls-Royce ‘Silver Ghost’, registration AX201, is a 40/50 HP model, and the very car that gave birth to the now legendary ‘best car in the world’ moniker, as well as the nickname ‘Silver Ghost’ that was latterly applied to Rolls-Royce 40/50 models officially.

It was an exceptional car in period, painted silver with silver-plated fittings, and was showcased at the 1907 Scottish Reliability Trials, where it achieved overall victory and subsequently covered 14,371 miles without issue under RAC scrutiny, double the contemporary record. Following this event the car was nicknamed ‘The Silver Ghost’ due to its appearance and uncanny silence. Subsequently, all 40/50 HP chassis cars adopted the Silver Ghost name.