1934 Rolls-Royce 20/25 Park Ward ‘Special Touring Saloon’

A very stylish, low-slung and sporting design gives this car appeal over and above that of a typical sports saloon. in sound, sharp and smart condition. Low roof line, narrow windscreen & side windows, stylish wings, P100 headlights, PLG40 centre light, scuttle-mounted spot lamp, twin side-mounted spare wheels, polished aluminium Ace wheel discs, ‘trouser crease’ wings, three fitted suitcases (in pale blue leather, as original), and some lovely art deco styling touches, such as attractive, ebony inlays to the door cappings, period door handle design, and piping to seat backrest, all give the car an extra level of desirability. The interior is in very good order, including the relatively recent pale blue leather. The design is particularly sleek and low, as well as being very nicely proportioned, looking good from any angle. Some say that the car has the appearance of a smaller version of a typical Phantom II Continental. You will see in the photos that there is also some interesting, hallmarked silverware, custom fitted in the seat backs, alongside the picnic tables. Gorgeous design, in lovely condition, driving well, and much admired. Since 1995, the car has benefitted from huge expenditure, totalling over £140,000, all documented in the history file, which also includes various other paperwork, as well as an original handbook. The cherry on the cake is that the car is fitted with overdrive, nicely aiding relaxed cruising. We last sold this car four years ago, and it is now available at a figure even more appealing than it was then, and offering tremendous value for money.

Price £36,500.

Snippets: Welsh Steel King, African Sugar Baron & Indian Curries

GNC68 was bought by Sir William Firth as a gift for his wife Lady Helena Adelaide however the ownership was only to be short lived as in April 1935 whilst they were being chauffeured home to Hatchford Park they were involved in a head-on collision with a pair of motorcycles which resulted in the death of two of the riders and injuries to their pillions.   It was reported the Lady Firth suffered concussion and several cracked ribs but Sir William, who was dozing in the back at the time, was unharmed.  The Rolls-Royce (maybe GNC68 or 100Sk or GBJ55) suffered extensive damaged including a broken steering wheel, their chauffeur Francis Edward Jarvis (aged 54) had been employed by the Firths for some 22 years and was unhurt.  Sir William Firth was one of the leading figures in the steel industry & within the business was known as the Steel King.  In 1947 he & Lady Firth joined their sons Kenneth & John in South Africa, the Firth’s bought the home of the Hulett sugar barons renaming it Crowhurst after their old home in Surrey.

From 1935/36 the Rolls-Royce was registered at Bush House in Aldwych, this iconic building is named after the American businessman Irving T Bush whose vision was to create a significant new trade centre. The design of the building was created by American architect Harvey Wiley Corbett, (he also designed Bush Tower in Manhattan) with the opening taking place on the 4^th of July, 1925.  At the opening ceremony the pair of male statues was revealed with the inscription “To the friendship of English-speaking peoples”, today we perhaps best know Bush House has having been home to the BBC from the early 1940s to 2012.

In 1936 GNC68 was with Humphry Richard Pelly of Lyndsays Farm, Ingatestone whose wife Barbara (nee Scrutton) bred pedigree Dexter cattle with names such as Lyndsay’s Cherry Pie & Lyndsay’s Lavender.  When Barbara’s father Frederick Scrutton died in 1937 his estate was in excess of £1.8m, his business was that of stevedoring.  It would appear that one of Barbara’s brother’s, Philip Furse Scrutton was a professional golf player & the owner of B495CD, a MK VI of a somewhat unusual  design.

Just 12 months later and GNC68 was acquired by Messrs J. Halford & Son of London producers of curry powder & paste, their adverts stating that if you added a dash of powder or paste to your dish it would be “just as they are prepared in India”.