Well, I'm not sure if any of the other UK solers witnessed what I saw
on telly last night - basically a 1/2 hour report on a classic rally
undertaken by the Rolls Royce owners club (sort of a Top Gear report).
Anyway, basically I think there were about 40 RRs (mainly Silver
Ghosts) were taking part in a European tour - I think the route they
took was one taken in the 1910's as part of a reliability trial for
the early Silver Ghosts. Anyway, the report was quite incredible in
many respects. Firstly the reliability of these cars is still
incredible - I would think they must have covered close to 4000 miles
and with only 1 or 2 casualties. Apparently the most frequent problem
with these cars was the tyres - forever blowing out and with about a 4
hour replacement time. Secondly the rally went into Croatia, although
about 100 miles from any fighting - the roads were appauling - just
tracks and loose gravel. All the cars appeared to be completely
individual, with some amazing body styles - I think I particularly like
the boat-tailed example with wooden panelled top. I wonder if I can do
a boat-tailed TR6?
Anyway, I think the highlight for me was to see people driving these
pristine vehicles - even the experts were missing gears. Why they ever
need to change gear is beyond me - they easily take off from standing
in top gear and apparently rev down to 18rpm!!! Also the controls on
the steering column are impressive - complete dynamic tuning is
enabled though the adjustable idle speed (doubles as cruise control),
adjustable timing and even adjustable carburetter mixture. I got the
impression that these cars were suitable for the modern road in every
respect apart from the rather unefficient braking - no need to get
nervous really - yikes!
Paul.
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