Ghost story

Today I drove The Silver Ghost. Not a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, because no such car exists, but The Silver Ghost. And instead of collapsing in front of the television with a well-earned beer after a long day, I am writing this instead. Because sometimes after a day like today, you just have to get it out of your head and onto a screen.

And here’s why: is my contention that this is not only the most valuable British car in existence – I cannot think of another that might come close – but far more interestingly, the most important. That’s a big thing to say when you think of the first Mini, the first Land Rover or the first Jaguar E-Type. But I think I can stand it up.

Normally I’m pretty nervy about putting any pre-war car on these pages – in this data-driven world we know which stories really connect with you, and with certain exceptions, pre-war stuff does not figure high on the list, even when the war you’re referring to is merely the most recent global conflict. The Silver Ghost pre-dates the one before that. But as some of you will know, it did something extraordinary, something at the time no other car had come even halfway to matching.