Rolls Royce Armoured Car

[brett361975]

I work for a gent who has just had a rolls Royce Armoured car built for a private collection NICE ISN'T SHE?

There are only four in the world so i'm told.

Just thought i would post for you all to see

Regards

Brett

[T8HANTS]

So what did he start with, an original rolling chassis, sans armour, or is it scratch built with all new parts?

[brett361975]

If any one wants pictures of certain parts give my a shout and i will try my best.

Regards

Brett

[brett361975]

Rolling Chassis of one a family member was killed in on an army exercise so i'm told.

[MACRAE]

Bet that cost a bob or two to build but it sure l@@ks great would not mind a wee jaunt in that around the estate old boy.

Dan

[James Blonde]

Hallo brett361975

with regards Rolls-Royce Armored Cars the Irish Army have a running example kept at the Curragh Camp in County Kildare, (I will post a few pictures as soon as they are scanned.)

Of the 13 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Armoured Cars used by the Irish Army, 12 were stripped of their armour and sold on the 28th of April 1954. The thirteenth, ARP 2, "Slievenamon", was preserved as the actual car that accompanied General Michael Collins when he was killed in "Beal na mBleath" (Valley of the Flowers") in August 1922.

In the 1960's, presumably for nationalistic reasons the army replaced the original Hiberno-English spelling of the cars name with the Gaelic version, "Slibh na mBan.

Slievenamon:

Irish Reg: YI 6450, Chassis Nu: 103 WO, Army Nu: ARR 2.

Danny Boy / Tom Keogh, the only survivor of the 12 sold, has been rebuilt by a collector in England. Originally called "Danny Boy", it was re-named in honour of Col.-Comdt. Tom Keogh, killed by a mine on Macroom, in September 1922.

"Danny Boy / Tom Keogh,"

Irish Reg: YI 6449, Chassis Nu: 101 WO, Army Nu: ARR 1.

Connaught Stranger.

[Neil Clark]

I have an interest in the RNAS Armoured Cars used in Gallipoli in 1915. Is this example similar to the cars used by the RNAS? I'm very grateful to you for posting this superb photo. With your permission I should like to use this on my website?

Regards

Neil

[MACRAE]

"Danny Boy / Tom Keogh,"

Irish Reg: YI 6449, Chassis Nu: 101 WO, Army Nu: ARR 1.

well i thinks thats a good name for a car "Danny Boy"

Dan

[brett361975]

Feel free to use the picture Neil,

would i be right it saying the whole idea for the armoured car was the brain wave of Winston Churchill and the old Duke of Westminster? or is that complete rubbish i have picked up from somewhere?

I am told it cost its new owner just shy of a million,but he has plenty and what a nice way to spent it !

Regards

Brett

This vehicle will be on display only three times a year so anyone wants dates of as i say pics of any certain bits let me know,

Brett

[montbrehain]

I am not 100% certain but I believe there is only 1 !!! Rolls Royce armoured car of the correct "Great War" pattern ? The others are all 1920s (even the one at Bovington Tank museum) The only correct car dating from 1914-1918 is in India. I stand to be corrected though "MO"

[brett361975]

I think this one is from the 20's. Both the old dukes son's were killed. One at Ypres in 1914 and the other in an accident on salisbury plain in the 20's. The old boy kept the car in a garage and there its has remained rotting. Last year the new lord of the manor had it restored.

Regards

Brett

Is this one ww1 pattern?

[Krithia]

I have an interest in the RNAS Armoured Cars used in Gallipoli in 1915. Is this example similar to the cars used by the RNAS? I'm very grateful to you for posting this superb photo. With your permission I should like to use this on my website?

Regards

Neil

Neil, you share a similar interest to me, that makes at least two of us ! ... attached pic is of one of the RR armour cars at Gallipoli. By the way Brett, a superb looking restoration and appears WW1 spec to me.

regards, Steve

[GWRCo]

............there is a replica 1920's RR armoured car built with a truck chassis and truck petrol engine located at the Somme heritage centre in N.Ireland. The vehicle was built by a film company located in Belfast, and was used in the film Michael Collins. Last year it was restored to full running order by the REME section of the 40th (Ulster) signals Reg't at Clonaver Park on the edge of Belfast. Currently the vehicle is displayed, but the Somme centre is trying to get it moved out to make way for more exhibits, and the owner is asking about £8,000 for it. It's only worth about £3,000 at a push!

tim

[david murdoch]

Hi Brett.

I missed out on this thread, being away at work. I would be grateful for any pics of the inside of the turret - looking in from the rear doors. I was wondering - as it is not clear in the previous posts - was the chassis used an armoured car chassis, or a Silver Ghost chassis that was modified (ie addition of double rear wheels)? Some armoured cars were later converted back to open top, and may have found thier way back to civilian hands. Another thing was early in the war many wealthy families/estate owners donated vehicles to the war effort - the original armoured cars being built on existing Silver Ghost chassis, and then later runs on purpose built. I have the RR makers plate off one of these cars. My grandfather took it off his car when he returned from Mespotamia in 1920. I think it should be mounted on the dashboard. I saw on the web pics of the interior of the Irish car, looks like the maker plate is mounted centre left on the dash, but it's not too clear. Now I would think it would be in the same position for both civilian Silver Ghosts and the armoured cars - if the rebuilt armoured car has one - should be able to trace the origins of the chassis from that.

If it is original WW1 pattern or civilian it will have also wooden floorboards! Several of the original type cars and crews came to a bad end, getting torched by Iraqi insurgents when they figured out this weak spot!

Mine is off a GB series - built 1914/1915 as an armoured car. It was originally an Admiralty car, then transfered to MGC(M), then Tank Corps, and probably ended her days in RAF service in Iraq.

Regards David

[per ardua per mare per terram]

You may all be interested in Fletcher, David WAR CARS. British Armoured Cars in the First World War (ISBN: 0112904394).

would i be right it saying the whole idea for the armoured car was the brain wave of Winston Churchill and the old Duke of Westminster? or is that complete rubbish i have picked up from somewhere?

Nice story, but ideas and concepts for armoured cars date from before Churchill, they had armoured traction engines and trains in the Boer War. You're probably thinking of tanks, in that case I understood that he came up with the name.

was the chassis used an armoured car chassis, or a Silver Ghost chassis that was modified (ie addition of double rear wheels)?

Most RR armoured cars (there were other types used) had a Silver Ghost chassis with only a few modifications, mainly the tires and springs.

Another thing was early in the war many wealthy families/estate owners donated vehicles to the war effort - the original armoured cars being built on existing Silver Ghost chassis, and then later runs on purpose built.

The original RNAS armoured cars were the brain childs of the Samson brothers, with a Mercedes having 1st honours; there were armoured buses and lorries too. The final version was an Admiralty design, so Churchill could have had an input, but the turret was a recommendation of a Captain Nickerson and realised by the steelmakers Beardmores -- to bend it without the steel cracking.