There are about 1000 known ’46-’55 cars in the US, a similar number in the UK, a few hundred in Australia and a few more hundred scattered around the World. R-R made over 8,000 and they were heavily used so the rate of attrition may have been higher than with previous models. There are probably over 4,000 left so it is quite a surprise that this website has so many using it. Currently, average daily visits are over sixty and there were nearly 1600 in January which probably makes it one of the most popular and influential sites to deal with ’46-’55 cars.

Latest addition to Team
More recently under pressure from David Chaundy I have included the Cloud and S Series. I’ve done this because they are very closely related to the earlier models and because David’s work is to the highest possible standards and his knowledge extensive. He also has friends who run specialist-engineering shops who can advise. Graham Whitehouse www.gwautos.com is the UK’s top automatic gearbox man and Cyril Millward worked for Jack Williams in the BSA experimental shop at Umberslade Hall. Jack’s experiments in combustion chamber shape at AJS in the fifties led to greater and more consistent power output through Squish. The V8 engine had Squish.

David has had a passion for old cars since early childhood, his neighbour had a string of vintage and post vintage models that he not only helped work on but also studied intently. He was interested in every aspect of everything about them and committed it to memory. He rebuilt his first car at the age of twelve and progressed through a series of vintage and more recent Austins, Rovers and Minis until after a four thousand seven hundred hour rebuild, his A30 won the highest possible award. He was also able to buy his Silver Cloud with the proceeds from the sale of 1928 Austin Burnham Six he had restored too. He is recognised as a technical expert and historian of Austins as well as having extensive knowledge of R-R’s and many others makes too. He is a very welcome addition to the “team”. David’s email is david@accountsangels.co.uk

Norman Geeson is a Mechanical Engineer in the true sense of the word and had been in the Motor Industry for 40 years prior to retirement. Subsequently he has spent a considerable amount of his time researching company records and publishing information not previously available that will help owners to keep their cars, as Sir Henry would have wished. Norman has had a lifelong love of the ’46-’55 cars and is the Technical Consultant to the RROC of America – he is probably the foremost authority on them (he’ll recognise and give the part number for anything on the car!) and it is an honour to have his work on this site. Norman also supplies rear axles or rebuilds them for all ’46-’65 cars and is contactable by email. Norman.geeson@virgin.net

More recently we have had contributions from Dr Adam Kimberley who is a Member of the Royal Institution, a brilliant writer, was a personal friend of Leonard Setright’s, a T type owner, a connoisseur of good food and a serious Music enthusiast with a love of Hi Fi. His contributions will not be technical but they will entertain. The English language will be used as was intended too. 

Roy Partridge, sadly deceased, and John Hodson of www.alpineeagle.co.uk have been in business for forty three years now and during that time have restored a very high proportion of the most famous and historically important cars R-R and other companies have produced, virtually every one having won numerous awards at Pebble Beach, Louis Vuitton as well as the various Club Rallies. They are amongst the World’s best and it would be difficult to overstate the help and encouragement they’ve given me. My son Rik has worked there for six years now. 

Alpine Eagle have finished Nick Whitaker’s Gurney Nutting PIII Sedanca de Ville and are now working on Bill Larsen’s T46 Bugatti and the Malaysian Royal family’s ex Amherst Villiers PIII in the style of an Owen Sedanca.  AH sued R-R and succeeded in proving that they hadn’t done the work properly or fitted and bench tested the Turbos he’d designed for the car! These stories are beyond the remit of this site but undoubtedly of great interest to enthusiasts, they will eventually appear in the Praeclarum that can be downloaded by those of you who ought to join a jolly good club and get a proper copy – it’s a beautiful magazine.

My family has had a passion for motorised transport for over 100 years now and my Great Grandfather Dr. Frederick Lucius Nicholls may have been the first GP to use a car for his rounds. His first car was a 1902 Stanley Steamer and his practice was in Fulbourn in Cambridgeshire. The picture shows him (at the extreme right) on May 26^th 1908 at the Cambridge and Isle of Ely Motor Club meet in Croxton Park. I believe CS Rolls was also a member.

Another Great Grandfather William Wright was a Landowner at Ludham in Norfolk and he was the first in the family to own a Rolls. The picture shows the car, an estate worker and my mother with her brother and sisters.

I am a 50% shareholder in www.avihifi.com with Martin Grindrod, an Electronics engineer whose father and grandfather both worked for Roll-Royce in the Aero Engine division. I have had a lifelong interest in cars and motorcycles and have owned over fifty cars including Aston Martins, Jaguars, Rovers, Alvis’s, MG’s and seven Rolls-Royce and Bentley. I’ve also had over one hundred and fifty motorcycles, many of which I completely rebuilt, the earliest was a 1910 Indian V twin but my favourites were Rudge, Velocette, OHC Nortons, Vincent’s and later on Ducati and Aermaachi racers and currently BMWs. I also worked for some years restoring antique watches and clocks and all of this brought me into close contact with many specialists and some famous journalists. I even learnt workshop practice from an ex R-R apprentice who went on to become an RAF Warrant Officer during WWII in charge of a massive R-R Merlin and Pratt and Witney engine reconditioning Plant. Hopefully you will consider this sufficient training to enable me to produce a credible website for these marvellous old cars.

Of all the others who’ve helped me with this site I feel that special mention must go to Bill Coburn, he writes beautifully, knows ours and the later cars inside out and has produced 50 Newsletters called Tee Ones that deal to a small extent with our cars and to a much greater extent, with repairing Shadows and Spirits. In so doing he has single-handed begun a movement the world over that will guarantee the survival of these great cars and make people respect them for the achievement that they were. Tee Ones can be downloaded from www.rrbew.co.uk

We receive dozens of emails from enthusiasts all over the world who’ve enjoyed the site and encouraged us to do more. Many have learnt to use computers late in life and have found this site easy to use too. We‘ve many new friends and they have encouraged us to develop the site and some have sent stories about and pictures of their cars for publishing. People love to see these because it tells them about the pain and pleasure of old car ownership. If you love yours or you remember particular journey or experience relating to a Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Bristol or even a contemporary, we’d love to put it and pictures on this site and we can guarantee it will be enjoyed and help to encourage more to do the same.

There is a great bond of friendship between owners of old cars and, as we don’t have a message board, it is a tremendous pleasure to receive so many emails. However whilst it is easy to recommend specialists or suppliers or to put people in touch with one and other, technical queries are immensely time consuming. We are delighted to help and look forward to doing so but would ask you to think carefully before sending in request for help with matters that do not require complex knowledge. If you have simple problems they can be dealt with by local people then ask them first, but if it’s beyond them then please contact us. We’d all love to do more for you but there are only 24 hours in a day!

Ashley James