Rolls-Royce Motor Cars PressClub · Article.
A DEFINING MOMENT: ROLLS-ROYCE MARKS ALPINE TRIAL’S 110th ANNIVERSARY
Wed Jun 14 15:23:00 CEST 2023 Press Release
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars marks the 110th anniversary of its success in the Alpine Trial in 1913 – an event whose significance in Rolls-Royce’s legend cannot be overstated.
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Andrew Ball
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
- Rolls-Royce Motor Cars marks the 110th anniversary of its successes in the Alpine Trial in 1913
- Original trial event spanned eight days and 2,600 kilometres
- Marque’s dominance of event cast Silver Ghost’s reputation as 'the best car in the world'
- Rolls-Royce looks back on the characters, cars and conditions that
made automotive history
“At the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood, we design and hand-build
what many call ‘the best car in the world’. That title was first
bestowed on Rolls-Royce 110 years ago, following the Silver Ghost’s
total domination of the daunting Alpine Trial in 1913. As custodians
of this unique legacy, we proudly uphold the exceptional design and
engineering excellence that made those early Rolls-Royces so
successful. These exquisite examples of our founders’ art are a true
inspiration; thanks to the skilled care and attention today’s proud
owners lavish on these astonishing motor cars, we are still able to
experience and enjoy their remarkable attributes. The Silver Ghost’s
unequalled marriage of performance, strength, reliability,
technological innovation, driver engagement and comfort provides a
template for everything we do more than a century later.”
Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce
Motor Cars
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars marks the 110th anniversary of
its success in the Alpine Trial in 1913 – an event whose significance
in Rolls-Royce’s legend cannot be overstated. It was this challenge,
held over eight days and 2,600km, that established Rolls-Royce's
reputation as ‘the best car in the world’ – a crown it retains to this
day. Rolls-Royce looks back on the characters, cars and conditions
that helped make automotive history.
A DAUNTING CHALLENGE – AND UNMISSABLE OPPORTUNITY
From its foundation in 1904, Rolls-Royce immediately
earned an enviable reputation for quality and reliability. This was
cemented in a faultless performance by the new 40/50 hp, or Silver
Ghost as it came to be known, in the 1907 Scottish Reliability Trials,
followed by a peerless demonstration at the famous 1911 London to
Edinburgh Top Gear Trial and Brooklands 100mph Run.
These endeavours earned Rolls-Royce the soubriquet ‘the best
British car’. However, for energetic, ambitious managing director
Claude Johnson, who described himself as the hyphen in Rolls-Royce,
this was merely the beginning. He wanted to conquer the European
market and knew that success in a high-profile continental event was
the key. The 1913 Alpine Trial would provide precisely the opportunity
he was looking for.
PERFECTLY PREPARED
Johnson personally selected a Rolls-Royce Works Team,
with Eric Platford – one of the company’s most trusted employees and
former mechanic to Charles Stewart Rolls himself – as manager. The
specially prepared Silver Ghosts would be driven by Curt Friese, the
marque’s representative in Austria, experienced Alpine driver Jock
Sinclair, and EW Hives, a senior member of the Experimental Department
at Derby and the first man to drive the Silver Ghost at 101mph.
Johnson also invited an enthusiastic privateer Silver Ghost
owner, James Radley, to act as the team’s pacesetter.
The Works cars were meticulously prepared for the hazards of a
springtime crossing of the Alps. Then as now, these included extreme
temperatures, high altitudes, punishing gradients and vertiginous
descents – but all without the benefit of the modern road surfaces of today.
The most significant technical modifications to the Silver
Ghosts included a new four-speed gearbox with a special low gear,
strengthened chassis and suspension, a larger main fuel tank together
with a reserve, and a new starting system that could get the engine
running in under a minute even in freezing temperatures.
After a successful reconnaissance mission in May – in which the
cars overcame appalling conditions with perfect composure – the team
travelled to Vienna for the start of the Alpine Trial on 22 June 1913.
DAY 1 (260 MILES, MAXIMUM ELEVATION 4,000 FT)
As the most powerful vehicles taking part, the Silver
Ghosts were sent off first, led as planned by James Radley. Starting
at 5.00am, Radley crossed the first day’s finish line in a little over
eight hours, followed 45 minutes later by the rest of the Works Team.
No other cars came near to matching their pace, and even this
relatively straightforward stage saw the event’s first retirements.
DAY 2 (262 MILES, MAXIMUM ELEVATION 5,700 FT)
The second day saw the competitors tackle the oldest
road over the Alps, the Tauren Pass, which rose 2,900 ft in just 12
miles with a maximum gradient of 27.9%. Compounded by atrocious
weather and road conditions, the task proved impossible for many. The
Silver Ghosts, however, sailed over at half-throttle, with Radley
averaging 25mph and never falling below 17mph, even on the steepest slopes.
DAY 3 (246 MILES)
On a much easier, largely level run finishing at the
shores of Lake Garda, the Rolls-Royce team led from the start, with
Radley complaining about the slow pace set by the officials’ car in front.
DAY 4 (192 MILES, MAXIMUM ELEVATION 7,400FT)
Stage four took the teams over the Dolomites and
included the Trial’s highest point, the Pordoi Pass. Rain soon turned
to heavy snow, but the Rolls-Royce team were undaunted and took the
first four places on the day.
DAY 5 (205 MILES, MAXIMUM ELEVATION 3,500 FT)
Despite freezing conditions, the Works Team again led
from start to finish on a long drive through southern Austria via
steep, rugged and copiously hair-pinned roads including the Wurzen and
Perdils passes to the port city of Trieste.
DAY 6 (242 MILES, MAXIMUM ELEVATION 3,500 FT)
After a rest day in Trieste, the teams took on the
steepest pass of the entire event – the Loibl, which gained 2,300 ft
in just three miles – en route to the final overnight stop in
Klagenfurt, where the Rolls-Royce team completed another clean sweep.
Radley reduced the record time for the ascent from six-and-a-half
minutes to just five, delighting onlookers by taking a drink as he
rounded the final hairpin.
DAY 7 (260 MILES, MAXIMUM ELEVATION 5,000FT)
Between Klagenfurt and the finish in Vienna lay the
notorious Stubalpe Pass. The road included 125 gullies that drained
water across the road and could only be negotiated at walking pace. As
usual, the Silver Ghosts were untroubled and led onto the fast, final
stretch to Vienna, where Radley hit 70mph on three occasions.
However, as they passed through the village of Guntramsdorf,
Jock Sinclair’s Silver Ghost was struck by a speeding car driven by a
non-competitor and forced into a telegraph pole. After repairing the
near-side front wheel and tyre, Sinclair limped into Vienna in his one
functioning (third) gear. It was the first and only time the team
failed to take the first four positions in the event.
UNDISPUTED CHAMPIONS
Of the 46 starters, only 31 reached Vienna. The
Rolls-Royce cars’ outstanding speed, strength and reliability made
them the event’s unrivalled stars. This earned their drivers the most
prestigious individual prizes, presented by Archduke Leopold Salvator
of Austria. Radley received a special prize from the city of Trieste.
The marque’s exceptional performance drew universal praise and
admiration across the automotive world. Of perhaps even greater
importance to Claude Johnson, this success translated into European
sales that quickly grew to match those in the UK.
Although the Alpine Trials continued until 1973, Rolls-Royce
never again entered a Works Team; there was no need. The title of ‘the
best car in the world’ had been won – and would never be relinquished.
A LASTING LEGACY
The Silver Ghost remains arguably the most famous
Rolls-Royce ever made. That so many examples remain not only in
perfect working order, but able to undertake the same extraordinary
endeavours they did over a century ago is a testament to their proud
owners’ care and attention. These devoted enthusiasts play a central
role in conserving and celebrating this priceless automotive heritage,
and are an inspiration to all who know and love historic Rolls-Royce
motor cars.
But masterpieces like those participating in the anniversary
reenactment also represent part of a larger legacy. Around 80% of all
Rolls-Royce motor cars ever made are still in existence and in active
service – a lasting, tangible monument to our founders’ skill, vision,
technical expertise and relentless pursuit of perfection.
As their successors, the team at the contemporary Home of
Rolls-Royce at Goodwood, which marks its own 20th
anniversary in 2023, are the fortunate custodians of that indelible
legacy. Every motor car hand-built at Goodwood today upholds the
standards for performance, strength, reliability, comfort, driver
experience and engineering excellence first established by the Silver
Ghost, and recognised and respected around the world ever since.