London to Edinburgh, all in top gear
Recreation of historic trial from before roads were roads
In 1911, Rolls-Royce accomplished a significant feat. A Silver Ghost, designed to be an “experimental speed car,” made the 1,286 km trek along mostly horse paths from London to Edinburgh and back. Locked into top gear for the entire trip, it averaged a break-neck pace of 31.5 km/h. To celebrate 110 years later, Rolls-Royce brought tat car, along with nine more Silver Ghosts from the same era, and made the trip again.
The original drive was the London-Edinburgh Trial. The modern iteration started from the same Pall Mall, London, location of the Royal Automobile Club headquarters, and followed the Great North Road as closely as possible to the original route. Yes, they locked the car in top gear the whole time as well, though instead of a round trip, this one ended at Rolls-Royce Edinburgh.
It’s really just an excuse to bring out the original car, which later became the first Rolls-Royce to top 100 mph on a test track. The 20-Ghost Club brought nine more vintage Rollers along for the trip, which shows that their owners have as much confidence in their cars as those who embarked along the original run. The procession was lead by a modern Rolls-Royce Ghost, of course.
Rolls-Royce didn’t mention the average speed for this trip (nor the fuel economy), but despite it being a two-day event, that speed was likely much higher. It was, of course, still done with the car locked in top gear for reasons we don’t quite understand.
