Whether it be a wedding, anniversary or any kind of special occasion, this truly is the only way to travel.

Style and elegance but with subtlety and a sense of an all but forgotten era where ladies and gentlemen behaved in the most extravagant way.

Please note that we moved premises recently and have lost our old land-line phone number, I can be called on my mobile (07785 580056) or at my garage on 01273 324305 (Hove MOT)

Simon Ross

Sole Trader

Trading as Ross Rolls Royce

A Brief History of Babs

Originally supplied by the famous Jack Barclay Rolls Royce showroom to Lt. Colonel A.O.Boyd of the British Army, a highly decorated officer during The Great War who later retired to Robin Hill in Surrey.

The build sheet and original invoice from Barclays states that the car was sold to Lt. Colonel Boyd for the princely sum of £2879 on the 12th of December 1935 following the extremely detailed completion of the coachwork by Barker Coachwork and some extras such as cigar lighters back & front.

The build sheet from Barclays was so specific that it even called for an exact 11 degree slope to the top of the bonnet and dummy louvres to the sides.

The Barclays build sheets were meticulously detailed in hand written fountain pen, each addition specified to ensure the car was completed exactly as requested by The Colonel.

It was an astonishing sum of money to pay for a car in 1935 (invoice date) and was the equivalent to about 16 years wages for an average craftsman such as a carpenter or stone mason.

This car was later owned by the renowned sketch artist Leonard Taylor who famously depicted Sir Isaac Pitman the inventor of shorthand writing, later known as Pitman Shorthand.

Fifty years of history shows that this particular Rolls Royce 20/25 Saloon Car was kept on the road by specialist Rolls Royce engineers such as Lex Mead, Brooklands Motor Company, Rolls-Royce Motors Limited, Adams & Oliver, Empire Garage in Finsbury Park, M.Ruocco of Drayton Park, E.H.Hamilton & Son & T&H Motors Ltd.

In the 1960’s the car was owned by one of the Schwab Brothers who founded The Schwab Pharmacy in Los Angeles where the sweater girl Lana Turner (most famous for her leading lady role with the great Jack Nicholson in The Postman Always Rings Twice) was discovered sitting on a stool. The pharmacy was mentioned in numerous films including Sunset Blvd by Billy Wilder.

Its easy to imagine Hollywood stars of the 30’s and 40’s such as Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Judy Garland, Bob Hope, George Raft and Spencer Tracy arriving at the end of the red carpet in this beautiful Rolls-Royce.

In fact, there is a look of the Godfather about this car and could easily be the one listed by the Collector of Taxes as belonging to Al Capone, maybe there are a few well repaired bullet holes in the bodywork from a machine gun attack outside a speak easy.

The Rolls Royce model 20/25 has been used in films such as Harlem Nights, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, The Remains of the Day, Reach for the Sky, Poirot, Jeeves and Wooster, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Heartbeat, Billy Liar, My Left Foot, Pennies from Heaven, Mission Impossible, Cinderella Man with Russell Crowe, Lovejoy and Get Carter with Michael Caine.

The movie film era was truly upon us in the 1930’s & 1940’s and, unlike today, the stars & starlettes were all about glamour and prestige.

Arriving was everything and anyone who was anyone arrived in a Rolls-Royce.

Conditions of Sale:

We have a minimum booking deposit fee of just £50 and the balance is not payable until 30 days prior to your wedding date.

In the unlikely event that you cancel your booking with Ross Rolls Royce then the balance will not be payable as long as you cancel within 60 days of your wedding date, however, the booking deposit is non-refundable at any time.

We try to keep things as simple as possible and always make 100% effort to ensure there are no hick-ups or delays, however, all cars new or old are machines and machines can break, so in the event of a breakdown we will organise an alternative car as quickly as possible but cannot guarantee it will be exactly the same as the car you booked. (We’ve never had to do this)

Also, British weather is unpredictable but the Highways Commission response to extreme weather conditions is very predictable and usually poor, so, in cases of extreme weather we will try to advise you of problems well in advance of your wedding date.