150 Rolls Royce Spirit of Ecstacy (c.1930)

Rolls Royce Spirit of Ecstacy
ROLLS ROYCE SET

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The Spirit of Ecstasy is the bonnet ornament sculpture of Rolls Royce cars, it depicts a woman leaning forwards with her arms outstretched behind and above her. Billowing cloth runs from her arms to her back, resembling wings

The sculpture was the work of Charles Robnison Sykes who had worked under the patronage of John, 2nd Baron Montagu. Early Rolls Royce cars did not feature mascots though some were begining to carry emblems and mascots commissioned by the cars owners. In 1909 Baron Montagu, who was also The Car Illustrated magazine editor from 1902, asked Sykes to design personal mascot for the bonnet of his 1909 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, Sykes chose Eleanor Velasco Thornton as his model. Eleanor (also known as Thorn) was the secretary of Baron Montagu and the couple had enjoyed a secret love affair for years. This emblem became known as The Whisperer as she was modelled having placed one forefinger against her lips keeping quiet there secret tryst only three or four were ever cast one is on display at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu (the ancestral home of the Motagus)

By 1910 personal mascots had become fashionable and Rolls Royce were becoming concered that that some owners were affixing "inappropriate" ornaments to their cars. Claude Johnson, then managing director of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, was asked to commission a more dignified and graceful mascot. He turned to Sykes to produce a mascot which would adorn all future Rolls-Royce cars and convey "the spirit of the Rolls-Royce, namely, speed with silence, absence of vibration, the mysterious harnessing of great energy and a beautiful living organism of superb grace. His breif was to produce an emblem in the fashion of Nike similar to the sculpture in the Paris Louvre. But Sykes felt a more feminine image would be more suitable. He again chose Miss Thornton as his model, modifying The Whisperer with arms outstretched holding her flowing cape. He called this image The Spirit of Speed and later refering to it as "A graceful little goddess, the Spirit of Ecstasy, who has selected road travel as her supreme delight and alighted on the prow of a Rolls-Royce motor car to revel in the freshness of the air and the musical sound of her fluttering draperies. Royce was ill during the commissioning of the flying lady and was not at all keen. The Spirit of Ecstacy was however commissioned and manufactured by the British firm Louis Lejeune Ltd. for a number of years. Eleanor came to less glorious end, she died in December 1915 when the SS Persia was torpedoed by a U-boat south of Crete, she had been accompanying Lord Montagu who had been directed to assume a command in India, he was also thought to have been killed, but survived and was saved after several days adrift in a life raft.

Royce made sure it was officially listed as an optional extra, though in practice it was fitted to almost all cars becoming a standard fitting in the early 1920s. In the 1930s Sykes was again commissioned by Rolls-Royce to make a lower version of the mascot to suit the needs of the new sports saloons by providing their drivers with a clearer view of the road ahead. His kneeling lady was unveiled on 26 January 1934 again a reflection of Eleanor This version was, however, discontinued after the Silver Dawn, Phantom IV and Silver Wraith models, in favour of a smaller version of the original standing mascot, and so it remains to date

Today's Spirit of Ecstasy, from the 2003 Phantom model onward, stands just 3 inches tall and has a spring loaded mechanism to reduce injury retracting instantly into the radiator shell if struck from any direction.

A new design was specially made for the all-new-electric Spectre the figurine has been remodelled with a lower, more dynamic stance that brings her much closer to the original drawings made in the early years of the 20th century. The new version created for the Spectre will appear on all future models

Diolch yn fawr am 72,654,527 o olygfeydd anhygoel, mwynhewch ac arhoswch yn ddiogel

Thank you 72,654,527 amazing views, enjoy and stay safe

Shot 05.05.2019 at Catton Park Classic Car Show Ref 141-150

Taken in: UK / England / South Derbyshire District / Catton (show map)

Taken on: May 5, 2019

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Groups appears in: • Rolls-Royce • Car Emblems and Badges more » • Flickr Automotive • All about Cars • Any kind of vehicles • British Cars • Motoring • Rolls-Royce - Spirit of Ecstasy • Cars, planes, motorbikes, boats, trains and trucks of the whole • A Passion For Cars... • car radiator badges • *Auto British* • The World of Motoring 2 • #CARS • British Car World • automobilo « less

Camera: Canon EOS 100D, f/9.0, 1/160 sec, 25mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 100D
Aperture:	f/9.0
Exposure Time:	0.006 sec (1/160)
Focal Length:	25mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Not Defined
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Microsoft Windows Photo Gallery 6.0.6000.16386
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