1907 Rolls Royce Electric Powered Model

This is a half scale model of an original 1907 Rolls Royce that was hand build by a gentleman in England. He spent nearly 4,000 hours building this 8 foot long half-size model. The chassis is made from aluminum sheet material. The body is aluminum skin over hardwood framing just like the real car. The upholstery is soft genuine leather. The tires are 16" bicycle tires with wood spoked wheels like the original. It has a 12-volt car battery under the hood and a mid-mounted electric motor. The small speedometer is from a bicycle. The side lamps and tail lamp burned oil just as on the full-size car but have been electrified. Located in Nokomis, IL.

Technical Description of the model from the Owner    

     This incredibly detailed half-sized model of a 1907 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost automobile was built by Arthur Fredrick Musson in England. According to his son David, Arthur kept track of his time and spent over 4,000 hours (2 man-years of time) building it starting in the early 1980s and finishing it in 1987. Arthur sold it for about $15,000 shortly afterward so he would have enough money to immigrate to Australia where the rest of his family lived and buy a home there.   

     Arthur patterned this little beauty after a full-sized 1909 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost Automobile located in Beaulieu, England. Beaulieu (pronounced BEW-lee) is a small village located on the southeastern edge of the New Forest national park in Hampshire England and is home to both the Palace House and the British National Motor Museum.  

     This jewel measures ______" long by ______" wide and ______" high to the top of the erected folding windshield. It has a wheelbase of ______" and a wheel track of ______". It weighs approximately 160 pounds without the 12-volt automotive battery that is used to propel it and light the headlamps, cowl lamps, and single tail lamp. The typical medium-sized 12-volt automotive battery will weigh around 50 pounds. 

     Arthur was very familiar with working with sheet metal but he did not have access to elaborate sheet metal forming tools so he used aluminum sheet material rather than steel to fabricate the ladder-type frame with its several cross members. He even punched large holes in the cross members wherever possible to reduce their weight.

     All of the leaf springs are assembled from many aluminum leaves. The front springs are the typical semi-elliptic type while the rear suspension is of the platform type with a single transverse spring shackled to the back of a pair of semi-elliptic springs on each side. The special and rather complex shackles resemble U-joint crosses. This rather elaborate type of rear suspension was thought to provide a smoother ride on the larger cars but disappeared for the most part by 1910 or so.

    Evidently, the rear springs would not carry the load Arthur intended so he installed rubber-tipped rigid supports to carry the load on the rear springs. I wrapped wood blocks with white cloth and taped them in place to keep the front of this beauty from bouncing when it is being transported. I never removed those blocks yet.

     Between the front shackles, front spindle kingpins, rear spring front shackles, and the rear spring rear platform suspension shackles, there are 20 miniature grease cups that Arthur built from scratch. They are made from brass and have knurled threaded caps that one could remove to pack them with grease. I find no evidence of grease anywhere so I don't know if Arthur intended for them to be functional or used merely for decoration.     

     The front axle appears to be a piece of steel bar stock that Arthur cut to shape and used a ball end mill to remove the inner material on both the front and back sides. The steel steering spindles rotate on typical kingpins. An authentic worm and sector steering gear with a steering arm actuates a drag link that turns the right spindle. A typical tie rod links the rotation of the right and left spindles together.  

     The rear axle assembly incorporates a fully functional differential so this model has drive to both of the rear wheels. I have not had any reason to take it apart so I have no idea where Arthur obtained the many gears, bearings, and other parts used in its construction. It appears that he fabricated both halves of the rear axle housing using a cast flange from something. He even included a truss rod under the center housing which was typical on vehicles of this era.

     As was typical until the mid-1920s, the front wheels are without any brakes at all. The brakes on the rear wheels are of the mechanical internal expanding variety inside the brake drums. They are actuated by the foot pedal as well as by the locking hand lever which is the outer of the two hand levers on the right side of this vehicle. They are actuated by the cross shaft and the steel rods which run down both sides of this model. For some unknown reason, Arthur never painted these brake actuating rods.

          The tires are 35-year-old all-black 16" x 2-1/4" Michelin bicycle tires and are mounted on beautifully fabricated authentic wood artillery wheels. All rubber tires made before 1924 or so were not black but were of a light gray color. A full set of 5 16" all-white bicycle tires are included with this model in an attempt to replicate the original light gray tires. I installed one on the right front wheel just to see how it might look. I concluded that white tires looked odd on this mostly white model so I decided to leave the nicely contrasting original black tires on this model for now. The new owner can choose which color of tires to display on this exceptionally fine and unique model. A spare tire is mounted on a bicycle rim and is carried on the right running board.   

     The front wheels have 8 spokes each while the rear wheels have 14 spokes each. Very few cars of this era had more than 12 spokes in the rear wheels. Many of the larger brass era cars had only 10 spokes in the front wheels while nearly all of the medium-sized and smaller brass era cars had 12 spokes in all of the wheels. Nobody has ever been able to explain to me why many of the larger brass era cars had only 10 spokes in their front wheels. 

     The brass hubcaps closely resemble those on the full-size vehicle. The rear hubcaps have a thin photo-etched brass ring that is soldered to the machined hub cap. The ring has the words "Rolls Royce" etched into it in two places.  The front hub caps press on while the rear hubcaps screw onto the wheel hub. The red steel wheel hub plates closely resemble those on the full-sized car.

     The electric propulsion motor is of the 12-volt DC type and is mounted under the middle of this gem. It turns an open driveshaft that has 2 covered U-joints and turns the pinion shaft on the differential assembly. The motor speed is regulated by a solid-state SCR speed controller located on an aluminum heat sink under the rear of the body. The accelerator pedal actuates a linkage that rotates the shaft on a potentiometer that sends the appropriate electrical signal to the motor SCR speed controller. There is a pair of double solenoid controlled relays under the middle of this car that change the direction of rotation of the electric propulsion motor.  

     The propulsion battery is a typical medium-sized 12-Volt automotive battery that sits in an aluminum cradle under the polished aluminum engine hood. This hood has aluminum piano-type hinges riveted in place. There are pairs of beautifully fabricated rotating hood latch handles on both sides of the hood. The tapered handles are machine from aluminum bar stock and rotate tiny steel hooks that turn a quarter of a turn and latch into small brackets on the insides of the frame rails. Authur even fabricated beautiful aluminum three-dimensional escutcheons where the hood handles rotate in the bottoms of the hood sides. Seemingly small details like this are not easily noticed by many people but really add to the great appeal of this unique model when one examines it closely.

     The controls consist of a genuine hardwood rimmed brass spoked steering wheel with centrally mounted controls for the engine throttle setting and ignition spark timing. Those control handles move but the linkages are not attached to anything. There is a wood control box on the wood dash panel that has a removable lid. Inside are located an electric voltmeter, a red control circuit pilot light, a 10 amp fuse holder, a toggle switch to operate the lights, and a key switch. The key switch even has a half-size red leather fob with a metal insert that has the proper RR half-size insignia on it. A brass dummy fuel level gauge occupies the lower right corner of the dashboard. 

     The left or clutch pedal moves but is not hooked to anything. The right or brake pedal actuates the brakes on the rear wheels. The accelerator pedal is located to the right of the brake pedal and controls the speed of the electric propulsion motor. Both the hand brake lever and the directional control lever operate in a rather complex fabricated steel quadrant just like the brake and shift levers on the full-sized vehicle. They also both have nickel-plated handles that release the ratchets that hold the levers in position. 

     The inner of the pair of outboard control levers controls the direction of the vehicle. When it is locked in the fully forward position, the red pilot light comes on on the dash control panel and the vehicle will move ahead when the accelerator pedal is depressed. When the directional control lever is locked in the center position, the red dash pilot light is not on and the vehicle will not move when the accelerator pedal is depressed. When the directional control lever is locked in the fully backward position, the dash pilot light will be on and the vehicle will move backward when the accelerator pedal is depressed. 

     The electronic speed control circuitry works very well and is smooth throughout the entire speed range. This vehicle will move along at a very slow creep or move up to a maximum speed of about 10 miles per hour. The speed range is the same in both the forward and reverse directions.  

     I suspect the speedometer is from a British bicycle of some kind and it fits the size of this model very well. It appears that Arthur changed the face or at least added the date 1906 to the face. That would make it look more authentic because most such accessories were either patented or built a year or so before they were used on an automobile. 

     It is driven with a cable inside a metal housing that has a pulley on the end. A pulley on the drive shaft runs a round section rubber belt that turns the pulley on the cable. This speedometer showed 85 miles on the odometer when I bought this car and now shows 112 miles. I find it hard to believe this little beauty has traveled 27 miles since I have owned it but it may have. I am too large to fit in this car and no adult has tried to drive it since I have owned it either. I have not yet checked to see if the odometer and speedometer register in scale or actual miles or speed.  

     To me, the body is one of the most impressive parts of this model. It is framed in hardwood and covered with aluminum sheet skin, just like the full-size vehicle. The rear doors and their perimeter exposed wood framing are truly a work of art. That hardwood frame is exposed and varnished rather than painted body color. The brass door hinges are truly fabulous. The part of the hinge on the door is fabricated from heavy brass bar stock. The part of the hinge that attaches to the door jamb is made from brass sheet material and actually wraps around and covers the part of the hinge that is attached to the door. 

     The door latches are similarly spectacular as well. They incorporate lost wax castings for the nickel-plated bail-type exterior door handles. The spring-loaded latch mechanisms are fabricated from brass and hidden behind the leather inner door panels. As on the real vehicle, the latches will open when the outer bail handles are rotated in either direction. A triangular cam on the handle shaft actuates the latch bolt in the mechanism. 

     There is a flat brass escutcheon that surrounds the lock bolt and another one that surrounds the opening lever on the wood on the top of the door. There are beautiful 3-dimensional nickel-plated escutcheons that surround the shafts on the outer door handles. The red leather inner door panels have the distinctive RR logo on the flaps that cover the access to the storage compartments inside both of the doors.

     The upholstery is a beautiful red genuine leather that may be of the better vat-dyed variety that it is dyed all the way through the material. The upholstery incorporates a diamond tufted pattern that is correct for brass-era vehicles. I suspect Arthur used a modern stuffing material rather than the horsehair stuffing that was used on the original vehicle. The leather is still very nice and soft with no cracks or damage even though this jewel is over 35 years old. The leather could use some very careful cleaning and treating with a preservative but I will leave that task to the new owner.

     The windshield is a rather complex 3 section unit fabricated from solid brass stock. It is supported with complex sloped solid brass rod assemblies on both sides. The bottom sloped section is fixed. The pair of upper sections can fold as a unit where they attach to the bottom sloped section. The pair of very special S-shaped wing nuts lock the pair of upper sections to the sloped lower section. The upper of the pair of upper frames can be hinged open to allow more air to flow through when desired. A pair of knurled brass round knobs lock that movable section in place. I replaced the plastic glazing that was damaged when I bought this model. 

     The four beautifully flowing fenders are fabricated from sheet aluminum material. The front fenders have a reinforcing angle attached to the bottom edges to reinforce them while the rear fenders do not have this feature. This was common on some of the full-sized vehicles of this era. Arthur must not have had access to a bead roller so he attached a quarter-round metal bead to the tops of all four fenders using blind rivets.

     The fenders attach to the aluminum trimmed hardwood running boards and are supported with round rod brackets as well. The 6 running board brackets are of particular interest to me. Arthur bent a 1/2 inch wide steel channel to the required curvature and then filled the open side of the channel by soldering flat stock in place where strength was needed to make a strong rectangular tube section.

     Each of the six running board bracket channels is terminated in a curved point on a sculpted steel 4 hole plate where they bolt to the outsides of the frame rails. Please note the special conical-shaped square-headed bolts that attach the plates to the frames. Arthur spent many hours making these special bolts from scratch. This is another very impressive detail that escapes the attention of the average model viewer. 

     The full-size RR vehicles did not use rivets to hold the frame sections or such attachments together. They featured special tapered shank bolts that were fitted to tapered holes formed with a tapered reamer. This method of construction was considered to be superior to rivets and was done to assure parts would not become loose during the life of the automobile. It also allowed parts to be disassembled and reassembled much easier than fighting with removing and replacing rivets. This was a very costly type of construction but that was not a factor for the "best car in the world".

     The very distinctive radiator is of particular interest due to its unique profile which became a RR trademark of a sort. A few manufacturers copied it in the early 1920s but were soon discouraged by Rolls Royce. I suspect this radiator was fabricated from "German Silver" which is an alloy consisting of about 60% copper, 20% nickel, and 20% zinc. It resembles silver even though it contains no elemental silver unless it has been plated. 

     It is interesting to note that this radiator has both upper and lower water tanks with the appropriate inlet and outlet even though it has no functional metalcore. The black core material on the front appears to be a "Hexcel" expanded plastic material similar to that used in snow skis back in the 1970s. A cloisonne enamel emblem adorns the upper front while a turned filler neck tops the upper tank. Authur did not originally feature the "Spirit of Ecstacy" flying lady radiator ornament which someone added after this model made its way to America. This radiator ornament was not featured on the full-size RR autos until 1910 or so.

     Arthur really went all out when he found or fabricated the three ornate badges for the badge bar in front of the radiator. It appears that one or perhaps two of the badges were photo-etched with the third badge being very carefully cut from sheet brass material. The badge bar also holds the engine hand crank support. The engine hand crank turns in the support but does not attach to anything on the model. The special front and rear license plates both display "SG 80". This was significant for the RR meet on the 80th anniversary of the introduction of the Silver Ghost in 1987 where this model was displayed and first sold.

     The 5 very intricate yet functional half-size lamps on this fabulous model are like fine jewelry on a beautiful woman. The pair of headlamps are of the self-generating acetylene gas type that featured the twin water tanks for the acetylene gas generator under each lamp. On the full-size lamps, water was dripped on pieces of carbide which created acetylene gas which was burned in the lamp to produce a fairly bright light. 

     On the full-size original vehicles from 1912 and earlier (Cadillac had the first electric lamps in 1912), the driver had to stop the vehicle, get out and add water to the tanks (except in cold weather when the lamps could not be used), place carbide chunks in the acetylene gas generator, open the door on the headlamp, set the water dripping to get the gas generator operating, light the lamp, adjust the intensity of the flame and close the door for each headlamp. Consequently, acetylene headlamps were only used when absolutely necessary and could not be used in freezing weather. They also caught fire on occasion.

     The fork-mounted headlamps on this jewel were made from spun or otherwise fabricated brass parts and then nickel plated. They have opening doors to access the burner just like the real lamps did. However, it appears that Arthur never intended for them to burn acetylene because they had electric bulbs in them when I bought this model. I upgraded the bulbs to a brighter and more efficient type. I also replaced the fluted plastic lenses shown in some of the photos with clear glass lenses as the original vehicle had. I never tried to drive this model in the dark so I can't tell you how well the headlamps actually work. The door's hinges and latch operate fine on the right headlamp door but the latch on the left headlamp door is missing a part so that latch is wired shut. 

     The pair of spade-mounted side lamps were also fabricated from scratch from brass spinnings and were nickel-plated. They also feature hinged and latched opening doors and have convex glass lenses. They have red jewels in the back of the housings so the driver can tell if they are working or not. They originally came with functional miniature kerosene burners that featured tiny adjustable wicks. I removed the burners and saved them in the tiny wood box on the left side of the dash. I then installed sockets for electric bulbs and did the same for the tail lamp. Those 3 lamps feature smaller power bulbs than the headlamps have so the light they emit is more yellow in color and more closely resembles the light given off by the typical kerosene lamp.

     Only one taillamp is featured because twin taillamps were not required on all vehicles until the later 1950s here in the USA. Please note how the taillamp features a red glass lens that makes the red caution light for the back of the vehicle. That taillamp also serves as a license plate lamp and illuminates the rear license plate that has the same "SG 80" characters as the front license plate has. 

     Please note the half-scale "Pratts" oil can attached to the left running board with a leather strap. This would have been used to carry extra engine lubricating oil because the vast majority of the early engines either burned or leaked a considerable amount of engine crankcase oil. I believe that Pratts was eventually taken over by Esso in the UK. 

 I bought this fine model from a color ad in Hemmings Motor News back in 2002. An elderly man in Cincinnatti Ohio who owned a life insurance company and a large estate on the south side of Cincinnati owned it. It was stored in a dirty garage where dogs had access to the building so it had some dog hair on it. I had no enclosed trailer to haul this in at that time so I built a very sturdy plywood crate to protect it while transporting it on my open flatbed trailer. That plywood crate is included with this superb model.

     There was a Rolls Royce Silver Ghost tour that was headquartered here in Bozeman Montana for several days back in 2004 or 2005 or so. I electrified all of the lamps at that time and also incorporated a radio-controlled emergency shut down system at the time. I did that so children could safely enjoy driving this a bit. By pulling the trigger on the remote radio control, power to the propulsion motor is shut down. 

     I displayed this model at the tour with very little interest from most of the participants. The RR tour included a parade in Ennis Montana that 4th of July weekend so I took this gem 60 miles over there and let two young sons of a RR owner drive it in that parade. They soon became very skilled at driving it in circles and figure 8's in that parade and really stole the show that day. 

    The most challenging problem I have had with this beauty was a blown 3 amp fuse in the propulsion motor control circuit and that was completely my fault. When I electrified all of the lamps about 18 years ago, they ran off a 3 map fused circuit that also controlled the propulsion motor control circuitry. I used a DVM to measure the current draw and determined that the 5 lamps collectively drew about 7 amps. Therefore, it is no wonder the original 3 amp fuse blew when that circuit provided twice that amount of current for all of the 5 lamps and the control circuitry solenoids. 

     The left side lamp mounting bracket originally had the spade soft soldered to the 1/4" diameter rod and that let junction go recently. I had a professional welder remove the paint and solder and use his TIG welder to repair that recently. I removed the left rear door and took it to a local automotive paint supplier. They mixed a spray can and a small bottle of cream-colored paint that matches perfectly. The repaired side lamp bracket came out very well. This touch-up paint is included with this model. Some of the photos taken nearly 20 years ago show that left side lamp drooping a bit. I fixed that problem when it was rewelded recently. 

     I polished the aluminum hood before the local RR tour about 18 years ago. The windshield glazing is broken in some of the early photos but was expertly replaced recently. The fluted plastic headlamp lenses were replaced with authentic clear glass lenses recently as well. I have not repaired anything else other than the burned-out 3 amp fuse. 

 

The following is a letter from the original builders son: 

 To describe the construction of the half-size 1907 Rolls Royce model is to describe my Dad. Really the two were part of each other in a way for such a long time. The car in all its perfection could never have been without Dad's amazing abilities and skills. Dad was born in 1923 in London and grew up in a lower-class family with 8 siblings. He started work early and enlisted during the war as a Royal Engineer based in Kenya. After the war, he started work as a sheet metal worker but also did a number of other jobs as a plumbers assistant, etc.

 

     Dad had suffered during his childhood with epilepsy and it was a recurrence of epilepsy that eventually forced his hand into model making. Whilst still in London, Dad had made a small Rolls Royce pedal car for my brother. It was his first attempt and a real kid's car. We moved out of London not long after I was born and headed to Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, UK. There, Dad started to have a recurrence of epilepsy and spent some more time building an Alfa Romeo and a Peugeot. (The Peugeot was another kid's car and the Alfa a fine collector's piece). Dad continued work as a sheet metal worker until he had a very bad accident on his motorbike due to epilepsy. At this point, he could no longer drive and shouldn't have been operating machinery so he decided to build a model that would help fund the family in later life.
 
      He started building the Rolls Royce model in a tiny 1 meter (about 3-1/2 feet) by 1.5 meters (about 5 feet) shed back in 1977. Keep in mind he had no money apart from the small bit of weekly family assistance he received from the government. So to obtain materials to build the car he had to visit flea markets and rummage through scrap metal bins on the local industrial estate. In fact, the most expensive piece on the car when building it was the sheet of red leather which cost him 400 pounds (about $800) and took nearly 2 years to save for. Everything else was built from ordinary "stuff". Even the lamps were made from old brass kettles from market stalls. When my sister emigrated to Australia, Dad moved the car into her vacant bedroom and continued from there. It was a very small bedroom and the car didn't even fit in its entirety.
 
     Dad would spend weeks turning each of the lamps and I remember at one point one of the lamps that he'd been working on for nearly 3 weeks snatched and flung off around the walls completely wrecking it. It was a dark day but he just started again. He had amazing patience and all this time he was making us toys and Mum furniture as well as playing with us. He was a great dad.
 
     Mum and Dad decided that they would try and emigrate to Australia. In 1986 we put the wheels in motion and my sister would sponsor us out. This meant Dad had about a year and a half to complete the car so every waking hour went into it. His aim was to take the car to the 1987 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost "80th" anniversary show and try and find a buyer (hence the number 80 on the license plate). We left Dad in Feb 1987 and moved out to Australia. He stayed behind to finish the car and take it to the Rolls Royce show, which he did and it was a huge hit. He got offered 7500 pounds (about $15,000) for the car and upon working out that this would enable us to get a deposit on a house in Australia he sold the car. The buyer from memory was an owner of a carpet factory or company.
 
     2 years later and whilst in our new house in Australia, we get a video from Dad's brother in the UK who had taped an episode of the famous show "Blue Peter". That video was in regards to a special auction of model and toy cars and the star of the show was Dad's car which was driven out and parked right next to the original Rolls Royce silver ghost which had been brought to the show just to highlight Dad's workmanship. That was a very proud moment and I have attached a picture of this. The show's announcer went on to talk about the values of the models. She said that if Dad's car was to reach its asking price, it would be the most expensive model car in the world. The asking price was 75,000 pounds!!!! A lot of money in those days, especially with the strength of the pound sterling (~$150,000 US). Dad had no regrets that it was about to sell for 10x what he sold it for because he did what he did to get us a house and that had happened so all was well.
 
     That was the last time we saw the car. About 23 years ago. I had located all of the other models that sold that day at a German museum but not the Rolls Royce. As mentioned when the internet came along I began searching furiously but to no avail. Dad decided after some time that he would build another car. He started on a canary yellow 1913 Mercer raceabout in half scale because he wanted to access the American market (ironically) of car lovers. He was about half-finished when at 81 he suffered a stroke and passed away from pneumonia.