The spirit of ecstasy I’ve wanted to write a piece about radiator mascots for some time. Last Saturday morning I called in at the Crankhandle Car Club in Cape Town to attend a book sale they were hosting – I’m not a member – but this is an annual event any petrolhead really ought to attend. While perusing stall after stall of ‘automobile treasures’ – mostly at bargain prices – I soon became caught up in the intriguing story of just how the RollsRoyce “Spirit of Ecstasy” radiator mascot came into being in this the company's 109th year – and the most famous bonnet ornament ever fitted to an automobile, before or since. Eleanor Valesco Thornton must have been a captivating woman. Born in London in 1880, she became a bright and exceptionally beautiful adult who found secretarial employment with a motoring publication called The Car Illustrated. Her boss was the editor, John Walter Edward-Scott-Montagu, later to become Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, the founder of the biggest automobile museum in the world and to be found in the New Forest in the county of Hampshire, England. Montagu’s part-time illustrator for the magazine (many line drawings were the order of the day back then when photography was still in its infancy) was the celebrated sculptor Charles Sykes who was commissioned to design a bonnet mascot for Montagu’s own Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, for which he was told he must use Thornton as the model. Meanwhile, as you might have guessed, a serious love affair was blossoming between Thornton and Montagu – a tryst frowned upon by all except his closest friends because of his social standing. The statue that Sykes produced for the car was of a young woman in a forward stance with a veil flowing behind her but her fingers pressed to her lips. Montagu was really pleased with it, as Well he should have been. With the one-off mascot suitably installed on his car it was nicknamed by Montagu’s closest friends as “The Whisperer”. Montagu sat on the then board of directors at Rolls-Royce Cars (now owned by BMW) and pushed forward the idea of a standard radiator mascot for all RollsRoyce cars. Little enthusiasm for the idea was shown by Charles Royce, head of the company, who was more than a little alarmed to see the current craze of funny mascots such as glass cats, nickel policeman and even chromium-plated golliwogs(!) adorning his and other fine cars. He had to make an instant decision – that choice was to commission a modified version of Sykes’ mascot with “Thornton” standing more upright this time around with both arms trailing behind her while holding a lightweight gown appearing to blow in a breeze. Since 1911 it has been the only mascot officially allowed to adorn a Rolls-Royce. "What became of Montagu and Thornton? "I hear you ask. Well, they had a love child, but it was whisked away from Thornton when it was born and brought up by Montagu. Little was said of the matter, probably due to his influential status in London society. During the First World War Montagu served in the Indian Army as an Inspector of Mechanical Transport. While returning to India aboard the SS Persia, accompanied by his favourite secretary, the ship was torpedoed by a German submarine.
End of the road for the classic Kombi ABOUT 1.5 million Kombis have rolled off the lines of Volkswagen's assembly plant in Sao Paulo since 1957. Volkswagen is to end production of its Kombi transporter, made only in Brazil, with the iconic van bowing out in a special 600-unit manufacturing run, The German carmaker said on Thursday about 1.5 million Kombis had rolled off the lines of Volkswagen's assembly plant in the Sao Paulo suburb of Sao Bernardo do Campo between 1957 and July 2013. 63 YEARS IN PRODUCTION According to VW the Kombi, launched in Germany in 1950, has enjoyed the longest production run in automotive history; it added that the “Last Edition Kombi” would be sold at a suggested price of $38 000. Kombi models assembled in Brazil have since 1970 been exported to countries around the world, including Algeria, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, South Africa, Venezuela and Uruguay. - AFP
In the true spirit of “Ladies and children first,”* Montagu escorted Thornton and other passengers to the lifeboats – the last time he was to see her alive. Amazingly, he survived the tragedy but only after his obituary had already appeared in The Times! Eleanor Velasco Thornton, however, remains immortal, remembered and acknowledged on every Rolls-Royce manufactured since that fateful day. Originally silver-plated, at some time gold-plated and even redesigned slightly in 1934 to accommodate a lower bonnet line for the cars, "Spirit of Ecstasy” continues her onward journey. • It’s worth remembering that a Rolls-Royce doesn’t ever break down – it simply fails to proceed! So next time I see one driving by I’ll be sure to check out that beautiful mascot up front and remember its real name: “The Whisperer.” * On 26 February 1852, while transporting troops to Algoa (now Nelson Mandela) Bay, she was wrecked at Danger Point near Gansbaai, 140 kilometres from Cape Town, South Africa. There were not enough serviceable lifeboats for all the passengers, and the soldiers famously stood firm, thereby allowing the women and children to board the boats safely. Only 193 of the 643 people on board survived, and the soldiers' chivalry gave rise to the "women and children first" protocol when abandoning ship, while the "Birkenhead drill" of Rudyard Kipling's poem came to describe courage in face of hopeless circumstances. Author: Dave Fall - Wheels24.co.za
New BMW M4
JUST 24-hours after a leaked image of the BMW M4 Concept was spotted online, BMW has released the official images of the highly-anticipated new car. USA Today is reporting the M4 Concept is scheduled to be shown at this weekend’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, perfect timing for it to appear on BMW’s stand at next months Frankfurt Motor show. While there’s no official word on specification or performance figures, the M4 is expected to have a 3,0litre turbocharged inline six engine developing around 335 kW and 650 N.m. Mated with the same dual-clutch transmission doing service in the M5 and M6, this unit
should be good for a 0-100 km/h run in the region of 4,5 seconds on the way to an electronically limited 250 km/h top speed. Carmag.co.za