A Pilkington Glass UK heirloom has taken pride of place next to the off-line coater at Cowley Hill, St. Helens, United Kingdom. A Rolls Royce 40/50hp Silver Ghost, Reg XR 6727, is showcased in a glass enclosure made of extra clear low-iron Pilkington Optiwhite™, which is perfect for applications where transparency and purity of colour are desired. The glass for the roof has been additionally screen printed.
The antique motor has an incredible story dating back to 1924. First bought in 1924 by Mrs. Lucy Trench of South London, the car was one of 6,173 Silver Ghosts manufactured between 1907 and 1925. The story jumps to 1963 when Mr. Barrie Heath, Chairman and Managing Director of Triplex Safety Glass Co. Ltd., now part of Pilkington Automotive, attended a Motor Show and decided the Triplex apprentices should rebuild a vehicle to give them an insight into car construction. This project would also give the company a useful end product and maybe some publicity, and so the hunt for a donor began.
A year later Mr. Roy Broderick, Midland Area Sales Manager for Triplex, ended the search when he found XR 6727 in a cement works in Aughton, Lancashire. She was in a sorry state when found in 1965 and had been modified to serve as a hearse. He reported, “there’s nothing wrong mechanically, but the body is, in the main, fit only for burning.”
For a time, Pilkington employees could use the car for weddings. Over its lifetime XR 6727 has completed more than 900,000 miles.
The refurbished beauty has had a custom made glass enclosure made for her and she proudly sits by the off-line coater, where high-performance products such as Pilkington Suncool™ are manufactured.