Rolls-Royce 20/25 (1935)

With one owner for 57 years from 1959, when the car was bought for £545 on hire purchase - as evidenced by the sales invoice still in the file, along with an agreement for the aforementioned purchase, showing 24 monthly payments of £10.18.2d, completed in 1961. He kept the car until 2016, when we acquired it, selling it to an enthusiastic owner shortly afterwards, who used and enjoyed it with his family, and it is now back with us, ready to move on to its next life chapter. Also in the file are various other interesting historical documents from that long-term ownership, including a complete record of owners from new. As you can perhaps imagine, this car is very correct and original, nicely undisturbed and very appealing. Handsome in design, with original interior and a large sunroof, as well as several attractive features, such as ‘trouser crease’ wings, P100 headlights, ornate woodwork with brass inlay, and Ace wheel discs. Rather scruffy body-wise, but running well, driven to us and perfectly useable as is.

Chassis No. GOH15 Reg. No. CYH 785

Snippets: The American Owners
Although GOH15 never left British shores she managed to have a pair of very distinguished American owners – from 1936/38 the chassis cards show Harvey Seeley Mudd (1888/1955) as being the 2nd owner. H. S. Mudd was the son of Col S. W. Mudd Mine Manager & engineer who in 1907 had co-founded the Ray Copper mine in Arizona which is still in production today; shortly before WWI father & son started the Cyprus Mines Corporation (the Greek word for Cyprus is Kupros meaning copper). After the Col’s death Harvey expanded C.M.C. to include an Iron mine in Peru, copper mines in the Mediterranean, oil in the USA & shipping worldwide. By the time of Harvey S. Mudd’s death in 1955 C.M.C. had become the largest industry on Cyprus with the mine exporting a million tons of copper annually. The Times described Harvey’s wife Mildred as “being a typical society matron noted for her “lavish parties, her charitable activities and her ancient Roman jewellery” which had been dug up in Cyprus at her husband’s mining operation. Their USA home on Benedict Canyon Drive (Beverley Hills) had been designed by Elmer Grey in 1922 for Charles Boldt – owner of the Boldt Glass Company known for their Mason jars. During WWII GOH15 was owned for a short period (12 weeks) by Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle a wealthy socialite and diplomat (he also served during WWI & WWII). Anthony was a scion of the Drexel & Biddle banking families, in 1915 he married Mary L. Duke a tobacco heiress but they divorced in 1931, Anthony’s 2nd marriage in 1932 was to Margaret Thompson Schulze (daughter of William Thompson a mining magnate & the ex-wife of Thomas Schulze) with a 2nd divorce to follow in 1945. Anthony & Margaret’s son-in-law was Polish Royalty as Peggy (Margaret’s daughter) had married Prince Alexander Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfurst (Oct 1939) shortly after the Drexel-Biddle family had escaped from Poland where Anthony had been stationed as the American Ambassador. In 1946 Anthony Biddle married for a 3rd time to Margaret Loughborough (ex wife of William Loughborough), this marriage lasted until Biddle’s death in 1961 with his widow remarrying in 1969 to Col Edwinston Robbins Rtd.

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