A Rolls-Royce with serious Scottish pedigree entrepreneurial owners! Alexander Smith Kerr was a scion of the Kerr sugar & shipping family of Greenock, the Kerr family trading started in the early 1800s with John Kerr II in an informal partnership with Abram Lyle II. The Kerr fleet of Diamond K ships had names such as Borealis, Bucephalus, Cuban, Jamaica, Pirimore, Sinde & Zanzibar to mention a few. The interaction between the Kerr & Lyle family continued until the late 1800s when after the death of John Kerr III (aged just 49) the partnership was, over time bought out from John’s young heirs. John Kerr III left a considerable sum to his 4 sons with Abram Lyle and 3 other gentlemen acting as their trustees. Alexander Kerr himself carried on within the sugar refinery trade and he also formed the Scottish Battery Co Ltd., in 1943 the factory suffered a catastrophic fire which caused some £100,000 worth of damage. Alexander’s son, David Alexander Kerr served with the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders during WWII & in 1945 he was awarded the Military Cross. According to the chassis cards by 1939 62H2 had been acquired by John Cuthill Sword a Scottish entrepreneur who from starting his career as a van boy in his father’s bakery had built up an extensive empire consisting of buses, aeroplanes, stud farms, crisp factories and he was the founder of the air ambulance service covering the Western Isles. John Sword’s airline was the Midland & Scottish Air Ferries which when Renfrew Airport was closed due to fog would use “The Meadow” at Monkton (Prestwick Airport), when this re-routing occurred he made sure that transport, in the form of several Rolls-Royce 20hp cars was available to collect the passengers - was 62H2 one of these cars before John formed his Scottish Transport Collection? After John Sword’s death in 1960 his eclectic collection of vehicles was divided up and sold off in two separate auctions 1962 & 1965. 62H2 was part of the 1st auction which was attended by several collectors and museums - including Aalholm, Harrah & Measham. Count Johan Otto Raben-Levetzau of Denmark acquired 62H2 as part of his museum which was established at the family residence of Aalholm Castle and remained as part of the display until 1994 when the collection was sold off after the death of the Count in 1992.
A delightful car, which is known to have been re-bodied many decades ago, by little known coachbuilders, Litchfield of London. The design is of about 1930, and it is thought that it is likely that this is when the body replacement took place. The car at one time formed part of the Sword Collection, carrying the Litchfield body, and was sold by them at auction in 1962. In 2006, the car was sold, and in more recent years has benefited from a great deal of attention, evidenced by invoices totalling about £53,000 during the period 2006 to 2020. The interior is nicely matured brown leather, with braided ornamentation and a 'smoking hatch' in the roof, fresh looking, good quality headlining, and a correct set of instruments in lovely condition. Completed the Gordon Bennett rally in Ireland. Running very sweetly, sound, correct and very appealing. Offered serviced, prepared and newly MoT tested.
Chassis No. 62H2 Reg No. VS 852 Price £35,000
The Rolls-Royce Twenty built between 1922 and 1929 was Rolls-Royce's "small car" for the 1920s and was produced alongside the 40/50 Silver Ghost and the successor to the 40/50, the Phantom. It was intended to appeal to owner-drivers but many were sold to customers with chauffeurs.
Engineering
A new inline-6 cylinder overhead valve engine was designed for the car of 3127 cc with a bore of 76 mm and stroke of 114 mm. Unlike the Silver Ghost engine, the cylinders were cast in one block and the cylinder head was detachable. Both coil and magneto ignition were fitted. The early cars had 3-speed manual gearboxes with the change lever in the centre of the car, but this changed in 1925 to a four-speed unit with traditional right-hand change. The power was transmitted to the rear axle via a standard propeller shaft with a universal joint at each end.
The substantial chassis had rigid front and rear axles suspended by half-elliptic springs, with braking initially only on the rear wheels. Four-wheel brakes with mechanical servo were introduced in 1925. The famous Rolls-Royce radiator with triangular top was fitted, and early examples had enamel-finished horizontal slats, later changing to a nickel finish and finally becoming vertical.
In 1920 a chassis cost £1100 with, typically, a complete tourer-bodied car costing around £1600. With coachwork to the factory recommended weight the car could reach 60 mph (97 km/h), but many owners had large limousine bodies fitted, with the inevitable detrimental effect on performance.
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