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Without a doubt, Rolls Royce is the pinnacle of luxury and comfort. The British automaker is known for producing some of the worlds most luxurious vehicles. Rolls Royce uses high-quality materials and takes great care with each car that leaves the factory. Rolls Royce cars are also extremely dependable. According to a survey, approximately 65 percent of all Rolls Royce cars ever built are still on the road and in working order. We have a story about a man named Allen Swift who drove a Rolls Royce for nearly 77 years.
Mr. Allen Swift was confronted with a life-altering decision in 1928. Mr. Swift was turning 26 when his father asked him to continue working in the family’s gold leaf business while his younger brothers went to college. If Mr. Swift agreed, he would be able to buy any car he desired. Mr. Swift made the decision to stay in the family business and began looking for a good car. One of his friends suggested Rolls Royce, so he drove from West Hartford, Connecticut, to the Rolls-Royce of America plant in Springfield, Massachusetts, just across the border.
He decided he wanted one after visiting the plant and seeing how Rolls Royce made cars back then. Mr. Allen Swift stated in 2003. “I saw how they tested the cars in every way. Every engine has been tested. When the engine was finished, they mounted it on a concrete block and ran it for a predetermined number of times and hours. Someone would come around with a stethoscope and listen to it, and so on. Then it was completely disassembled, checked, reassembled, and reinstalled in the chassis. The chassis was then fitted with a bench, and a test driver drove it 200 miles before it was released.”
Every vehicle that leaves the factory has been meticulously crafted. Mr. Swift drove his Rolls Royce on a daily basis until 1958, and then on a regular basis until 1991, when he was 88 years old. Mr. Swift had clocked 1,72,000 miles, or nearly 2.76 lakh kilometres, by 2003. Although the car never broke down, he is said to have rebuilt the engine at some point. Mr. Swift was recognised by Rolls Royce in 1994 for owning a Rolls Royce car for the longest time in history. He received a crystal statue of the Spirit of Ecstasy.
Mr. Swift had opted for an all-new Rolls Royce Phantom. He got the car painted in dual-tone Green because, it was not a very common colour on cars at that point of time. As he was into gold leaf business, he made sure that his car has gold leaf pinstriping and gold leaf monogram on it. He chose the Piccadilly roadster body style built by Brewster & Co. Coachworks with a convertible roof and a deployable rumble seat with a third door on the passenger’s side. Just two months before his death in 2005, Mr. Swift had donated $1 million to the Springfield Museums for the purchase and construction of a museum of innovation. After he passed away, the car was passed on to the museum and and is now the centerpiece of the Wood Museum of Springfield History’s transportation exhibit.
Source: Facebook
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