the chassis was first made at Royce's Manchester works, with production moving to Derby in July 1908, and also, between 1921 and 1926, in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA.

The Silver Ghost was the origin of Rolls-Royce's claim of making the "best car in the world" – a phrase coined not by themselves, but by the prestigious publication Autocar in 1907.

The 40/50 hp was so new that the show cars were not fully finished, and examples were not provided to the press for testing until March 1907.

The seven-bearing crankshaft had full pressure lubrication, and the centre main bearing was made especially large to remove vibration, essentially splitting the engine into two three-cylinder units.

Development of the Silver Ghost was suspended during World War I, although the chassis and engine were supplied for use in Rolls-Royce Armoured Cars.

A 40/50 was privately entered in the prestigious 1912 Austrian Alpine Trial by James Radley, but its 3-speed gearbox proved inadequate for the ascent of the Katschberg Pass.

Replicas of the victorious cars were put into production and sold officially as Continental models, but they were called Alpine Eagles by chief test driver (and later Rolls-Royce Managing Director) Ernest Hives, and this is the name that they have kept.

[citation needed] In 1907 Claude Johnson, commercial and managing director of Rolls-Royce, ordered a car to be used as a demonstrator by the company.

An open-top Roi-des-Belges body by coachbuilder Barker was fitted, and the car readied for the Scottish reliability trials of 1907 and, immediately afterwards, another 15,000-mile (24,000 km) test which included driving between London and Glasgow 27 times.

The aim was to raise public awareness of the new company and to show the reliability and quietness of their new car.

The “AX 201” was sold in 1908, for £750, to Sir Daniel Hanbury who used it repeatedly to travel to his Italian residence, Villa della Pergola in Alassio, in the Italian Riviera, starting from his English residence Castle Malwood in Lyndhurst in Hampshire.