Team-BHP - Oldest Living Owner of a car since new ('28 Rolls Royce)

Mods - Pls move article to correct place if you feel it shouldn't be here.

OLDEST LIVING OWNER OF A CAR SINCE NEW

Mr. Allen Swift of Springfield , MA received this 1928 Rolls-Royce Piccadilly P1 Roadster from his father, brand new - as a graduation gift in 1928. He drove it up until his death at the age of 102!!! He was the oldest living owner of a car from new. He donated it to a Springfield museum after his death. It has 170,000 miles on it, still runs like a Swiss watch, dead silent at any speed and is in perfect cosmetic condition.

As with anything we're sent, we researched the information 'cause sometimes folks don't let the truth stand in the way of a good story. We can say that Swift, who died in October of 2005 at the age of 102, was presented a crystal Spirit of Ecstasy award from Rolls-Royce at their Annual Meeting in 1994 in recognition of owning his green Phantom I longer than anyone in the world had ever owned an individual Rolls-Royce.
We can also say that the Springfield Museums did received a gift of $1,000,000 from Mr. Allen Swift to purchase the Verizon building in Springfield for the purpose of creating a new history museum, and then donated his 1928 Rolls-Royce knowing the museum would house it and be the basis of their transportation collection. The man obviously loved this car.
From 1925 to 1931 a little over 1200 Phantom I's came out of the Rolls-Royce Springfield, MA plant and of those, only about 50 were made with the Piccadilly Roaster body style. Add on that it was a single owner car for all of its life makes this Roller quite rare.
We can't confirm that the car was a graduation present from Swift's father or that it's in perfect cosmetic condition at 170,000 miles and running like a Swiss watch. As to the fact that it's dead silent at any speed...well who would want it to be.

Got this as a WhatsApp forward and it looked like a concoction of one of those jobless brains.

Oldest Living Owner of a car since new ('28 Rolls Royce)-oldestcar.jpg

Quote:

Mr. Allen Swift: Born - 1908 - Died 2010

This man owned & drove the same car for 82 YEARS.
Can you imagine even having the same car for 82 years?
Mr. Allen Swift (Springfield, Massachusetts) received this 1928 Rolls-Royce Piccadilly-P1 Roadster from his father, brand new - as a graduation gift in 1928. He drove it up until his death ... At the age of 102!!! He was the oldest living owner of a car that was purchased new.

Just thought you'd like to see it. 👇🏼
It was donated to a Springfield museum after his death. It has 1,070,000 miles on it, still runs like a Swiss watch, dead silent at any speed and is in perfect cosmetic condition. 82 years - That's approximately 13,048 miles per year (1087 per month)...1,070,000 miles ( 1,712,000 kilometers!!

That\'s British engineering of a bygone era. I don\'t think they make them like this anymore!

So I dug into Mr. Google and discovered the true story - not too far away from the concoction

Oldest Living Owner of a car since new ('28 Rolls Royce)-02xrrpicadilly800x530.jpg

In 1928, M. Allen Swift of Springfield, Massachusets, USA, received a new 1928 Rolls-Royce Picadilly P1 Roadster as a graduation gift from his father. Over the years, the son put 170,000 miles on it, and drove it until October 2005 when he died at the age of 102.

Swift was a legend among Rolls-Royce collectors for owning his green Phantom I, S273 FP Rolls longer than anyone in the world had ever owned an individual Rolls-Royce. Rolls-Royce acknowledged Mr. Swift in 1994, awarding him a crystal Spirit of Ecstasy award for his length of ownership. By 2005, Swift had logged more than 170,000 miles on its analog odometer and he was recognized as the oldest living person to have owned a car from new. He passed away that year.

On his passing, Swift left the car to the Springfield Museums, along with $1 million to create a new history museum. The location was significant because in1920, British automaker Rolls-Royce had established a plant in Springfield where over 2,944 vehicles were produced. The Rolls-Royce automobiles on view at the Museum include the Swift car and a 1925 Silver Ghost Piccadilly Roadster.

The Swift Rolls-Royce still runs smoothly and remains in pristine condition after a 1988 work over by Automotive Restorations Inc. The engine work was handled by Vintage Garage of Brookfield, Mass.

Quote:

Pictured below sitting in our parking lot awaiting pickup is Allen Swift’s 1928 Rolls-Royce Piccadilly P1 Roadster.

Oldest Living Owner of a car since new ('28 Rolls Royce)-01xrrpicadilly1000x496-1.jpg

Quite a number of years ago, Mr. Swift commissioned us to remove the body from the frame, send the engine to his long time friend Frank Cooke for reconditioning, and restore the frame, body, and interior to its original color, two-tone green combination with gold leaf striping and initials. Mr. Smith had been driving the car for well over half a century and we were pleased to have been chosen to restore the car.

We established our business in 1978, so it’s no surprise that this was the first original-owner P1 Springfield Rolls we’d ever undertaken. Well cared for all its life, it was a treat to restore. Once done, we called to ask Allen when he would like it delivered. “Delivered?” he said. “I’ll pick it up.” And he did. A robust individual in his eighties at this point. he gave the car a good look over, thanked all involved, paid the bill. and asked the easiest route to the Merritt Parkway. He’d come down on the Interstate but felt the Merritt, an older, more twisty four-lane parkway more appropriate for his shiny green Rolls Royce.

Oldest Living Owner of a car since new ('28 Rolls Royce)-03xrrpicadilly1000x581.jpg

They don’t build the cars or the owners like they used to! Drive on!

Legendary!!