Just chillin' with the Rolls again

"The motor car is the property of a man called Hardcastle. Return the bits to him if I kill myself; I'm not very good at driving." Beyond the gate ... stood an open, two-seater Morris-Cowley. Sebastian's Teddy-bear sat at the wheel.
~ BR page 23

Last weekend and the week following were completely insane with preparing presentations and then catching up on other work. Luckily I was rewarding for my hard work with a ride around the museum grounds in the Rolls Royce.


Please don't hate me. I only got to do it because my classmate T. has managed to finagle rides twice already, and we told him to share the fun. Luckily, the car's caretaker, "Mr. Greg" is one of the kindest men you will ever meet, and is always thrilled to show off "The Empress." We even got to see the model car workshop diorama Mr. Greg built for Collector's Circle weekend. How it used to work is that Rolls would make the chassis, and then contract out the car body to other companies. Our museum's Phantom 1 model was built by the Brewster company.


We discovered that The Empress seats four comfortably, five cozily, and six in a pinch. She has a roof, unlike the car Sebastian borrowed to visit Nanny Hawkins, but it was still a pretty chilly ride.

"Should I get a set of white wall tires? Are you gonna cruise the miracle mile?" - Billy Joel

A few days ago I got to help with a museum object conservation treatment aka .... detailing the antique Rolls Royce! I loved the opportunity to help make a beautiful piece of machinery even shinier. The museum staffer who cares for the car was eager to help explain the different materials, from aluminum to nickel plate to oak to rubber.

I found my task of polishing the German silver running boards very satisfying. At first, the polishing creme turned black as it reacted with the metal. Once I buffed off all the schmutz, though, the metal was smooth and gleaming.

It was so satisfying, I've been on a cleaning binge ever since. Dirty patio furniture is no match for me and a bottle of windex! Next I'm going to create a new catalog system for my culinary printed ephemera ... aka reorganize my recipe binder.