A Rolls-Royce at the Motorsports Hall of Fame. Why?
The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America welcomes its 30th class of inductees in March. One event attraction will be a Rolls-Royce Springfield Silver Ghost once owned by billionaire and this year’s aviation inductee Howard Hughes. In 1924, Hughes entered a Manhattan showroom and purchased two Rolls-Royces. He sent one to Hollywood as a gift for Gloria Swanson; the other was to be prepared with a few custom touches including a Piccadilly Roadster body, a chopped windshield, special paint, fitted monogrammed luggage and an extensive tool roll. He’d keep this one.
Present owner, Guy Lewis, learned of the Rolls’ existence when approached at a 2013 AACA Southeastern meet in Lakeland, Fla. After purchase, he discovered the Hughes connection. A complex restoration and multiple awards followed, including a Best of Show at the Pinehurst Concours d’ Elegance.
Hughes designed the Hughes H-1 Racer and flew it over California at 352 mph in 1935. (The previous mark was 314 mph.) Other record runs included a 7 hour and 28 minute transcontinental flight in 1937 and a lap around the globe over the course of 3 days, 19 hours and 17 minutes in 1938.
Why no plane? HOF Executive Director Ron Watson noted, “Hughes had a penchant for building extraordinarily large aircraft…and we might have little difficulty getting the H-1 (the relatively small 352-mph record setter) out of the Smithsonian.”
There will be more great machines to see if you are venturing to Florida for winter’s end: 2017 inductee Brock Yates’ “Cannonball,” Cotton Owens-built Dodge Challenger, Rusty Wallace’s last ride — a 2005 Dodge gifted to the NASCAR champion by Roger Penske — Don Garlits’ Swamp Rat 28, Scott Dixon’s 2008 Indy-winning Dallara Honda, Warren Johnson’s Oldsmobile, the first “Pro-Stocker” to break 200 mph and Neil Bonnett’s Wood Brothers Thunderbird are a few of the cars on temporary display at the Hall.
This year’s inductees in attendance include four time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon, multi-championship winning sports car racer and team owner Bob Tullius, motorcycle great Fred Merkel and three-time Indianapolis 500-winning owner Pat Patrick. Deceased honorees include Carl Fisher, who built the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909 and served as its president until 1923, and John Buttera, builder of a multitude of championship-winning dragsters, will be presented respectively by Indianapolis Motor Speedway president, Doug Boles, and drag racer and race safety product innovator, Don Schumacher.
Returning inductees expected to be present include Bobby and Donnie Allison, Mario Andretti, Derek Bell MBE, Ricky Carmichael, Elliot Forbes Robinson, Don Garlits, Hurley Haywood, David Hobbs, Terry Labonte, Scott Pruett, Jay Springsteen and Rusty Wallace.
Florida is the place for “motorheads” in early March. Bike week commences on March 9 as do the Amelia Island Concours d’ Elegance and the events of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The following weekend one could experience the Daytona 200 motorcycle race, the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Gator Nationals in Gainesville. Induction ceremony events will occur on Monday and Tuesday, March 12-13. A limited number of tickets are available to the public. Information at https://www.mshf.com/induction-ceremonies/buy-induction-ceremony-tickets-2018.html.
A note from four-time Trans Am and two-time IMSA GT champion Tommy Kendall:
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