Many of the American Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts produced in Springfield, Massachusetts featured closed coachwork that was heavy and formal, albeit beautifully constructed and finely detailed.

Lightweight sporting bodies for the Silver Ghost were rare indeed, but they did exist, most prominently the Piccadilly Roadster style provided by local coachbuilder Merrimac.

Just 105 examples of the Piccadilly were produced for Springfield Silver Ghosts, and it was a much sought-after choice for both new and used chassis; mounting an attractive roadster body proved a clever way to get a low-mileage chassis to a new owner.

Unique among its contemporaries, the fascinating and well documented Silver Ghost offered here received its Picadilly Roadster replacement body much later in life.

Chassis S272PL is among the last Silver Ghost examples completed at Springfield.

It was fitted new with Willoughby’s Tillbury Sedan coachwork for delivery on 13 August 1926 to hotelier William J.

Upson of Bethel,...