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Tag Archives: Spirit of Ecstasy
Rolls-Royce 120th Anniversary – Claude Goodman Johnson
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars today in acknowledgement of the marque’s 120th anniversary in 2024 published an overview of the life and career of Claude Goodman Johnson, born 24 October 1864. Johnson was born in Buckinghamshire on 24 October 1864, one of seven children. From London’s St Paul’s School, Claude went to the Royal College of Art. Here, he met Sir Philip Cunliffe-Owen, Deputy General Superintendent of the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria & Albert Museum), where Claude’s father worked. Through him, CJ secured his first job, as a clerk at the Imperial Institute (now Imperial College London). There, he was put to work arranging exhibitions.
“Johnson is celebrated as ‘the hyphen in Rolls-Royce’ but known to all simply as ‘CJ’. A natural showman with an unrivalled talent for generating publicity, he brought an extraordinary mix of skill, dedication and experience to his role as the company’s first Commercial Managing Director; a fascinating, larger-than-life character and a pivotal figure in the Rolls-Royce foundation story,” Rolls-Royce said. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, design and styling, marketing, milestones, mobility company, shows and events
Tagged Ambrose McEvoy, auto industry commentary, autoinformed.com, Automobile Club of Great Britain & Ireland, automotive blog, Automotive news and analysis, C.S. Rolls & Co, Charles Stewart Rolls, Charles Sykes, Henry Royce, Ken Zino, Le Bureau, Le Rossignol, Lord John Montagu, Phantom Scintilla Private Collection, Roads Made Easy, Silver Phantom, Spirit of Ecstasy, The Silver Ghost’, Villa Mimosa, X @KenAutoinformed
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Spirit of Ecstasy is Redesigned for Rolls-Royce Spectre EV
These changes help to shape the upcoming Spectre EV’s aerodynamic numbers. The earliest Spectre prototypes have a drag coefficient -Cd- of just 0.26, making it the most aerodynamic Rolls-Royce ever created. The figure is expected to improve during the Spectre’s testing protocols during 2022. Continue reading
Rolls-Royce Debuts Spirit of Ecstasy Fabergé Egg
Now, to cash in on the exclusivity, a new Fabergé Egg has been created. Two of the world’s houses of luxury have joined forces to create “one unique objet d’art, for one discerning patron.” Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and Fabergé have announced the ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ Fabergé Egg. Continue reading

Milestones – Sculptor Charles Sykes – Spirit of Ecstasy Creator
“Best known to posterity as the creator of the Spirit of Ecstasy, Charles Sykes was a multi-talented artist with deep connections to the principal players in the Rolls-Royce story. His professional and artistic relationship with Eleanor Thornton was pivotal in his work, for which she was perhaps his greatest muse; he also benefited from two powerful patrons in Lord Montagu of Beaulieu and Claude Johnson, on whose behalf he produced some of the finest and most enduring works of art. His paintings of Rolls-Royce motor cars uniquely capture their grace and beauty, and in his depictions of their almost exclusively aristocratic owners, he provides a fascinating window into a world that has now vanished,” said Andrew Ball, Head of Corporate Relations and Heritage, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. Continue reading →