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Post Info TOPIC: Driver Owned Same Car For 82 Years


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Driver Owned Same Car For 82 Years


Mr. Allen Swift:  Born:  1908Died 2010

 

This man owned and drove the same car for 82 YEARS.

 

Can you imagine even HAVING the same car for 82 years?

 

Mr. Allen Swift ( Springfield, MA ) received this 1928 Rolls-Royce Piccadilly-P 1 Roadster from his father, brand new - as a graduation gift in 1928.

 

He drove it, up until his death in 2010 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 at 82 years of age. That's approximately 13,048 miles per year, 1,087 miles per month.

British Engineering at it's best...

!cid_8AA4AC3E41C540DAB6FDF07288521821@UserPC.jpg

 



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There ya go... if it ain't broke...

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Gary

Ford Courier with Freeway slide-on called "PJ". www.aussieodyssey.com



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we had our falcon xy since new for 35 years, wish I sitll had it!
but that's amazing !

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 .



-- Edited by moamajohn on Thursday 3rd of April 2014 06:52:05 PM

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Westy.            Some people  I know are like slinkies. They look really funny when you push them downstairs !

JRH


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moamajohn wrote:

 .



-- Edited by moamajohn on Thursday 3rd of April 2014 06:52:05 PM


 Very good post.



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John & Irona..........Rockingham Western Australia


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Sorry .trying to put a photo of my old car on but nothing worked !

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Westy.            Some people  I know are like slinkies. They look really funny when you push them downstairs !



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 Take 2 this was my girl .It took me 9yrs to restore her and we drove her for another 20 yrs .Good memories.DSCN0416.JPG



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Westy.            Some people  I know are like slinkies. They look really funny when you push them downstairs !



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DSCN0416.JPG Take 2 this was my girl .It took me 9yrs to restore her and we drove her for another 20 yrs .Good memories.DSCN0416.JPG



-- Edited by moamajohn on Thursday 3rd of April 2014 07:10:34 PM

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Westy.            Some people  I know are like slinkies. They look really funny when you push them downstairs !



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Bugger .I think I got excited sorry !

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Westy.            Some people  I know are like slinkies. They look really funny when you push them downstairs !

JRH


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Very nice looking car there Mate, congratulations on a job well done.



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John & Irona..........Rockingham Western Australia


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Ditto, beaut looking car, like the colour too !!! biggrin biggrin biggrin



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I guess you could say our car is a similar sort of story....

4/1984 Peugeot 505 STI....bought second hand in 1991...still going strong as a daily driver and work transport with "only" 573 680 k,s on it atm. Interior is still really good ( Genuine Australian Woolmark wool upholstery in a French car from new)...doesn't use any oil ...paintwork is getting to show its age in a few places but bodywork is good...and is really reliable still.

 

Cheers  Keith



-- Edited by ST391GQ on Thursday 3rd of April 2014 08:27:42 PM

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ST391GQ wrote:

I guess you could say our car is a similar sort of story....

4/1984 Peugeot 505 STI....bought second hand in 1991...still going strong as a daily driver and work transport with "only" 573 680 k,s on it atm. Interior is still really good ( Genuine Australian Woolmark wool upholstery in a French car from new)...doesn't use any oil ...paintwork is getting to show its age in a few places but bodywork is good...and is really reliable still.

 

Cheers  Keith


 An acquaintance of mine has an old Peugeot too Keith, light green station wagon, not sure which model though, just keeps keeping on.

Do you have a pic of yours?



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Vic41 wrote:
SNIP

 An acquaintance of mine has an old Peugeot too Keith, light green station wagon, not sure which model though, just keeps keeping on.

Do you have a pic of yours?


 

Not Ross Keith with a 404 by any chance?



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Denis

Ex balloon chaser and mercury measurer.

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Westy - why did you sell the Nash when it still excites you?......or is it like the never ending story where the memory is in the heart.

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hako wrote:
Vic41 wrote:
SNIP

 An acquaintance of mine has an old Peugeot too Keith, light green station wagon, not sure which model though, just keeps keeping on.

Do you have a pic of yours?


 

Not Ross Keith with a 404 by any chance?


No a WA person first name Raoul (spelling), not sure what model it is....I haven't seen him for awhile. 



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My grandad had the same old axe for 25 years. He said he'd only replaced the handle 5 times and the head twice.

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Deleted.

 

 



-- Edited by dorian on Saturday 5th of April 2014 04:40:02 PM

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What I wanted to say (crappy forum software notwithstanding) was that the following statement is not quite true, at least not according to a museum press release:

"Mr. Allen Swift: Born: 1908 Died 2010

This man owned and drove the same car for 82 YEARS."

Here is the news item:

www.springfieldmuseums.org/news/view/51-new_springfield_history_museum_made_possible_by_connecticut_entrepreneur

"New Springfield History Museum Made Possible by Connecticut Entrepreneur
General Museum News


January 30, 2006

The Springfield Museums have received a gift of $1,000,000 from Mr. Allen Swift of West Hartford to purchase the Verizon building at 85 Chestnut Street in Springfield for the purpose of creating a new history museum. Swift also donated his 1928, one-owner, Springfield-built Rolls-Royce automobile to form the basis of the new museum's transportation collection.
Swift, who died in October 2005 at the age of 102 ..."


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A few variations there but you can't trust museum info either, if you go to the Stockman's Hall of Fame you will see several errors in their info, the most glaring one is of Jeanie Gunn, who wrote the book, "We Of The Never Never" (she only lived there for about 13 months until her husband died, then returned to Victoria.  

The blurb in the museum said she was buried in the graveyard of Elsey Station (her husband is) which is just not true.

As said there are other errors in the museum as well.

Jeanie Gunn was a remarkable woman and was awarded an OBE.   She supported the soldiers who went overseas and I think she ended up marrying one eventually.

See this link on Jeanie...

http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/gunn-jeannie-6506 

  

 



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Can you trust newspaper articles?

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Allen+Swift%22+site%3Acourant.com

http://articles.courant.com/2005-10-27/news/0510260674_1_allen-swift-west-hartford

"Swift, M. Allen
October 27, 2005

SWIFT, M. Allen

M. Allen Swift of West Hartford, age 102, died Tuesday (October 25, 2005). A private burial service will be held at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford."

http://articles.courant.com/2009-04-03/news/west_hartford-_rolls_royce-m.artfriday_1_new-museum-distinctive-car-rolls-royce-foundation

"Mr. Swift's Gift Goes To Springfield
Industrial Museum
April 03, 2009 | By BILL LEUKHARDT

WEST HARTFORD For nearly eight decades, M. Allen Swift drove arguably the most distinctive car in town - a two-tone green 1928 Rolls-Royce that he received new as a graduation gift.

He only stopped driving it shortly before his death in October 2005 at 102, but not before he made sure to preserve his beloved Phantom I roadster with 170,000 miles on it and an engine that still purrs like a sewing machine.

In October, the car will go on display in Springfield in a new industrial heritage museum made possible in part by a $1 million bequest from Swift."



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Newspaper articles....depends on the article, death notices are usually ok but not stories as a rule.

Anyway irrespective of whatever the true facts are he was an old bloke that died, had a vehicle he had all his driving age life and donated it to the museum when he did, a pretty amazing bloke and his motor vehicle.  It doesn't change the basic story of him or his car, just some dates do not seem to be reported correctly.



-- Edited by Vic41 on Sunday 6th of April 2014 03:53:02 PM

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The more I research this story, the more dubious "facts" I find.

See peterblakeboroughsblog.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/an-historic-rolls-royce.html

... and www.boldride.com/ride/1928/rolls-royce-phantom-torpedo

Here is a photo of the dashboard in a 1928 Rolls Royce Phantom:

cdn.boldride.com/rolls-royce/1928/thumb/rolls-royce-phantom-torpedo.654x436.Dec-15-2011_20.31.54.466268.jpg

It looks like the odometer is a 4-digit type. I'd say the owner would have had to have been very fastidious with his log book(s).


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I wonder if they replaced the odometer to a 100,000 miles one at some time and they started at zero again at that point?

If Rolls demanded they be returned to the factory every 50,000 for examination and overhaul the owners must have had an easier way of checking the mileage in their log book, but if it was recorded up to 10,000 and then reset and the following 10,000 miles and so on I suppose it would have possible to show the total mileage travelled up to that date in the log book.

 



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I think that the only thing that travelled 1.07 million miles was probably the viral email.

As for Mr Swift driving his car 5 years after his death, that would be a case of a silver ghost driving a Phantom.

That said, I agree that the basic story is factual.

 

 

Edit: Here is the museum's web page:

http://www.springfieldmuseums.org/the_museums/springfield_history/exhibits/view/162-automobile_gallery

 



-- Edited by dorian on Monday 7th of April 2014 05:11:43 AM

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As a matter of interest, the British built a Ferret Armoured/Scout Car in 1949 that had a Rolls Royce engine in them, the Australian Army and other Commonwealth countries used them for many years, see;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferret_armoured_car 

 

 

 



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While I was trying to identify the items on the dashboard, I came across the following 1924 Catalogue of Parts :

http://goshawksociety.com/technical/20PartsBooks/1924Catalog%20of%20Parts.pdf

On the second page is a list of international representatives. Among the list of countries are ...

- Australia (except Queensland)
- Australia (Queensland)
- Tasmania



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Goodness me Dorian, you certainly do your research and come up with some interesting facts, thank you smile



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I don't know all the facts but I do know I like the car, I also like moamajohn's Nash too it looks terrific

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