On this date in 1911, Spirit of Ecstasy, the Rolls Royce mascot, was cast for the first time. 10 things you might not know:
The first Rolls Royce cars didn’t have a mascot at all, just the Rolls Royce logo.
However, by 1910 it had become a fashion for owners of the luxury cars to add mascots of their own. Claude Johnson, then managing director of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, wasn’t a fan of the trend, because he felt that some people added mascots that weren’t appropriate.
Enter sculptor and designer Charles Robinson Sykes. He was also an illustrator using the pseudonym 'Rilette'. He’d designed covers for women’s magazines and advertisements, especially for de Reszke cigarettes. He was first commissioned by John Edward Scott-Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu, a politician and motoring pioneer (the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu was named after him) to design a personal mascot for his Rolls.
The model for Sykes’s creation was one Eleanor Velasco Thornton, the baron’s secretary and lover. The figure he created had her forefinger pressed to her lips, representing the secret affair between the model and the Baron, and was called "The Whisper." Their story had a tragic end. Eleanor was with Lord Montagu on board the SS Persia on 31 December 1915. He was on his way to assume a command in India. Eleanor was killed when the SS Persia was torpedoed by a U-boat south of Crete. Lord Montagu was presumed to be dead too, but he survived and was saved after several days adrift in a life raft.
We can only assume that for once, Claude Johnson liked this mascot, for he commissioned Sykes himself to create a figurine to adorn all Rolls Royce cars. The brief was to convey "the spirit of the Rolls-Royce, namely, speed with silence, absence of vibration, the mysterious harnessing of great energy and a beautiful living organism of superb grace…" Johnson envisaged the Greek goddess Nike as a model, but Sykes thought a more feminine figure would be better.
Using Eleanor as his model once more, he produced a figurine which he initially called The Spirit of Speed. However, he would later describe her as: "A graceful little goddess, the Spirit of Ecstasy, who has selected road travel as her supreme delight and alighted on the prow of a Rolls-Royce motor car to revel in the freshness of the air and the musical sound of her fluttering draperies."
Founder Henry Royce wasn’t at all keen on mascots, because to his mind they impaired the driver's view of the road, so at first the mascots were an optional extra, although they were a standard fitting by the 1920s. Royce hardly ever drove a car with the mascot on it. In the 1930s, incidentally, a new version was designed of a kneeling lady for the new sports saloons, to allow a better view of the road.
The sculptor's signature appeared on the plinth with the words "Charles Sykes, February 1911" or "Feb 6, 1911" or "6.2.11". Even after Rolls-Royce took over the casting of the figures in 1948 each Spirit of Ecstasy had this inscription until 1951.
The Spirit of Ecstasy is also called Eleanor, Silver Lady, or Flying Lady. It is in the form of a woman leaning forwards with her arms outstretched behind and above her. Billowing cloth runs from her arms to her back, resembling wings.
Spirit of Ecstasy was silver plated from 1911 until 1914 when the mascot was made with nickel or chrome alloy as an anti-theft measure. Gold-plated versions were available at additional cost. Today, she is available in a range of finishes including Rose Gold, Carbon Fibre, Gold, Solid Silver, Solid Titanium, Uplif and Illuminated with a frosted modern effect.
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
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