How long have you owned a car?

 

 

Mr. Allen Swift ( Springfield , MA.) received this 1928 Rolls-Royce Picadilly P1 Roadster from his father, brand new in 1928.

He drove it up until his death in 2005... at the age of 102!!!

He was the oldest living owner of a car from new.

Just thought you'd like to see it.

He donated it 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. (82 years)

That's approximately 13,049 miles per year...


Following is the listing from the Springfield Museum

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, was a legend among Rolls-Royce collectors for owning his green Phantom I, S273 FP Rolls longer than anyone in the world had ever owned an individual Rolls-Royce. In recognition of that fact, Rolls-Royce Motors presented him with a crystal Spirit of Ecstasy award at the Rolls-Royce Annual Meeting in 1994.

Swift and the Springfield Museums were brought together through a network of antique automobile collectors. In 2002, when he was 99 years old, he approached the Museums to discuss finding a new home for his Rolls-Royce. Confident in the Springfield Museums' ability to care for the automobile and to tell the story of Rolls-Royce manufacturing in Springfield, Swift indicated that he would donate his car if a building could be found to house it.

In the summer of 2005, the Springfield Museums became aware that the Verizon building, adjacent to the Museums, was available for purchase. Joseph Carvalho, president of the Springfield Museums, and Guy McLain, director of the Connecticut Valley Historical Museum, shared that information with Swift and described how the building could be converted into a museum. In September, Swift's attorney informed the Museums that Swift would donate the money to purchase the building.

The Springfield Museums will take possession of the building in June and will launch a fund-raising campaign to renovate it. When complete, the new Museum of Springfield History will display wide range of remarkable artifacts that tell the rich and multidimensional history of this city.