In October it was 100 years since the Bolshevik 1917 revolution in Russia that toppled the Menshevik revolutionaries who in turn had toppled the Tsar earlier that year. The Tsar’s Rolls-Royces and many other makes were seized but soon after the Great War new Rolls-Royces were ordered for Lenin and other officials. Nothing but the best for the proletarian dictator! This 1921 Silver Ghost, number 17KG with Barker coachwork, is one of several Lenin used (and it is on display in the Russian History Museum). Two others, numbers 40YG and 79YG, both similar tourers, were seen from time to time with Lenin and later with Stalin (and one of these is displayed engineless in a glass case outside a St. Petersburg building). Yet another chassis, 16X with Mann Egerton tourer coachwork, was later fitted with Kegresse type tracked rear wheels, and snow shoes under the front wheels, for use in snow (and is on display at the Gorky Museum). Subsequently the Russian ARCOS mission in London ordered many more cars. It wasn’t until Stalin’s time that gradually the Packard became the choice for the top Soviet elite. Lenin’s 1920 Silver Ghost was still in use in the late 1930s.
Leave a Comment