Have you ever taken a close look at the “Silver Lady” on the front of a Rolls-Royce? It is one of the most exquisite car mascots in the world, a work of art in its own right. The miniature sculpture is the work of Charles Robinson Sykes, but who was his beautiful subject?
Nobody knows for certain. Most evidence points to the model being Eleanor Velasco Thornton, a vivacious beauty who posed for Sykes on many occasions in the early 20th century. If this is true, the mascot also represents a very romantic and ultimately tragic story.
Eleanor worked as Claude Johnson’s secretary at the Automobile Club at the end of the 19th century. Motoring was in its infancy and it was an exciting time to be involved. In 1900, the Automobile Club's held the Thousand Miles Trial which was designed to prove to cynics the general safety and reliability of motor cars under a variety of conditions. Taking part in this was the dashing John Walter Edward Douglas-Scott Montagu, who became the second Lord Montagu of Beaulieu in 1905. He had had a passion for cars from the very first days of their introduction to England and was an advocate of motoring interests to Parliament in these early years. Eleanor became his secretary and his mistress. Due to the difference in their social standing, there was no way they could marry and their affair remained secret except to their closest friends.
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