"Jam
Roll" - Baden-Powell: The man and his Motors
A book review of "Jam
Roll"
Jam Roll is the affectionate name
given by Lord Baden Powell to the Rolls Royce featured on the
cover of this book. In fact Baden Powell called all his cars J....
something. I have already indicated that B-P had a soft spot for
Standards and in fact he owned at least 5 of them. Some of them, I
will feature here, but if you want the full story I suggest you
invest in this well researched book by Colin Walker.
All the smaller thumbprints can
be enlarged by clicking on them:
| I have already
featured the 1913
Landaulet that the Scouting movement gave to B-P and
his new wife Olave as a wedding present, known as the
"Penny Standard". Though they married in October
1912, the car was not delivered until May 1913. I
have speculated how that car was funded as the scout
collection raised somewhat less than the list price of the
car. Colin identifies that the difference must have been
paid for by the "Bond Street Motor Bureau" as no
doubt it was good publicity for Standard Cars to be
seen as the conveyance of choice for such a famous
customer.
Of course, the 20Hp
Wedding Standard was very large and distinctive and it
must have been very difficult to travel anywhere without
being recognised. Standard owners will be pleased to know
that when the B-Ps wanted to travel more incognito, they
also used two other Standards. The first was a 1913 Model
S Rhyl which is shown with BP at the wheel. It is easy to
speculate that Lady B-P would have found this lighter to
drive than the Landaulet, which was probably reserved for
more formal journeys. |
|
 |
Also used
for more discrete outings would have been this
Standard model SLS, that I have pictured, left. It came
into the family in the early '20s and was still giving
good service here, at the 1929 World Jamboree, though it
appears to have been repainted in a darker colour by then.
Note the balloon tyres. B-P is here being chauffeured by a
long term servant, Ernest "Bear" Court
|
The most intriguing Standard that
the B-Ps owned however was another Landaulet that I feature
below. At first sight, in another photograph from the book this
would appear to be a 1924 Saloon, probably a Pall Mall, but this
bigger and better photograph shows differently. It has a folding
rear Landaulet roof. This therefore must have been a special
conversion either by the factory or a coachbuilder as I do not
believe such a model was catalogued.
"Jam Roll" is now
published and is being sold to raise funds to restore the
B-P Rolls Royce featured on the cover. None of the B-P Standards
is known to survive but to see them all you could purchase a copy
and thereby support the restoration fund.
The 75 page book is £8.00 with £1.50
pp and can be obtained from Colin Walker at this email address,
Scouting.Milestones@btinternet.com
All proceeds are to the charity
B-P Jam Roll Ltd who have taken on the task of preserving the
car for Scouting.
Return to Home
Page
|
