Rolls-Royce and Bentley: In the Rear-View Mirror, a History of the Rolls-Royce Owner's Club of Australia (First Edition)

NEELY, David R. Rolls-Royce and Bentley: In the Rear-View Mirror — A History of the Rolls-Royce Owners' Club of Australia. Melbourne: The Sir Henry Royce Foundation, 2004.

Large 4to (31.5 x 23cm). Original black publisher's cloth. Spine lettered in red foil. Original unclipped dust jacket. xxxiii, 581 pp. First edition.

Commissioned and published by the Sir Henry Royce Foundation, this is the authoritative institutional history of the titular club, tracing its development branch by branch from that founding Sydney meeting of nineteen enthusiasts through to the club's contemporary national structure. The Foundation itself takes its charitable purpose directly from the engineering philosophy of Sir Henry Royce (1863–1933), whose personal motto, Quidvis recte factum quamvis humile præclarum: "whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble", has become something close to a guiding creed for the community of restorers, collectors, and enthusiasts the book documents.

Running to 581 pages, the volume offers a detailed and evidently exhaustively researched account of the club's branches, its personalities, its annual Commemoration Runs held in memory of Sir Henry Royce, and the broader Australian history of the Rolls-Royce and Bentley marques as reflected through the collecting and restoration activity of club members across nearly half a century. As a specialist club history produced by a small heritage foundation rather than a commercial publisher, it was almost certainly printed in limited numbers for a dedicated membership and enthusiast audience, and copies in fine condition are seldom encountered outside specialist motoring circles.

Fine in very good dust jacket. Dust jacket unclipped, some bumping and markings to outer covers. Volume fine, free from markings.

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Catalogue Number: HH000289