Our appreciation of older model Rolls-Royces is often enhanced by contemporary accounts. This is certainly so in the case of GYZ6, with a description penned well over 80 years ago under the heading, “A ROLLS THAT IS DIFFERENT”, in the 23 November 1933 issue of the Sydney newspaper, ‘Referee’. “The most magnificently startling Rolls-Royce in Australia. Startling is the word – imagine a Rolls with a pastel blue and aluminium colour scheme! But the lines of the magnificent fittings take away what, in another car, would be genteel garishness. That sounds rather paradoxical, but the fact is that the appearance of the job leaves one in a dither. It is a 20/25 with a short-coupled saloon by Park and Ward, of London. It is the property of H. Arnott.”

A stunning Rolls-Royce, an architect designed Arts and Crafts style mansion and a luxurious motor cruiser make up this remarkable story of Harold Arnott and his family in peace and war. [My thanks to Tom Clarke for corrections/suggestions and especially to Colin Hughes (UK) who provided a colour photograph of the original colour scheme of GYZ6 so we can see what so enthralled our newspaper correspondent in 1933.] Author: David Neely is an Honorary Life Member of the RROCA, George Sevenoaks Medal (NSW), SHRF Historical Consultant, co-author with Tom Clarke of ‘Rolls-Royce and Bentley in the Sunburnt Country’, author of ‘In the Rear-View Mirror – a History of the Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club, former editor of PRÆCLARVM and regular contributor of articles. He has owned a 1926 Phantom I, 1929 Phantom II, 1957 Bentley S1, 1963 Silver Cloud III and currently has a 1985 Silver Spirit [2020].