97 Year old Lady to take part in 2015 Trans-America Challenge with her son in a Rolls Royce Silver Ghost III.

The Trans-America Challenge is to play host to a woman who is believed to be the world’s oldest rally navigator. 97-year-old Dorothy Caldwell will be participating on the Endurance Rally Association’s 5810-mile rally with her son Alastair in a 1963 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud III.

“When we lived in England, my family was into racing – my brother did it, and then both of my sons in New Zealand. The first rally I did with Alastair was in Suffolk in 2011. 

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It seemed like quite a simple thing to me, so when he asked if I would navigate for him on the first Trans-America Challenge back in 2012, I said I would! Since then, we’ve been to Burma for a rally and I’m about to leave for the second Trans-America Challenge as we speak.”

Dorothy’s son Alastair is a former manager of the McLaren Formula One team. He insists his mother has never attempted to ‘pull rank’ from behind the map. “We’ve never had a cross word on a rally, it’s a team effort and we work very well together.”

As navigator, Dorothy - who was awarded the prize for “Spirit of the Rally” on the 2012 Trans-America Challenge - looks after the maps, updates and trip meter. It’s a role that requires dedication and a constant state of alert; as the rally navigates a difficult route through challenging terrain.

Despite her years, Dorothy takes the arduous role in her stride; and remains sharp and awake throughout regardless of the rally in question.

“I’ll only come if he takes the Rolls-Royce though,” says Dorothy. “It’s more comfortable than his sports cars, and it has air conditioning! I’m the last in my generation now; I’m starting to find it harder. I’m beginning to need glasses for distance, and as I’m in the middle of moving house I think it might be time to ease back a little. So this will probably be my last big rally.

“But Alastair tells me there’s going to be one in New Zealand soon… so I might be back for that.”

The 2nd Trans-America Challenge will begin on Sunday 7^th June. The route begins in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and will finish in San Francisco, California, on Sunday 28^th June. There will be 45 participants in cars ranging from a 1927 Bentley 4.5 litre to a 1973 MGBGT.

For updates on Dorothy and the progress of the Trans-America Challenge visit www.endurorally.com.

Movie cars on the Rolls Royce display at the Goodwood revival

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars will celebrate a record Goodwood Revival this weekend, with all three days of the popular event selling out a month ahead of the event for the first time. The local manufacturer of super-luxury motor cars will host customers, prospects, VIPs and also entertain the thousands of visitors to the world’s most popular historic motor race meeting in true Rolls-Royce style.

This year the Rolls-Royce showroom at the March Motor Works – an authentic recreation of a 1960s dealership – is the set for filming of ‘The Yellow Rolls-Royce’. The MGM movie was released in 1964 and featured an all-star cast including Ingrid Bergman, Rex Harrison, Shirley MacLaine, Alain Delon, Jeanne Moreau, George C. Scott and Omar Sharif. The scene is based on the opening sequence of the film, set in 1931, where the character Lord Frinton (Rex Harrison) is buying a Rolls-Royce Phantom II Sedanca De Ville from a London Showroom. The treatment of the film set décor closely follows that of the film and the theatre, only possible at the Goodwood Revival, will consist of the cast filming on set and in preparation for filming. The ‘Yellow Rolls-Royce’ will, of course, take the lead role. Expect the ever-present paparazzi and a cordon of the Goodwood Runners (period police force) to be on hand to hold back adoring fans.

Rolls-Royce will be represented on the Motor Circuit throughout the event, with a beautiful 1965 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III Continental in Velvet Green, with bodywork by James Young, forming part of the Course Director’s entourage. Very special guests of the Company will be conveyed in period luxury, with the silence of the ‘magic carpet ride’ only marginally disturbed by the ticking of the clock.

Departing the Revival, invited guests will return to the current day in contemporary luxury, as they are conveyed in exquisite Rolls-Royce Phantom and Ghost cars hand-built at the Home of Rolls-Royce, located within the Goodwood Estate, a short distance from the Motor Circuit.