The Rolls of shame
03/05/2022
Banger racing with scrap cars is not the only place where there is a trophy for the successful demolition of motor vehicles. At Rolls-Royce, too, employees who deformed a company car on the road were presented with a trophy. The "Mitzi Trophy of Disgrace" consisted of two Dinky Toys models - an ondulated black Silver Wraith and a brand new red Silver Shadow - and was placed on the miscreant's desk where it was clearly visible. There it had to stand and expose its owner to the ridicule of his colleagues until the next employee drove a Rolls-Royce to the ground. In the first 17 years, as many as 70 employees of the first plant on the square signed the company's blacklist.
The origin of the dishonorable challenge cup was Dennis Miller-Williams from the Rolls-Royce sales department, who turned a brand-new Phantom 6 into a "Phantom 5 ¾" with the help of a garage wall in Monaco in 1963 - on the evening before a vehicle presentation to the royal couple, of all places. The French Rolls-Royce importer Peter Hunter, who consistently called his colleague Mitzi-Williams, then produced the accident trophy named after him - and promptly received it back from Williams. On the way to the award ceremony, Hunter himself caused an accident - in a Rolls-Royce, of course.
However, the Silver Shadow model must have found its way onto the pedestal later. Because, as we all know, the first Rolls-Royce of modern times did not appear until 1965.
