March 19: King for a day?

Ever want to be king for a day? Queen for a day? Whatever? On our recent trip to the other side of the Pacific (more in future blogs), in Singapore we stayed at the wonderful old Fullerton Hotel. If you saw that excretable movie Crazy Rich Asians, this was the featured hotel. Apart from telling you how we roll on vacation, why do I bring this up? Think Rolls-Royce, since the Fullerton is one of those hotels around the world that use them as courtesy cars........for a price!

In the Fullerton's case, they use vintage Rollers........

.......a Silver Shadow, a Silver Cloud and a Phantom limousine. All waiting to serve those guests, who are to willing to pony up mucho dollars for the minimum three hour usage. A nice, but expensive way to make an impression on the locals, although in Singapore having a Rolls does not necessarily set you apart.

Returning home to our humble abode and the ever ready Car Modeling Cat (CMC), we decided to rebuild a very old Silver Cloud model, that I have had since 1962. Back in the day, I built it to my skill level at the time, which was a touch lower than nil. Time to resurrect it with the help of the CMC........

CMC comparing finished model to reference photos

Take it apart, clean it up, paint it in an appropriate Rolls-Royce tutone, add the chrome trim and redo the chrome that came with the original kit........

Our own version of the Fullerton's 1962 Silver Cloud, but in a more traditional silver over medium gray. Wish I could remember those classic Rolls colour names.........Vintage Coin Silver(?) over Majestic Thunder Grey(?). Or something like that.

This old model has been moved several times and travelled over a thousand miles. This would wreck havoc with most old models and it has, but for some reason it was kinder to this old Roller. So much so, that the iconic and delicate Spirit of Ecstasy, i.e. the flying lady, never broke off.......

Go figure. Hard enough to keep one on a new Rolls, let alone on a piece of plastic. Actually to counter those who covet this famous piece of chrome, it drops into the grille when you turn off your new R-R. Trick.

So next time you are in Singapore and want to act like the star you know you are (or a Crazy Rich Asian), stay at the Fullerton. And tell them Barry sent you.

Until next time........