Rolls-Royce owned for 77 years has special legacy

This man drove his Rolls-Royce for an astonishing 77 years, but he ensured it lived on after his passing.

Allen Swift first received his Rolls-Royce Piccadilly P1 Roadster in 1928 and drove it up until his death in 2005.

Passing away at the age of 102, it’s clear that Swift got a lot of use out of his beloved car.

Not only did he live to an impressive age, but he may lay claim to be the longest serving owner of a Rolls-Royce.

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A remarkable story of a man and his Rolls-Royce

The car was gifted to Swift as a graduation present from his dad, whilst living in Springfield, Massachusetts.

As noted by autoblog, this city was where Rolls-Royce built 2,944 vehicles between 1920 and 1931 whilst trying to establish a US plant.

Swift was very taken with his father’s gift and kept it in top condition for the next 77 years.

It even received a complete restoration and engine rebuild in 1988.

For his long-standing ownership, Swift was gifted a crystal Spirit of Ecstasy award in 1994 from Rolls-Royce.

By the year of his death, he’d logged an impressive 170,000 miles on the car.

What happened to the car after its owner passed away?

After Swift’s passing in 2005, the car was left to the Lyman & Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History.

Not only that, but he also gave them $1 million to create the exhibition.

The exhibition would tell the story of Springfield’s links to car manufacturing.

Twenty years later, the car is still proudly displayed in the Massachusetts museum.

It’s nice to hear stories about cars that have sentimental value to their owners – just like this Alpine that stayed with a man for nearly sixty years because his wife convinced him to buy it.

Then there’s touching cases where somebody is reunited with a car after years apart, like this man being gifted a car that he used to drive in the 1970s.

Cars may be machines but they can touch humans in a very real way.