Silver Ghost.

An iconic symbol of a bygone age British motor engineering, The Spirit of Ecstacy is that famous silver bonnet sculpture synonymous with Rolls-Royce cars; I found myself cycling past an elegant and well-preserved example in Stockbridge this afternoon.

The model for Charles Sykes' original sculpure was Eleanor Velasco Thornton, an actress and model who became the secretary to John Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu. A Tory MP for New Forest, he became, with the death of his father, 2nd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu; making his mark as an early champion and promotor of motoring in England and he founder and editor of The Car Illustrated magazine.

Although married, Eleanor Thornton became his mistress, and she became a symbol for all the Beaulieu Roll-Royce's and ultimately every Roller since 1911. She was killed when she travelled to India with Montagu in 1915: their ship, the SS Persia, was torpedoed without warning near Crete by a German U-Boat, where she perished along with 342 of the 519 souls aboard.

Montagu survived.