By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
When it was announced through the media that Pio Velasco of the Igorot Kingdom fame bought the Rolls Royce of the Discayas at P29 million, I wanted to go and see it. But no time yet for that. Maybe next time.
Nevertheless, it reminded of something. Many years ago, I was following in Metro Manila a Rolls Royce along the express way going towards southern Tagalog. Its logo on top of the radiator grille, the spirit of ecstasy, was unmistakable. A shiny flying lady facing the road in front of the car with her gown being blown towards the back unmistakably symbolizing luxury and grace.
Why was I following the car? I wanted to have a glimpse of the interior wood accents inside composed of burl wood whose natural grains are curly and intersecting with each other. With high quality varnish and looking as if they were meticulously polished by servants thousands of times, they should have looked so elegant and classy.
The wood accents go around the car framing the windows and the front and windshields of the car. So when you look outside you are looking through the beauty of God’s creation— the wood frames on every glass.
So was I able to overtake the car to have the precious glimpse? No, not at all. I knew that it was a long shot as Rolls Royces have big V8 engines which give them the power and the luxurious smoothness when on the go. As Mr. Royce once said, the test on how smooth the engine is if you can make a dollar stand on its side on top of the cylinder cover over the engine while it is idling.
The main reason I could not overtake the car was because the car I was driving then had only six cylinders, thus, was relatively under powered compared to the Rolls.
Anyway, long before that I ogled one in a mechanical shop in Las Pinas but the windows were not clean so had no good clean look. Hence, to appreciate its interior, I rely on pictures from the stacks of old car magazines I acquired over many years from thrift shops around the metro.
The big engines of Rolls Royces means they “gulp” a lot of gasoline so it is very expensive to be running wound in one. But then again, if you have to think about that, then you cannot really afford it, much less to be driving around in one.
But how luxurious can it really be? To give you just one example, its upholstery was made of leather from the hide of cattle raised in areas in England where there were no barbed wire fences. This was to ensure the leather would not have any hidden scars.
For some, however, the most important thing about a car is how reliable it is? For all we know, a much cheaper Marcedes Benz with its vaunted German engineering and precision might be more reliable.**
