A UNITED FRONT; Rolls-Royce's centennial celebration draws an impressive crowd.(Revs)

Byline: JOHN F. KATZ

Beyond the single Seraph-derived 2000 Corniche, the Silver Spiritoids stretch row upon row in reverse chronological order, fading into Silver Shadows before the Silver Clouds roll in, sprinkled with occasional S-Type Bentleys. There the pavement gives way to the driving range, but the Silver Wraiths, Silver Dawns and Bentley R-Types aren't driving this afternoon; they are parked, as are the Phantoms and Ghosts beyond.

Such a gargantuan gathering of argent ectoplasm could only mean one thing: The six eastern regions of the Rolls-Royce Owners' Club have gathered at the Eisenhower Hotel in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to celebrate the centennial of their beloved marque.

Even the manufacturers attended. Like divorced parents sitting together for a child's school play, BMW-owned Rolls-Royce and Volkswagen-owned Bentley put their recent separation behind them and united on the field to show off the new Rolls-Royce Phantom and Bentley Continental GT-along with a relatively unchanged Bentley Arnage or two. In all, an impressive 225 cars arrived, mostly from up and down the East Coast, but a few from as far as Ontario. Only 40 percent of those were "modern'' motorcars, by which Rolls-Royce insiders mean the Silver Shadow and its successors. The majority-60 percent-belonged to either the Early, 1904-39, or Postwar, 1947-64, category.

"Technically, this is an interregional meet,'' said Lester ...