Came across this term several times while browsing a film archive tonight. Seems to be used in the context of a tracking shot from a vehicle which is unseen. (Nothing to do with ghosts!) Must confess I don't recall coming cross this before. Any help appreciated.

That's an obscure one. I don't recall having heard that. May be an old-timey phrase!!

Academics can invent terms that bear no relationship to anything used by people who actually made films or TV programmes.

It sounds rather like a POV from a vehicle, otherwise it would be a a rather pointless way of describing a tracking shot. It of sort of implies that the vehicle itself is of some consequence, rather than just a platform to mount a camera.

Academics also can come up with nonsense at times from only reading the"text" but not knowing how to write the "text".

Thanks, Charles and Brian, I think you are right. It might also be an omission or abbreviation for a "phantom ride shot" which is mentioned here BFI Screenonline: Phantom Rides (http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1193042/)
Phantom rides were films shot from the very front of moving trains. The films would present the journey from the train's perspective, capturing the approaching track, surrounding landscape and the passage through tunnels. To obtain these films, cameramen would literally tie themselves and their cameras to the buffer of a speeding train. From this position, the film would appear to be moving by aid of an invisible force, hence the name 'phantom ride' by which they soon came to be known. The first phantom ride, The Haverstraw Tunnel, was made in America in 1897. The concept quickly caught on in Britain and would become one of the most popular forms of early cinema.

Here's a couple of examples of "phantom ride" shots :
Scottish Screen Archive - Search - Results (http://ssa.nls.uk/search.cfm?search_term=phantom+ride&videos_only=&search_mode=Quick)

I've seen a few of those types of shots from the early 20th Century.

Some show a pretty scary lack of traffic rules and have a few near misses.

San Francisco Trolley Ride and Street Scenes 1905 - YouTube

SF Cable Car runs thru crowded street - YouTube

The phantom shot term has evolved into the ghost ride.

Maybe it's where you think you've pressed the record button, then "shoot" for a while, only to find out you haven't.

Hey Josh, so that's what it's called .. cool I'll use it, better than me telling the client it's just a run through.

Cheers.