1952 ROLLS-ROYCE SILVER WRAITH DROP-HEAD COUPE COACHWORK BY PARK WARD Chassis No. WVH46 Gold and bronze with a rust color leather interior. Engine: six-cylinder, in-line, 4,566cc, 150bhp at 4,000rpm; Gearbox: four speed manual; Suspension: front, independent with coil springs and wishbones, rear, semi-elliptic leaf springs with variable hydraulic shock absorbers controlled from steering-wheel; Brakes: four-wheel, servo-assisted drum brakes, mechanical at rear, hydraulic at front. Left hand drive. When Rolls-Royce Motor's car production restarted after the last war, they moved from the pre-war Derby works to Crewe and introduced a new departure by producing their own in-house design and a complete motor car. The first example of this was the new Mk VI 4 1/4-liter Bentley with a compact all-steel body which became known as the Standard Steel Saloon. The 4 1/4 liter engine, although of the same capacity as the pre-war engine, was an entirely new design known as the B60 Series; it was developed during the war having an F type alloy cylinder head with overhead inlet valves and side exhaust and back-driven dynamo and water pump and its capacity was increased to 4 1/2 liters in 1951. This engine was shown with the new Rolls-Royce model, the Silver Wraith, which also used the revised cruciform-braced chassis and independent coil spring front suspension. The prime difference between the Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith, The Bentley Mk VI and the similar Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn was that the former was only supplied in chassis from coachbuilders' bodywork, whereas the Mk VI and Silver Dawn usually had the same standard steel bodywork. The Silver Wraith stayed in production for twelve years, from 1947-1959, and was, at the time, the company's most expensive model, with the early years' production going for export only. This model retained the pre-war pedigree of the Wraith, which was a much modernised 25/30 with the Phantom III front suspension. It was important for Rolls-Royce to have a model that was supplied in chassis form only for coachbuilders, so as to retain that exclusive customer individuality that had always been the hallmark of the product. Park Ward, H.J. Mulliner, Hooper and Freestone and Webb were the more popular coachbuilder, providing their individual designs on the Silver Wraith chassis, and some 1,700 were built over the twelve years. This Silver Wraith was purchased from a private collector in North Carolina in 1980. At some point this Wraith was stripped down to the bare metal and repainted to the attractive two-tone gold and bronze which exists today. Very few left hand drive Silver Wraiths were fitted with the Park Ward drophead coachwork. This Silver Wraith is fitted with the highly attractive and desirable, Lucas P-100 headlamps. The upholstery is said to be in very good condition and we are told that the car runs very nicely.
1952 ROLLS-ROYCE SILVER WRAITH DROP-HEAD COUPE COACHWORK BY PARK WARD Chassis No. WVH46 Gold and bronze with a rust color leather interior. Engine: six-cylinder, in-line, 4,566cc, 150bhp at 4,000rpm; Gearbox: four speed manual; Suspension: front, independent with coil springs and wishbones, rear, semi-elliptic leaf springs with variable hydraulic shock absorbers controlled from steering-wheel; Brakes: four-wheel, servo-assisted drum brakes, mechanical at rear, hydraulic at front. Left hand drive. When Rolls-Royce Motor's car production restarted after the last war, they moved from the pre-war Derby works to Crewe and introduced a new departure by producing their own in-house design and a complete motor car. The first example of this was the new Mk VI 4 1/4-liter Bentley with a compact all-steel body which became known as the Standard Steel Saloon. The 4 1/4 liter engine, although of the same capacity as the pre-war engine, was an entirely new design known as the B60 Series; it was developed during the war having an F type alloy cylinder head with overhead inlet valves and side exhaust and back-driven dynamo and water pump and its capacity was increased to 4 1/2 liters in 1951. This engine was shown with the new Rolls-Royce model, the Silver Wraith, which also used the revised cruciform-braced chassis and independent coil spring front suspension. The prime difference between the Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith, The Bentley Mk VI and the similar Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn was that the former was only supplied in chassis from coachbuilders' bodywork, whereas the Mk VI and Silver Dawn usually had the same standard steel bodywork. The Silver Wraith stayed in production for twelve years, from 1947-1959, and was, at the time, the company's most expensive model, with the early years' production going for export only. This model retained the pre-war pedigree of the Wraith, which was a much modernised 25/30 with the Phantom III front suspension. It was important for Rolls-Royce to have a model that was supplied in chassis form only for coachbuilders, so as to retain that exclusive customer individuality that had always been the hallmark of the product. Park Ward, H.J. Mulliner, Hooper and Freestone and Webb were the more popular coachbuilder, providing their individual designs on the Silver Wraith chassis, and some 1,700 were built over the twelve years. This Silver Wraith was purchased from a private collector in North Carolina in 1980. At some point this Wraith was stripped down to the bare metal and repainted to the attractive two-tone gold and bronze which exists today. Very few left hand drive Silver Wraiths were fitted with the Park Ward drophead coachwork. This Silver Wraith is fitted with the highly attractive and desirable, Lucas P-100 headlamps. The upholstery is said to be in very good condition and we are told that the car runs very nicely.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
