Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith Limousine, 1954
Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith
Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith•
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Chassis No.: DLW125
Auction: Monterey 2023
Auction date: August 19, 2023
Lot No.: S64
$90,200 | Sold
- Odometer: 79,184 miles
- Engine: Inline 6-cylinder
- Transmission: Automatic
- Exterior: Mason's Black
- Interior: Tan
- Body: Limousine
- 1 of 28 James Young Limousine bodies fitted to a long wheelbase Silver Wraith chassis
- Comprehensive restoration completed in the 1990s by marque expert Ralph Curzon
- Multiple award winner
- 4566cc/178 HP OHV Inline 6-cylinder engine
- Single Zenith carburetor
- 4-speed automatic transmission
- Original owner’s manual
- Hand and road tools
Its war effort over, Rolls-Royce ushered in a new era in 1946 with its first postwar model produced at the company’s new home in Crewe, where it had manufactured Merlin V-12 engines for Spitfires. The Silver Wraith featured a new, much stiffer chassis with independent front suspension, servo-assisted hydromechanical brakes and a revised F-head version of the 4257cc 6-cylinder engine with a cast-iron block and aluminum head. Yet, the Silver Wraith was still a coachbuilt automobile and, to be frank, the styling of many British coachbuilders remained stuck in a bygone age of prewar perpendicularity and wing-collared pomp, with separate headlights featuring on many designs well into the 1950s.
That cannot be said of this rare long-wheelbase limousine by the 1863-established top-tier coachbuilder James Young which, with its full-width body, blended-in fender lines and integral headlamps, clearly anticipated the fashion-forward styling Rolls-Royce would adopt in 1955 for the highly popular factory-bodied Silver Cloud. The Silver Wraith is, however, a very different car. Riding on the stretched 133-inch wheelbase introduced in 1952 and standardized thereafter, the long-wheelbase was 10 inches longer overall than the upcoming Silver Cloud.
While the Cloud was designed to span the chauffeur-driven and owner-driver market, the LWB Silver Wraith was by name and nature a limousine, with far more space and comfort in the rear, along with superior appointments including a cocktail cabinet and a glass division to provide separation from the staff. That James Young unveiled the LWB Silver Wraith at the 1953 Paris Salon, then the focus of “haute-carture,” speaks volumes. Moreover, while its price tag pitched it higher than most other custom-built examples, it most certainly offered more.
Though a limousine, it was less ponderous and overbodied, compared with the more traditional offerings of other coachbuilders that were intended for the sober pomp of ceremonial duty and little else. By contrast, while still suited to red-carpet promenades, the James Young Silver Wraith also extended an invitation to enjoy it on extended drives as an unflappable touring limousine. This LWB James Young Silver Wraith, being a 1954 example, also benefits from the larger and significantly more powerful 4566c/178 HP OHV 6-cylinder, single Zenith carburetor-equipped engine introduced in 1951, as well as the 4-speed automatic transmission that became an option in 1953.
Its multiple awards, including trophies from the fastidious RROC, attest to the quality of the comprehensive restoration carried out by marque specialist Ralph Curzon in the 1990s. Inside, the front compartment is trimmed in leather, while the rear compartment, featuring a cocktail cabinet with Waterford crystal decanters, is trimmed in wool broadcloth. With just 28 LWB limousines bodied by James Young on the Silver Wraith platform, this 1954 example in correct Rolls-Royce Mason’s Black is a very select car indeed.
https://www.mecum.com/lots/1095241/1954-rolls-royce-silver-wraith-limousine/
Cost
331,260 AED
