1955 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith Long-wheelbase Limousine
Coachwork by James Young
Registration no. RR 1955
Chassis no. DLW117
Engine no. L116D
•Believed to be the Geneva Motor Show car
•Rare long-wheelbase model (639 produced)
•Restored in the USA in the 1970s
•Automatic transmission and after-market air conditioning
•Original registration
Footnotes:
Rolls-Royce's first post-war model, the Silver Wraith employed a chassis similar to that of the Mark VI Bentley, though with a 7' longer wheelbase. The Wraith however, was only offered with traditional coachbuilt bodies rather than the Mark VI's pioneering 'standard steel' bodywork. Powering Rolls-Royce's post-war range was a new 4,257cc six-cylinder engine of cast-iron, monobloc construction with an aluminium cylinder head and featuring overhead inlet and side exhaust valves. A four-speed manual gearbox with synchromesh was standard initially, an automatic option (for export models only at first) not becoming available until 1952, at which time the engine was enlarged to 4,566cc and a long-wheelbase version introduced. Production ceased in 1959, by which time 1,883 chassis had been completed, 639 of them to long-wheelbase specification.

The last word in motoring luxury in its day, this long-wheelbase Silver Wraith carries saloon coachwork by James Young, one of the few British coachbuilders still active after WW2. The Bromley-based carriage-maker had bodied its first automobile in 1908, affiliating itself with a succession of quality marques throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and had established itself among the foremost coachbuilders for upmarket chassis by the end of the latter decade. Its factory devastated by wartime bombing, the company did not resume exhibiting at the London Motor Shows until 1948, continuing to offer coachbuilt designs of distinction on (mainly) Rolls-Royce and Bentley chassis until the arrival of the unitary construction Silver Shadow/T-Series range in the 1960s.

Believed to be the 1955 Geneva Motor Show car, this Silver Wraith was given its distinctive and most appropriate registration when new. The Wraith's last owner purchased the car in the USA, where it had been restored in the 1970s, and imported it into the UK in 1992, retrieving the original registration. The car had been painted white, re-trimmed and fitted with after-market air conditioning, while other notable features include a glass partition, cocktail cabinets, picnic tables, privacy curtains and a vanity set. Service history is available from 2002 at an indicated 55,000 kilometres (the current odometer reading is 62,751 kilometres but cannot be guaranteed genuine). Accompanying documentation consists of an MoT certificate and a V5C. Copies of the factory chassis cards have been applied for.