Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith, 1956 Silver Wraith Pictures, News, Reviews, and Info | Conceptcarz.com - Pictures, Wallpaper, Pricing, Information, History

Overview

Mrs. Fricke for the Hotel Paris in Paris, France, ordered this car in 1956. The car came to the USA in 1980 and was used in the 1981 motion picture hit 'Arthur,' which starred Dudley Moore, Liza Minelli, and Sir John Gielgud. This movie won Oscars for its theme and Sir John Gieglud's performance. Through this movie, the so-called 'Arthur' car, became famous. After the movie, the car was sold to a collector in Boca Raton, who owned it for 20 years. The present owners purchased the car in April 2004 and had it refurbished to look as clean and original as possible.

The Silver Wraith was produced from 1946 through 1958 and Rolls-Royce enthusiasts have often claimed it to be the last true Rolls-Royce built without regard to fashion or price. The car is powered by a 4.88-liter, 6-cylinder engine developing 135 horsepower and weighs 4,620-pounds.

The Silver Wraith, launched in 1947, was an evolution of the pre-war Wraith and was offered in the traditional chassis form ready for the fitting of Bespoke coachwork. The 4,257cc overhead-inlet, side-exhaust engine developed before the war was used, as well as a modified coil and wishbone independent front suspension. Hydraulic brakes were used for the first time on a Rolls-Royce with hydraulic brakes.

The Silver Wraith was constantly refined during its production. The engine was replaced with the 'big bore' 4,566cc in 1951 and automatic transmission was offered as an option in 1952.

Once again the press raved about the car. 'All the world knows that Rolls-Royce carry on an unremitting search for engineering perfection in everything they undertake. The qualities which made their aircraft engines famous, and their cars the finest procurable, are the result of hard work scientifically conducted, and of a painstaking attention to detail from the large to the most minute. And now a new range of cars is about to appear it is believed that the new cars are the best that Rolls-Royce have ever built.'

The Silver Wraith was described like this: 'In common with all Rolls-Royce cars, the Silver Wraith has an indefinable something about it, a delicacy of behaviour, which escapes definition in written words. it is a car for the connoisseur in cars'.

Source - Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

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