1948 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith Cabriolet

The first postwar Rolls-Royce offering was the Silver Wraith. It initially had a wheelbase of 127 inches, but over the lifetime of the Silver Wraith (1946-1958), it grew by horsepower and length from a smaller to a significantly larger Rolls-Royce, and it was typically bodied with formal coachwork (Like its prewar antecedents, it was offered only as a chassis for coachbuilders to body).

This extremely handsome and rare early Drophead was bodied by Gurney Nutting, but with a sill plate by James Young, since both companies were owned by the flamboyant London dealer and former 'Bentley Boy' Jack Barclay. It was initially ordered by Cairo Motors Ltd. for H.E. Abdal Hamid Shawarby Bey, but the sale fell through, so it was purchased new by Academy Award-winning actor John Mills. It has been the subject of a comprehensive three-year restoration.