1949 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith

The Silver Wraith was introduced towards the end of 1946 and the first large-chassis Rolls-Royce produced after World War II, and it offered a more modern driving experience coupled with an elegant prewar appearance. In the company's own words, the Silver Wraith was 'considered by many to be the most technologically advanced Rolls Royce model in history...an exceptionally graceful and elegant automobile.' The chassis, produced at the company's former Merlin engine factory in Crewe, was similar to that of the MK VI Bentley, though with a 7-inch longer wheelbase. All Silver Wraith chassis wore custom coachwork that ranged from relatively sporting coupes and dropheads to eight-passenger landaulets and formal limousines. The Silver Wraith chassis was manufactured in lettered series, 'A' through 'H' being short-chassis (200 inches on a 127-inch wheelbase) in the late 1940s and 'A' through 'H' in long-chassis (206 inches on a 133-inch wheelbase) in the 1950s. The shorter platform often received close-coupled, or sporting bodies while the longer chassis was better suited to accommodate formal sedans and limousines.

By the time production came to a close in 1959, Rolls-Royce had moved away from the traditional, generations-old aluminum-skin-over-wooden-framework coachbuilding method.

While the Silver Wraith had traditional coach-built bodies, the MK VI pioneered 'standard steel' coachwork. The large, box-section chassis received an independent front suspension with coil springs, a live rear axle with semi-elliptic springs, hydraulic shock absorbers (adjustable to the rear) and four-wheel drum brakes. The frame was considerably more rigid than its predecessors and based on that of the pre-war Wraith.

Power was sourced from a new 4,257cc six-cylinder engine of cast-iron, monobloc construction with aluminum cylinder head featuring overhead inlet and side exhaust valves. Only the bore and stroke dimensions were shared with the pre-war overhead-valve Wraith engine, the major advantage of this new 'F-head' layout being its generous water jacketing around the valve seats and large valves. Initially, a four-speed manual gearbox with synchromesh, a dry clutch, and column shift was standard, while an automatic was optional for export models only. When the automatic option became available in 1952 to all markets, the engine had grown to 4,566cc and a longer-wheelbase version had become available.

The Silver Wraith outlived the Mk. VI and survived until 1959, having been modernized step-by-step, including the automatic gearbox in 1952 and power-assisted steering in 1956. An engine bored out to 4,566cc had been phased in 1951 and in 1954 capacity was increased to 4,887cc.

Manufacture of the short-wheelbase Silver Wraith ceased in 1952, with a total production of 1,144. The long-wheelbase version continued until the introduction of the Phantom V in 1959, by which time 639 chassis had been completed. The total production of Silver Wraith models, the last Rolls-Royce model that would be delivered in 'chassis only' configuration, was 1,783 units.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jan 2022