1963 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III

The Silver Cloud was a luxury automobile with wood-framed bodywork and a forest's worth of burled walnut. The interior was comfortable and the engine was smooth and silent. This model represented the company's first attempts at contemporary styling, with smaller bumpers, a lowered hood and radiator shell, quad headlamps, and separate front seats.

Rolls-Royce introduced the Silver Cloud model in April of 1955. It followed the production run of the Silver Dawn and the relocation of manufacturing to Crewe. The new model was to be somewhat larger, substantially roomier, just as nimble and no less speedy. In addition, provisions were added for conveniences such as power-assisted steering, automatic transmission, and improved ventilation. Initially, 'sufficient' power came from a staid six-cylinder engine.

The Silver Cloud Series II, introduced in August 1959, saw the introduction of eight-cylinder power. This offset the tendency for both production and coach-built bodies, which had become progressively heavier.

The final iteration, the Silver Cloud III, began production in September 1962 and continued through 1965 with 2,809 examples built. They were the zenith of prestige and luxury, wearing hand-wrought bodies covering a powerful eight-cylinder engine, four-wheel drum brakes, separate chassis and body, and a live rear axle. These were the last truly hand-made Rolls-Royce in the grandest tradition. The Silver Cloud carried the Rolls-Royce banner for nearly eleven years until the arrival of the Silver Shadow in 1965.

The 6.2-liter V8 engine was introduced with the arrival of the Silver Cloud II in 1959, replacing the previous 4.9-liter inline-6. Despite the new wet-linered V8 having hydraulic tappet operation, it was neither as smooth nor as quiet as the engine it replaced but did offer an increase in horsepower and torque.

The Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud used body-on-frame construction with most of the bodies built with the standard Pressed Steel Company-manufactured steel body shell. The chassis was 212 inches long, 75 inches wide, and was formed as a simple steel box section that was welded together. Stopping power was courtesy of hydraulic Rolls-Royce mechanical servo-assisted 11-inch drum brakes. The suspension used independent coils at the front and semi-elliptic springs at the back. Power steering and air conditioning were optional in 1956, and power steering became standard in 1959 with the Silver Cloud II. Electrically operated windows were a new option on the Silver Cloud II.

Rolls-Royce introduced the Silver Cloud III in October of 1962 at the Paris Salon, where it rested alongside the Bentley S3. This version introduced minor mechanical updates and slight styling changes. Although 'minor' was the key phrase here, there were 'many' of them.

In the mechanical department, the external dimensions were slightly altered, offering a little more space for the redesigned interior as well as the engine bay. The previous 1 3/4-inch carburetors were replaced with 2-inch SU units, and the compression ratio was increased to 9:1 to accommodate the higher octane levels of premium fuel in major markets. The lower 8:1 compression ratio was optional and popular for markets that did not have the higher octane fuels. The updates increased horsepower, although Rolls-Royce continued its tradition of indicating output as 'adequate.' To cope with the increase in power, the engine received a nitride-hardened crankshaft. The transmission was a GM Hydramatic which Rolls-Royce used under license.

The headlights used a four-headlamp layout, and the slope of the hoodline increased to correspond with the 1.5-inch reduction in radiator grille height.

The Silver Cloud III continued to straddle both modern bodies and traditional coachbuilding techniques. Rolls-Royce's coachbuilding shop, H.J. Mulliner had introduced a Drophead Coupe 'Adaptation' late in Silver Cloud I production, and a similar style was used exclusively on the Silver Cloud II. It was known as an 'Adaptation' because it was based on factory Standard Steel Saloon body panels and inner structure but thoroughly reworked with factory components, resulting in a fully custom coachbuilt masterpiece. A total of 37 examples were built including 25 with left-hand-drive configuration. Soon after the arrival of the Silver Cloud III, Rolls-Royce debuted a new Drophead Coupe that used more modern building practices. Park Ward also offered a Drophead Coupe and a Limousine built on the longer wheelbase, and James Young listed a Sport Saloon, coupe, and a Touring Limousine available on either the short or long chassis.

While the Silver Cloud III was scheduled to be replaced by the unitized new Silver Shadow in 1965, demand from Rolls-Royce traditionalists forced a special series of Silver Cloud III chassis that continued in production well into 1966.

Of the 2,809 examples of the Silver Cloud III built, 2,555 rested on the short wheelbase and 254 used the longer version. Three hundred twenty-eight coachbuilt examples were built on the normal-length chassis and 47 on the long wheelbase.