1954 Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn

The Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn, introduced in 1949 and produced alongside the Bentley Mark VI and the coach-built Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith, is notable as the first Rolls-Royce to wear 'factory' coachwork, with the 'standard steel' coachwork having been introduced in 1946 on the Mark VI. Along with its body, it also shared the Mark VI chassis until 1952 and then the Bentley R Type until production ceased in 1955. A total of 760 examples were built during its production lifespan.

The Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn was initially built as an export-only model. Examples built with left-hand drive configuration had column gear shifts while the right-hand drive examples had a floor gear shift by the door. From October 1953, with the R-Type based models, was it officially available on the home market. Earlier models, up to circa May 1954, had a different dashboard from the Bentley Mk. VI and R-Type and were fitted with a single exhaust system.

Power was from an inline six-cylinder engine with overhead inlet and side exhaust valves and a capacity of 4275cc until 1951 when it was enlarged to 4566cc. The carburetor was a single downdraught Stromberg until 1952 when it was replaced by a Zenith. Servo-assisted 12.25-inch drum brakes were hydraulically operated at the front with mechanical operation at the rear. The suspension used a live rear axle with half elliptic leaf springs along with an independent front setup with coil springs. Most examples wore factory-built bodies, and others were sent to external coachbuilders. The Standard Steel bodied were similar to the Bentley but with body panels forward of the bulkhead/firewall being slightly different.

A four-speed manual gearbox was standard until late 1952 when a four-speed automatic became optional.

The wheelbase measured 120-inches, a height of 64.5-inches, a width of 69-inches, and a length of 192- to 210-inches.

by Daniel Vaughan | Dec 2020