1955 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith - Silver Wraith Touring Limousine by Hooper

A history documented almost in its entirety

Largely preserved in its original condition

One of only 639 with a long wheelbase

Serviced and used until today

The Silver Wraith was never a mass-produced motor car. Just 1,883 chassis were built in all, 639 of them on the long wheelbase offered from 1951. The last short-wheelbase cars were delivered in 1953. Even so, there was hardly a model range in the conventional sense, for Rolls-Royce supplied the chassis and left the rest to the coachbuilders. Hooper, H.J. Mulliner, Park Ward and James Young created everything from elegant Saloons to imposing seven-seaters and state limousines, alongside Drophead Coupés, Landaulets and some decidedly individual one-offs. Two Silver Wraiths could therefore be almost identical underneath and yet look as though they had very little to do with one another. Mass production, Rolls-Royce style.

While the staff at Hooper had their composure sorely tested during the construction of DLW34, nothing of the sort is recorded for DLW114. Its chassis arrived from Crewe on 10 December 1954, and by 20 April 1955 the car was complete under Hooper works number S W 7284 and ready for delivery. It had originally been intended for Rossleigh Ltd., the Rolls-Royce distributor in the north of Britain, which planned to use it as its show car at the Scottish Motor Show. When that order was cancelled, the car passed through Weybridge Automobiles to Mrs E.M. Van Norden of Virginia Water, Surrey.

Hooper subsequently took DLW114 back from her and sold it to Fred Davidson of London. Two companies then followed as owners, Sindey Marcus Ltd. and J.K. Smitt Sons Ltd. In 1967 the Silver Wraith passed to Brian Kenneth Wigg, and in 1987 to Keith Robert Jay Hunters. A photograph from 1989 shows the proud owner posing with his Rolls-Royce. By the mid-1990s, DLW114 had found its way to the Netherlands. A valuation report from 2002 described it as remarkably original and in very good condition.

In 2013 the Silver Wraith came to Austria and was initially entrusted to a specialist for servicing and preparation for its individual road approval. Unlike its stablemate, DLW114 remained registered until this year and, though used sparingly, was regularly called upon to perform the task for which a large Rolls-Royce seems particularly well suited. It accompanied quite a number of newlyweds on one of the happiest days of their lives.

Still preserved largely in its original condition, the Silver Wraith remains fascinating to drive today: the whisper-quiet manner in which its great six-cylinder engine runs, the apparent ease with which it moves its considerable bulk and the gentleness with which the gearbox changes ratios. It leaves little doubt as to the standards Rolls-Royce set itself in those days, when the world was still a rather different place.