1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith - Wraith 7-passenger Limousine by Carrossiers de Villars

The wedding present for Helena Rubenstein

An exceptionally elegant French body

Extensively restored 15 years ago

A piece of 20th century history

At Rolls-Royce, progress rarely had much to do with revolution. What had proved itself was improved, while experimentation was generally left to others. When the Wraith appeared in 1938 as the new ‘small’ Rolls-Royce, it followed precisely that philosophy. It replaced the 25/30 HP and was also the last new model the marque introduced before the outbreak of war.

Beneath the long bonnet sat a 4,257 cc straight-six whose basic design was inherited from its predecessor, though now fitted with a new cylinder head. How much power it produced Rolls-Royce traditionally kept to itself. ‘Sufficient’ was deemed information enough. More important, in any case, was how that power was delivered: as quietly and smoothly as possible, allowing those in the rear to concern themselves with more important matters.

The real changes lay in the chassis. At the front, the Wraith received independent suspension along the lines of the larger Phantom III, while a live axle continued to do duty at the rear. Hydraulic dampers could be adjusted by means of a control on the steering wheel, while the four-speed gearbox was synchronised on the upper ratios. Progress, certainly, but without making a fuss about it.

Rolls-Royce did not provide a body. At that time, the chassis still came from Derby; it was fitted with bodywork by a wide variety of bespoke coachbuilders such as Park Ward, Hooper, H.J. Mulliner, Thrupp & Maberly, as well as international coachbuilders. Consequently, hardly any two Wraiths were alike. Limousine, Sports Saloon or Drophead Coupé: what mattered was the taste and financial means of the customer, with the latter preferably being considerable.

The Wraith was not given much time. With the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, civilian car production ceased after only around 500 chassis had been built. The Wraith did not return after the war. Its successor, the Silver Wraith, was built at Crewe and ushered in a new era.

The Wraith therefore remained a motor car caught between two ages: technically more modern than its predecessor, yet outwardly still very much a product of the great British coachbuilding tradition. A Rolls-Royce in which even the end of an era passed almost without a sound.

WXA72 had been commissioned by Prince Artchil Gourielli-Tchkonia as a wedding present for his bride, cosmetics magnate Helena Rubinstein, who was 25 years his senior. Prince Gourielli – a handsome man in his prime and the bearer of a Georgian title – may have provided a welcome distraction for the recently divorced Helena Rubinstein. Some might have suggested that the bride’s fortune provided an attraction of its own. Yet the unusual marriage endured until his death in 1955.

Helena, born in Kraków when the city was still part of Austria, had gone out into the world and, through a shrewd talent for business, succeeded in making the public desire something it had not previously known it needed. From creams and scented waters grew an international cosmetics empire that made her one of the wealthiest women in the world. She was known for her directness and for her often-quoted remark: ‘There are no ugly women, only lazy ones.’

Cosmopolitans in the truest sense, the couple made themselves at home around the world. In Paris, Helena Rubinstein created a grand residence for herself on the Quai de Béthune. The Rolls-Royce found a home there too, having been clothed by »Carrosserie de Villars« in the Paris suburb of Courbevoie.

After her husband’s death, Helena Rubinstein sold her wedding present and the Rolls-Royce found its way to the United States. From 1982, WXA72 belonged to James Weigel of New Canaan, Connecticut, who had the car extensively restored around 2010 before it came to Austria in 2013. Once here, the Wraith was serviced by a local specialist and prepared for its individual road approval. Taken off the road a good ten years ago, Helena Rubinstein’s Wraith now awaits a sympathetic recommissioning before once again setting off on a luxurious journey through time, following in the footsteps of one of the most extraordinary women of the 20th century.