NYC EVENT: Register now
19th November 2015 5:00pm EST
The Pinnacle of Stately Elegance, Open-air Style
High-waisted and long in proper proportion, the Silver Cloud was the zenith of prestige and luxury, carrying on the Rolls-Royce name from 1955-1965. Even in 1955 when it was a new model, this car looked fresh and venerable at the same time. By the end of 1962, the final iteration of the series, the Silver Cloud III, was delivered; it is considered by many collectors to be the greatest and most desirable Rolls Royce ever produced. Its splendid, hand-wrought body covered a powerful 6.2-litre, V-8 engine, four-wheel drum brakes, separate chassis and body, and a live rear axle. But, to Rolls Royce aficionados, all that mattered was that this was 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 Silver Shadow arrived in 1965.
The Silver Cloud III was produced from 1963 to 1965; a total of 2,809 cars were built, but only 27 left-hand drive examples were produced to design 2007, including this car. It was purchased via J.S. Inskip, the famed Rolls-Royce and Bentley dealer in New York, and it was delivered on May 24, 1963 to its first owner: William M. Young of 1 South Heald Street, Wilmington, Delaware. The current owner acquired it from the second owner, a Mr. Spatola (USA). It was shipped to Brussels within the last ten years, and there it received a full restoration from Michel Kruch, who specializes in Rolls-Royce and Bentley. Today it is as it was delivered, with its Shell Grey exterior and Black upholstery, complete with tools and owner’s manual.
Rolls-Royce was a car, before it was a company, starting as the result of a 1904 memorandum agreement between Royce Limited and the Honourable C.S. Rolls. It essentially called for Royce to make as many cars as Rolls could sell, and for Rolls to sell as many cars as Royce could make. By the time Rolls-Royce Limited was incorporated in 1906, Royce had produced five chassis: a 2-cyl. 10 hp, a 3-cyl. 15 hp, a 4-cyl. 20 hp, a 6-cyl. 30 hp, and a V-8 20 hp. All of these gave Royce the engineering experience to then produce his masterpiece, the 40/50 hp “Silver Ghost”—the incredible success of this car caused the company to discontinue all its other models and concentrate its engineering and production efforts to build, what was called: The Best Car in the World.
Up until World War II, a car produced by Rolls-Royce was only a chassis, which included the frame, wheels, engine and running gear, steering wheel and dashboard, and of course: the famous Rolls-Royce radiator and “Flying Lady” mascot, known as The Spirit of Ecstasy. After purchasing a chassis, the customer chose a coachbuilder to build the body. The firm of H.J. Mulliner had a long history of supplying bodies for Rolls-Royce customers.
After the war, demand for specialized/luxury automotive coachbuilding was waning as even high-end automakers, including Rolls-Royce, started to move towards offering complete automobiles. The Silver Cloud, introduced in 1955, was the second model Rolls-Royce would offer as a complete car (following the Silver Dawn), and became famous through its exposure in film and advertising. Although the Silver Cloud was offered as a complete car, it could also be purchased as a chassis for the customer that wanted a custom, coachbuilt car—accordingly, such cars were comparatively rare and particularly desirable for future collectors. A sufficient number of customers continued to demand coachbuilding services, so in 1959, Rolls-Royce purchased H.J. Mulliner in order to secure its ability to satisfy demand. Under Rolls-Royce, H.J. Mulliner continued to use its skills and nameplate on the cars, but with demand slowly diminishing during the 1960s, Rolls-Royce eventually combined H.J. Mulliner with Park Ward, which it purchased in 1939, to form Mulliner, Park Ward (though sometimes the coach plate on the doorsill would say “H.J. Mulliner Coach Work”).
This car, LSCX789, carries—arguably—the most-recognized and admired drophead configuration in its final iteration in the Silver Cloud III: design 2007. This design had its roots with the Silver Cloud I, as design 7504 “Adaptation”—a term used because H.J. Mulliner started with a four door, Rolls-Royce saloon and created the two-door drophead (following a strict engineering regimen), which was a way to save costs and create a coachbuilt car out of steel. Design 7504 was also used for the Silver Cloud II. The Silver Cloud III received quite a number of changes; the most apparent was the four headlights replacing the previous two headlight configuration. So, design 2007 was created to accommodate the new model’s final evolution. On the performance side, the Silver Cloud III’s V-8 engine compression ratio was raised from 8.0:1 to 9.0:1. Enthusiasts generally agree that the Silver Cloud III drives and performs far more like a modern car compared to the two previous series.
The Silver Cloud III was the last run for production Rolls-Royce motorcars built on a chassis—the succeeding model, the Silver Shadow, was built on a monocoque frame, in which the chassis and the body are integrated. With its smooth ride and luxurious hand-built craftsmanship, the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III truly embodies all the superlatives associated with the marque, and combined with the rarity of this coachbuilt example, makes for an attractive opportunity to acquire, literally, the best of the best.
- The ultimate in 4-seat, luxurious, cossetting, top-down motoring
- There is nothing like that radiator and the Spirit of Ecstasy in front of your eyes, at the end of that massive, never-ending bonnet.
- You’ll never hear the engine at idle. Just the clock.
- As an extremely-rare, one of 27, its entry into any Concours event world-wide is guaranteed.
It’s almost impossible to find a superior combination of extreme elegance and rarity in a car that you love to drive.