Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn
| Rolls Royce | |
|---|---|
 Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn Sedan (1954)
|
|
| Silver Dawn | |
| Production period: | 1949-1955 |
| Class : | Upper class |
| Body versions : | limousine |
| Engines: |
Gasoline engines : 4.3–4.6 liters |
| Length: | 4877-5334 mm |
| Width: | 1753 mm |
| Height: | 1638 mm |
| Wheelbase : | 3048 mm |
| Empty weight : | 1631-1676 kg |
| successor | Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud |
The Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn (German: Silver Dawn ) was a passenger car that Rolls-Royce built in their factory in Crewe between 1949 and 1955. It was the first Rolls-Royce with a factory body. Pure chassis with an individual structure were also available on request.
Model history
The chassis of the Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn was a modified Silver-Wraith chassis. On this basis, the Bentley Mark VI , which was built until 1952, was given a factory body. The Silver Dawn was then developed from the Bentley with minimal changes (radiator, bonnet, instruments). Another modification was the Bentley R-Type , which was built until 1955 . Initially, the Silver Dawn was introduced as an export model. The left-hand drive version had a steering wheel gearshift. The Silver Dawn, which was then identical to the Bentley R-Type, was only available in Great Britain from October 1953.
In six years, just 760 copies were made. Early models up to around May 1954 had a different dashboard than the Bentley types and an exhaust with only one pipe. Later models had the same dashboard as the Bentley and also had the twin-pipe exhaust as in the Bentley R-Type. In the standard steel cars, the sheet metal parts in front of the bulkhead differed slightly from those of the Bentley over the entire production period.
The counter-controlled ( inlet over exhaust ) in-line six-cylinder engine had inlet valves hanging in the cylinder head and outlet valves standing on the side. The original displacement of 4257 cm³ was increased in 1951 to 4566 cm³. A single Stromberg downdraft carburetor was installed until 1952, followed by a Zenith carburetor.
Initially, the cars were only available with a manually shifted four-speed gearbox, although from 1952 the cars with an E-series chassis (which corresponded to the chassis of the Bentley R-series) could also be ordered with a four-speed automatic. Contrary to what is often claimed, the automatic transmission was never delivered as standard and the fully synchronized manual transmission was available until the model range was discontinued.
At the front, the wheels were individually suspended on double wishbones with coil springs, and at the rear there was a driven rigid axle on longitudinal leaf springs. The carriages had a riveted frame until 1953, from which time the frames were welded. The braking system was partially hydraulic; at the front the brakes were hydraulically operated with brake booster and drums with a diameter of 311 mm. Mechanical brakes ( Hispano-Suiza system ) were used at the rear .
Construction variants
The Silver Dawn was offered and sold both as a complete vehicle (with factory-made bodies) and as a chassis. The buyers could have the chassis built by the wheelwright (coachbuilder) with an individual structure . At the customer's request, Harold Radford Coachbuilders built a large tailgate with picnic utensils and fold-out seats into the production body . These models were called Countrymans .
A Silver Dawn with factory body and automatic transmission was tested in 1954 by the British magazine The Motor and it was found to have a top speed of 151 km / h and an acceleration of 0-100 km / h in 15.2 s. The fuel consumption was 18.3 l / 100 km. The test car cost £ 4,704 including tax.
literature
- David Culshaw, Peter Horrobin: The Complete Catalog of British Cars 1895-1975. Veloce Publishing plc., Dorchester 1997, ISBN 1874105936 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Bird, Anthony & Hallows, Ian: The Rolls-Royce Motor Car , Batsford Books (2002), ISBN 0713487496
- ^ A b c The Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn , The Motor, May 5, 1954
- ^ Sedgwick, Michael & Gillies, Mark: AZ of Cars 1945-1970 , Bay View Books (1986), ISBN 1870979397