Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith

Rolls Royce
	Silver Wraith with a closed structure of Hooper Coachworks
Silver Wraith
Production period:	1946-1959
Class :	Upper class
Body versions :	Limousine , coupe , Pullman limousine , convertible , landaulet
Engines:	; Petrol engines : 4.3–4.9 liters
Length:	5232-5359 mm
Width:	1854-1956 mm
Height:	1778 mm
Wheelbase :	3226-3378 mm
Empty weight :	1812-2084 kg
Previous model	Rolls-Royce Wraith ; Rolls-Royce Phantom III

The Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith (German: Silver Ghost ) was the first passenger car that Rolls-Royce redesigned after the Second World War . It was built in the Crewe factory from 1946 to 1959.

technology

The first cars had a chassis ( ladder frame with cross bracing) with a 3226 mm wheelbase, which was based on that of the predecessor Wraith , with coil-sprung front wheels , individually suspended from double wishbones and longitudinal leaf springs on the rear, driven rigid axle. The newly designed engine with counter-controlled valves ( inlet over exhaust ; inlet valve hanging, outlet standing on the side) initially had a displacement of 4257 cm³; In 1951 it rose to 4566 cm³ and in 1955 to 4887 cm³ for the long wheelbase models. The braking system was partially hydraulic: the front brakes were operated hydraulically, the rear brakes mechanically, whereby the braking force, as with the pre-war cars, was mechanically increased, a system that Rolls-Royce had taken over under license from Hispano-Suiza .

The chassis with the long wheelbase (3378 mm) was announced in 1951 and a total of 639 were produced by 1959. The last cars with a short wheelbase were built in 1953. A total of 1883 examples were produced in 13 years.

Initially there was only a manual four-speed transmission, but from 1952 an automatic transmission from General Motors was offered as an option.

Bodies

The Silver Wraith was the last Rolls-Royce to be available with a variety of different bodies made by independent body manufacturers. James Young , Hooper , Freestone & Webb and HJ Mulliner & Co. offered numerous bodies, some of which were standardized, but some were also designed individually according to customer requirements. Among other things, bodies in the Empress style, popular at the time, came from Hooper . For the North American market, the New York company Inskip manufactured a series of strikingly designed bodies. Nordberg in Sweden built a single piece with a notchback body . The number of these coachbuilders steadily decreased in the period after the Second World War.

Use as a state car

Irish President's State Coach - Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith (1947)

State coach of the Brazilian President - Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith (1952)

Ceremonial state car of the Danish royal family "Store Krone" (German: Big Crown) - Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith (1958)

In film and television

gallery

Rear view of the Hooper sedan
State car of the Brazilian President at the inauguration
The “Store Krone” in the streets of Roskilde
Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith Cabriolet (1948) built by the French coachbuilder Franay
Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith with Inskip body (1947)