Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith

The Silver Wraith was the first post-war Rolls-Royce model and was made at the Crewe factory from 1946 to 1959.

The first cars had a 127 inch wheelbase chassis based on the one from the pre-war Wraith with coil sprung independent front suspension and semi elliptic rear with a live axle. The engine was also based on the Wraith but had a new cylinder head with overhead inlet valves and side exhaust valves and initially a capacity of 4257 cc. From 1951 this was increased to 4566 cc and in 1954 to 4887 cc on the long wheelbase models. The braking system was a hybrid hydromechanical system with hydraulic front brakes and mechanical rears using the mechanical servo from the pre-war cars.

The long, 133 inch, wheelbase chassis was announced in 1951 and 639 were made until 1959. The last short wheelbase cars were made in 1953.

Initially only a four speed manual gearbox was offered but this was suplemented by a General Motors automatic option from 1952.

None of the cars carried factory bodies, all chassis going to independent coachbuilders.

Reliability

 * RECALL ALERT: On Nov. 11, 2008, Bentley issued a recall affecting all US-market Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II, Silver Wraith II, Corniche, Silver Spirit and Silver Spurs, which was all built during Rolls-Royce's 67-year ownership of Bentley and, therefore, shared lots of componentry, due to a defective hose assembly which could lead to a fuel leak. Concerned owners can contact 1-617-488-8500 for more information.