1949 Rolls Royce Silver Wraith Park Ward

In post-war austerity Britain of 1949 a new Rolls-Royce motor car was rare indeed. Most of Rolls-Royce's Crewe production at that time was of Bentley MKV1 models with in-house standard steel bodywork.

Rolls-Royce Silver Wraiths were for the very rich, famous or Royalty and were supplied as chassis only. They were built at Crewe between 1946 and 1959 and in the early days supply was very limited. The specialist Coachbuilder of this particular example was Park Ward.

What is unusual about this car is the amazing level of originality. Rolls Royce confirm that a new engine with full-flow filtration was fitted in 1963 and the car has completed only 37,250 miles since then. In an interesting twist, it was part of a collection owned by Austin-Rover and Ford Dealer Longs of Crowle. Our managing Director Nick Szkiler visited them regularly as Austin-Rover's manager in the early 1980s and the secretive owner had a reputation for finding specimen examples of fine cars for his private collection. Now 61 years old, the car is not without the odd minor blemish, but is a jewel of a car, with the smell, patina and charm only a truly original, well-kept example ever has.

Absolutely unrepeatable.