1954 Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn

For sale by auction on Saturday 30 November 2013 with Historics at Brooklands. Brooklands Motor Racing Circuit. Weybridge. Surrey. Call 01753 639170
The Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn is a car that was produced by
Rolls-Royce at their Crewe works between 1949 and 1955. It was the
first Rolls-Royce car to be offered with a factory built body which
it shared. along with its chassis. with the Bentley Mk. VI until
1952 and then the Bentley R-Type until production finished in 1955.
The car was first introduced as an export only model. The left hand
drive models had a column gear shift. while right hand drives had a
floor gear shift by the door. Only with the R-Type based model was
it officially available on the home market. from October 1953. A
mere 760 were produced between 1949 and 1955. Earlier models up to
circa May 1954 had a different fascia (dashboard) from the Bentley
Mk. VI and R-Type. and were fitted with a single exhaust system. On
the standard steel cars throughout the production history. all the
body panels forward of the bulkhead/firewall were slightly
different to those fitted to the Bentley. The in-line six cylinder
engine had overhead inlet and side exhaust valves and had a
capacity of 4257cc until 1951 when it was enlarged to 4566cc. The
carburettor was a single downdraught Stromberg until 1952 when it
was replaced by a Zenith. The suspension was independent at the
front using coil springs; at the rear the live axle used half
elliptic leaf springs. The car had a separate chassis made with
traditional riveted construction until 1953 after which it was
welded. Servo assisted 12. 25 inch drum brakes were used. br/>hydraulically operated at the front but retaining mechanical
operation at the rear. Although many cars were fitted with factory
built bodies. others were supplied to external coachbuilders.

This highly desirable 'Big Boot' Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn with
automatic transmission. 4½ litre engine and rare bench front
seat was originally supplied to Mr. W. B. Gardner-Henderson from
Dunbartonshire on 8th March 1954. The chassis cards show
subsequently that the next three owners were all titled gentlemen
and at some point after the last recorded owner. the Silver Dawn
was exported to the USA. Little is known of its history while in
the US except that it ended up on a private estate where it
languished. unused. for more than twenty years until being returned
to the UK in January 2010. Since then this Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn
has been the subject of a full cosmetic restoration and repainted
in the original colour of Masons Black. with new beige leather
interior. the woodwork re-varnished and the chromework restored.
This car has been registered with its original registration number
and is supplied with a V5C registration document and copies of the
chassis cards as supplied by the RREC. Silver Dawns with this
specification rarely come on the market and always command top
prices when they do; this could prove an excellent investment for
the future.

Also published at eBay.co.uk

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