In 1955, the long-awaited new Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud (known in retrospect as the Silver Cloud I) was introduced and was immediately enthusiastically accepted by eager customers. Vastly different from the former Silver Dawn and R-Type, it was beautifully proportioned and of much more modern but still dignified lines, and it featured a well-built, reliable, and high-quality automatic transmission as standard equipment. Under the hood was the last usage of the reliable inline six-cylinder engine, a Rolls-Royce standard derived from the original 40/50HP Silver Ghost of 1907 and still unbeatable for silky-smooth power and engineering excellence.

While a Silver Cloud I is not a challenging automobile to find, it is rare to find one that has been well maintained for its entire life and restored to an extremely high modern show standard. The car offered here is one very happy exception.

Chassis number LSKG39 is an original left-hand-drive example, built for export to the United States with the rare options of factory air conditioning and power windows, both of which remain fully operable today. It was sold on April 27, 1959, for $8,600 to Irene Springer of Stone Harbor, New Jersey. Documents on file show that it next passed in June of 1983 to William Traylor of Birmingham, Michigan, from whom the present owner, its third since new, purchased it in 1985.

A longtime Rolls-Royce enthusiast known for the detailed and exquisite care given his automobiles, the owner selected one of the country’s top coachbuilders, Mark Schlachter of MetalKraft CoachWerkes of Cincinnati, for a complete 1½-year restoration of the body, undercarriage, interior, and engine bay, to bring the car to its present concours-quality condition. All chrome was refinished, and new rubber and a “new old stock” windscreen and backlight were utilized.

The completed car proceeded to win Best in Class honors at several Rolls-Royce Owners Club meets, as well as at several concours d’elegance, including Amelia Island, cementing its reputation as one of the finest in existence. Scrupulously maintained and remaining visually stunning today, it is finished in an original factory Shell Gray and Claret two-tone paint scheme, while its color-coordinated interior features gleaming original burled walnut veneers and a custom matching burled walnut steering wheel by Rau Restorations of Los Angeles. All-new Connolly leather hides, wool headliner, and Wilton 1 carpet were utilized, with black square-weave carpeting for the boot. Mechanically fine as well, it is eminently usable and showable and is accompanied by Rolls-Royce Foundation documentation of its original build specifications, as well as later ownership history and its original tool kit and boot tools.

Easily one of the finest examples of the Silver Cloud I Saloon that RM Sotheby’s has ever had the pleasure of offering, this is a car that would be at home in the finest Rolls-Royce collection, symbolizing a model of great importance to the company’s history.