Among Kent coachbuilder James Young’s most attractive and successful designs on the long-wheelbase Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I chassis, style number SCT12 was a four-door saloon with handsome, well-proportioned flowing lines and a glassy roofline with narrow window pillars, giving it a rather airy and sporting appearance unusual for a formal saloon of this era. Most often specified with an electric division window, allowing for occasional use as a chauffeured limousine, 17 copies were built in the single year that the design was produced.

The car offered here, chassis number CLC14, was outfitted with all the most modern accessories, including power steering, a high-frequency horn, and Le Mans driving lights, and features an elegant interior with both the division window and folding picnic tables in the rear compartment. Its build sheet indicates that it was ordered for the famed Swiss importer Garage de l’Athénée’s stand at the 1959 Geneva Motor Show, after which it was delivered to its original owner, one Henry Robertson. The car had subsequently been acquired by 1977 by James Nicholson of Pennsylvania, who, following relocation to Maryland, advertised it for sale in The Flying Lady a decade later.

Bernard King notes, in his caption for this car on page 86 of Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I & Bentley S1, that the car was “last recorded when with Albert Kimmel in Sacramento, California, during 1991; the car has not been reported since then.” Indeed, it is believed to have joined the present collection around this time, and has been tucked away since, largely unshown but well-preserved. It is believed to have been restored for Mr. Kimmel or after his ownership, with trunk-mounted air conditioning having been fitted. The paintwork is still in very good condition throughout aside from a few small scuffs, and the interior shows light cracking and wrinkling from occasional use; the engine compartment is still highly presentable.

At the time of cataloguing, the car had recorded 15,373 miles. James Young’s original body number tag is still in place, and the correct chassis number stamping can still be found on the frame rail. Accompanying the car is a small history file, a partially complete set of hand tools, and the jack and spare, as well as both cigarette lighters.

Custom coachwork on the Silver Cloud I is always rare, this particular design especially so. Chassis number CLC14 possesses wonderful history and boasts excellent promise as a comfortable touring automobile for a new caretaker, offering wonderful, subtle elegance and style.