The Rolls Royce Silver Cloud of the sixties is traditionally elegant with flowing lines and a long bonnet, Rolls Royce hire does not get any better than the Rolls Royce Silver Cloud, it is a car that turns heads and causes all eyes to follow it as it glides past.
The Rolls Royce Silver Cloud was one of the first models to be bodied by the factory, prior to that, the cars from Crewe had been coachbuilt exclusively to customers’ individual tastes. It first appeared in 1955, and was a successful restyling exercise of the 1949 Silver Dawn.
After the Second World War, Rolls Royce identified that a more modern view was needed, providing production assembled cars for new clients who might very well be owners who want to drive the Rolls Royce rather than leave it all to a chauffeur.
The Rolls Royce Silver Cloud is powered by an enlarged 4.9-litre version of the Rolls-Royce straight six engine, making it the largest petrol engine of that kind in any car in the world at the time. Luxuriously equipped, and with a rear seat that was 54in wide, this was splendid transport for up to five persons. It was roomier, quieter and faster than the model it replaced. All Silver Clouds had the General Motors-type Hydramatic automatic gearbox with powered-assisted steering.
Although on paper there is nothing that remarkable in the specification of the Silver Cloud which might set it apart from several other vehicles of the mid-1950s, this car was designed, built and fitted out to the highest quality attainable at the time. It may not be the cheapest car to run but it has a certain timeless dignity.
With Rolls Royce hire there is a special feeling of pampered comfort and all-round wellbeing, this was a car of the highest quality in its day. While some models from the 1930s, usually designed for chauffeurs to drive, can be hard work for the owner/driver today, the Silver Cloud offers the driver, as well as the passengers, that sense of effortless superiority expected of a Rolls-Royce. Despite being a very large car that is 50 years old, the Silver Cloud is comfortable cruising at a little over 80mph, and will exceed 100mph.
On rough roads, the occupants will be aware of the traditional live axle arrangement at the rear, but this is a quiet, dignified machine which handles safely. The power-assisted drum brakes, considered outstanding in the 1950s, are sufficiently confidence-inspiring even now. Modern cars obviously outperform a Silver Cloud in every way today, but there is a certain sense of majesty which the Silver Cloud shares with its driver.
The Rolls Royce Silver Cloud remains an epitome of elegance and smartness, one of the greatest and most timeless of all Rolls Royce’s, it pampers its occupants while broadcasting to the world outside that they are people of status, style, affluence and influence.
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