Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud y Silver Wraith: libros - historia, modelos y técnica

The Rolls-Royce company acquired Bentley Motors in 1931 and, although models continued to be produced with the Bentley name, they increasingly used many Rolls-Royce components. By the time the Silver Cloud and Bentley S were released in 1955, they were really differently badged versions of the same design. Yet the sporting tradition of the Bentley marque was upheld with the exotic Continental models that were derived from them.

The Silver Cloud family represents a pinnacle for the Rolls-Royce company. The cars all had and still have a very special presence, and the standard saloons have an unsurpassed elegance and rightness of line. The special-bodied cars, meanwhile, are reminders of an age when the skill of the best coachbuilders was something deserving of universal admiration.

With around 190 photographs, this book features:
- The story of the design and development of the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud and Bentley S Type;
- A look at the production development of these cars between 1955 and 1965;
- An examination of the Bentley Continental models that were derived from Silver Cloud and S Type design;
- The history of the Phantom V and Phantom VI limousine chassis introduced in 1959 and destined to last until 1990;
- Full technical specifications, including paint and interior trim choices;
- Production figures and chassis codes
- and finally, a chapter on buying and owning one of these wonderful classic cars.

Un livre de Brooklands consacré aux voitures Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud et Bentley S-Series. Description des modèles Silver Cloud, S-Series, Continental, Limousine, Silver Cloud II, III, S2 et S2 LWB.

• Les articles, parus à l'époque dans la presse automobile anglo-saxonne, sont une bonne source d'information sur l'histoire, l'évolution des modèles et la technique.
• Cet ouvrage contient aussi des impressions de conduite, des tests routiers et comparatifs, des données techniques, etc.

The Bentley Mk VI, introduced in 1946, fairly bristled with new ideas and marked a bold change of direction. The most radical departure from pre-war practice was the fact that the Mk VI could be bought with a standard body. Other major new features were the engine, cruciform chassis and hydraulically operated front brakes.

However, none of this indicates the true historical importance of the Mk VI or why the model is at the heart of this book-quite simply the Mk VI's design was the well-spring from which all the mainstream Rolls-Royce and Bentley models flowed until the advent of the Silver Shadow and Bentley T-Series in 1965.

Here is the complete story of the Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith, Silver Dawn and Silver Cloud and the Bentley Mk VI, R-Type and S-Type. Covering concept, design and development, production, promotion, publicity and the coachbuilt cars.
There is also helpful practical advice on buying and running these cars today, together with appendices of chassis number sequences and dates, build numbers and modifications and development by chassis number.

This book is a celebration, in its 70th Anniversary year, of the first Rolls-Royce motor car to emerge after World War II, the Silver Wraith.
Excluding experimental cars, the total production of that model, spanning just over a decade, amounted to 1,883 cars, no two of which were exactly alike. These are precious reminders of a past in which bespoke, hand-built motor cars of their type were once made.

All Silver Wraiths followed the pre-war practice of having custom bodies from such coachbuilders as H.J. Mulliner, Hooper and James Young. Comprehensive histories of these and other coachbuilders are included and every Silver Wraith built is listed in detail in a comprehensive table.

Rolls-Royce and Bentley relied upon standardised body designs after 1945, but for the next two decades both marques also supplied chassis frames separately, and it was possible to have these clothed with coachwork by bespoke coachbuilders like, for example, Mulliner, Park Ward and James Young in Britain, or Graber, Farina and Franay in Europe.

Many buyers took this route, and this highly illustrated book bears witness to the wide variety of styles that were built in this fascinating period.
Chassis number lists for each coachbuilder, both in Britain and overseas, identify their creations, to make this a comprehensive and essential companion for anyone interested in Rolls-Royce and Bentley in the post-war era.