380 Rolls Royce Silver Wraith (1953) NXY 4 by Robert Knight Via Flickr: Rolls Royce Silver Wraith (1946-58) Engine 4566c S6 IOE Production 1144 (all bodies) Body H J Mulliner Registration Number NXY 4 (London) ROLLS ROYCE ALBUM www.flickr.com/photos/45676495@N05/sets/72157623690651737... The Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith was the first post-war Rolls-Royce. It was made from 1946 to 1958 as only a chassis at the company's Crewe factory, its former Merlin engine plant, alongside the shorter Bentley Mark VI. The Bentley was also available as a chassis for coachbuilders, but for the first time could be bought with a Rolls-Royce built Standard Steel body. The use of the name Wraith coincided with the established tradition of naming models after ghosts The straight six-cylinder post-war engine, which had been briefly made for the aborted by war Bentley Mark V, replaced conventional overhead valve gear with an F-head configuration of overhead inlet valves and side exhaust valves and reshaped combustion chambers. There were new main and big-end bearings and a more efficient drive to the timing gear. Rolls-Royce added chromed bores. Initially, this engine retained the Mark V's capacity of 4,257 cc, increased in 1951 to 4,566 cc and from 1955, after the introduction of the (standard wheelbase) Silver Cloud, to 4,887 cc The first cars had an entirely new and more rigid chassis. It matched the new Bentley chassis but with an extra 7 inch section added to the centre. The new chassis had coil sprung independent front suspension, which required a very rigid chassis to function properly, and at the rear conventional semi-elliptic springs and live axle. The braking system was a hydro-mechanical hybrid of hydraulic fronts and mechanical rears using the mechanical servo similar to that of the pre-war cars. The last short-wheelbase cars were delivered in November 1953. The long, 133 inch (3378 mm), wheelbase chassis was announced in 1951 and the first delivered in January 1952. 639 were made by the time of the last deliveries in October 1958. From 1949 until 1955 customers wishing to buy a Rolls-Royce fitted with a much smaller standard steel body could purchase the Silver Dawn. It rode on a chassis seven inches shorter than the Silver Wraith, and was almost identical to Rolls-Royce's Bentley Standard Steel saloon available alongside the Silver Wraith since July 1946. Diolch am 99,288,065 o olygiadau gwych, mae pob un ohonynt yn cael eu gwerthfawrogi'n fawr. Thanks for 99,288,065 amazing views, every one is greatly appreciated. Shot 09.10.2022, at Bicester Heritage, Autumn Scramble, Bicester Aerodrome, Bicester, Oxon 166-380