Est.

200 bhp, 6,320 cc OHV aluminium V-8 engine, four-speed automatic transmission, coil-spring independent front suspension, live rear axle with semi-elliptical leaf springs, and four-wheel power-assisted hydraulic drum brakes.

Wheelbase: 3,124 mm The Silver Cloud was introduced in April 1955, and it represented a watershed moment for Rolls-Royce, whose cars had been delivered in bare chassis form to have coachwork fitted by outside coachbuilders.

Times were changing, however, and the sun was setting on the coachbuilt luxury car business, particularly in material-starved and overtaxed austere post-war Britain.

Additionally, increasingly streamlined automobile styles did not lend themselves to individual bespoke bodies, particularly when they had to include the manufacturer’s own front-end styling.

Bentley had offered an in-house “Standard Steel” saloon body from 1946, known as the Mark VI, which had been well received.

In fact, the Standard Steel body had also been available as ...