The Rolls Royce Silver Dawn made its first appearance in 1949 and was built primarily for export. However, this restriction was lifted later on as large number of this model were built with left hand drive so that the customers in the home market could also get an access to this model. A total of 761 units were manufactured from 1949 to 1955.
The 1951 Silver Dawn had an engine capacity 4,566 cc liters. The car was also popularly known as the ‘Big Bore-Small Boot’. The weight of the 120 inch wheelbase was around 4,145 pounds. The public acceptance and demand for this model drove the Rolls Royce to increase the volume and decide to manufacture the entire car and not just the coachwork.
Although the company was apprehensive about the non- coachbuilt cars, the Silver Dawn really managed to make an impression among the customers. The demand was really high in America where the first cars with straight six 4,257cc engine were exported. In 1953 the car also became available in the UK thus creating a new market.
These cars had a bigger bore engine, big boot coachwork and were also available in automatic transmission. The present owner acquired the car in 2001 and made way for the ground up restoration. The BMW Euro 2003 also saw the car win the Corporate Pick and Best Restoration award in its class.
The Silver dawn is excellently designed and with best quality of manufacture and finish it surely is a connoisseur’s delight.
