In historical terms, this vehicle was made available to Queen Elizabeth II, when she made her first visit to Sydney, Australia. The Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn is a luxury car that was produced by the brand, in its factory in Crewe, between 1949 and 1955. It was the first Rolls-Royce car to be presented with a factory-built body, which it shared, along with the chassis, with the Bentley Mark VI, until 1952, and then with the Bentley R Type, until the end of production, in 1955. The car was first introduced as an export-only model. Manual transmission models, with left-hand drive, gear changes in the column, while right-hand drive models had floor changes through the door. In the British domestic market, the Silver Dawn only became available from October 1953 with the introduction of the model corresponding to the Bentley R Type. In 1944, W.A. Robotham realized that there would be limited post-war demand for Rolls-Royce or Bentley chassis to be fitted with bodies from specialist coachbuilders and negotiated a contract with the Pressed Steel Company for a general purpose, to carry four people in comfort, equipped, as always, with a distinctive Rolls-Royce or Bentley radiator. Although demand increased to 2,000 per year, Pressed Steel was not satisfied. In 1951, the Silver Dawn was upgraded to the 4 ½ L engine and full flow oil filter. In 1953, the high compression cylinder head was installed with chassis number SMF66 and the same chassis number on the camshaft, type Bentley Mk VI, was installed on left-hand drive vehicles. Earlier models, up until about May 1954, had a different front dashboard to the Bentley Mk.VI and the 'R' type, and were fitted with a single exhaust system. Later models of the SRH2 chassis series had a Bentley-style dashboard and dual exhaust system, as fitted to the Bentley 'R' Type. The six-cylinder in-line engine had an overhead intake, side exhaust valves and a capacity of 4,257 cc until 1951, when it was enlarged to 4,566 cc. A 4-speed manual gearbox was fitted to all cars initially, with a 4-speed automatic gearbox, becoming an option in late 1952 on the 'E' Series chassis and the corresponding Bentley R Type chassis. The front suspension was independent, with coil springs, while at the rear the live axle used semi-elliptical springs. The car had a separate chassis, made using traditional, riveted construction until 1953, after which it was welded. 311 mm servo-assisted drum brakes were used, hydraulically operated at the front but retaining mechanical operation at the rear. Although many cars were fitted with factory bodies, others were supplied to outside body builders. A Silver Dawn with a factory body and automatic transmission was tested by The Motor magazine in 1954, had a top speed of 151.3 km/h and could accelerate from 0-97 km/h in 15.2 seconds.
Datasheet Year: 1951 Brand: Rolls-Royce Model: Silver Dawn Country: England Number plate: MA-26-02 Engine: 4,257 cc Gearbox: 4