We test what is surely one of the most original examples of the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud still around to discover how it helped to usher in a new era of owner-driver
Words: Sam Skelton Images: Paul Wager
Tony Bennett. John Lennon. Elvis Presley. Frank Sinatra. These are just some of the names to whom Rolls-Royce dealers issued invoices for Silver Clouds. By the end of production in 1965, the Silver Cloud III’s £5500 list price would have bought you a seven-bedroom house, or ten Minis with almost change for an eleventh. By no standards was this a cheap car, and yet its clientele were changing. In a gradually easing social environment, the Silver Cloud had begun to appeal to the self-made owner-driver. And its replacement, the Silver Shadow, was deliberately tailored towards this market, with its relatively low-slung styling and monocoque construction being the height of modernity by Rolls-Royce standards. The Silver Cloud would therefore be the company’s final separate-chassis saloon, and thus the last to offer significant appeal for coachbuilders.
The Silver Cloud marked the end of an era for Rolls-Royce, a car unashamedly aimed at the company’s traditional customer base. Designed for the well-heeled to enjoy with the assistance of a chauffeur, it was conservative in design and appealed to the ‘better classes’. The royal family’s recent shift of allegiance from Daimler to Rolls-Royce certainly helped what was already a buoyant image, and the car was well received when new.
But beyond the pomp and ceremony, what was the Silver Cloud like? What exactly were the qualities of this patrician delight, the factors which ensured that it wasn’t left behind in a changing world? And why, despite its inevitable appeal to the traditional chauffeur-driven market, did owner-driver buyers also take to the Silver Cloud in their droves?
To find out, we borrowed this six-cylinder Silver Cloud from Snettisham-based classic car specialist, Kim Cairns. It’s a relatively late example, registered in 1958 to W.A. Sutton of Rainhill, Lancashire, whose family kept the car for an impressive 62 years. Parked up in 1987 in a dry warehouse, it was returned to the road for a family wedding in 1997 before going back into long-term storage once again. It’s covered just 35,000 miles from new and has never been subject to a restoration in the accepted sense. It even retains its original toolkit, torch and jack alongside the unused spare wheel in the boot.
When the car was recommissioned by its second owner in 2020, it needed no paintwork attention; nor did it require any major leather restoration or polishing of the wood. Everything was in perfect and untouched condition from the factory – it simply needed a thorough clean, and that’s what it was given. Days of cleaning and meticulous hand-polishing restored a shine to the original paint, and a thorough feed saw the leather as good as new. In deference to its thirty years off the road, the Silver Cloud was also treated to a thorough mechanical service, including the replacement of any rubber componentry that may have perished, including brake hoses and coolant hoses as well as the tyres. The brakes were also thoroughly overhauled, with new shoes and cylinders all round. In short, it’s as close to a new and unrestored Silver Cloud as it’s possible to get, making it the ideal car to assess.
Reading through its paperwork is like a passport to another age, when the chauffeur-driven market was still of major importance to Rolls-Royce. A purchase order for works completed states: “We beg to advise you that your driver has instructed us to carry out the work shown hereunder, which is a copy of the order signed by him on your behalf, and which we presume is in accordance with your wishes”. The delivery receipt states that the car was delivered to a representative of the supplying dealer chain, W. Watson and Co of Liverpool.
A note in the owner’s handbook advises of seven coachbuilders, the services of whom Rolls-Royce customers may wish to engage. But of course, this particular Silver Cloud is of the ‘Standard Steel’ variety, complete with factory-supplied (but Pressed Steel-built) coachwork that represented the model in its purest Crewe-assembled form. As with its Silver Dawn (and Bentley MkVI) predecessor, Rolls-Royce was embracing the practice of supplying complete cars rather than rolling chassis, and was reaping the rewards via increased sales.
Finished in Sage Green over Smoke Green with complementary green leather trim, 707 ETB both looks and smells the part. Before climbing behind the wheel, we try out the rear quarters, where beautiful marquetry and rich leather abound. Your feet sink into the softest lambswool rugs. There’s ample space for the tall, in seats shaped more like the perfect sofa than anything else. If we had a criticism, it would be that the rear door apertures are perhaps a shade too small to permit graceful egress – a problem Rolls-Royce was happy to solve with its long wheelbase variant, and one which was unlikely to perturb the sort of owner-driver to whom the Silver Cloud was becoming increasingly appealing.
Slide into the front and there’s more of the same – beautiful woodwork to the dash, and soft leather to your posterior. The only differences are the view and the amount of effort you need to put in during your journey. If you’re more interested in the car than in the contents of the FT, it’s easy to see why this is the more desirable seat. There are few bonnet views better – it’s almost a perfect study of linear perspective toward a radiator grille that dominates from any angle, drawing your eyes forward to the wings of Spirit of Ecstasy. The peak of the grille showing above the bonnet line jars slightly, but if that’s a problem there’s always the equivalent Bentley S-series with its lower, more rounded facade.
Put the ignition key into the centre of the dash, turn it, and the near-silent 4.9-litre straight-six hums into life. You’ll find the gear selector to the right of the steering column. Knock it down from Neutral into 4, release the parking brake, and you embark upon an experience calculated to make you feel special.
There’s a sense of majesty to a good Silver Cloud or Bentley S-series. The size imbues a sense of weight to it, and yet the car never feels cumbersome in the way that a lower model of similar proportions might – say, the ‘spiv’s Bentley’ that is the Jaguar MkX. As you guide the prow forwards, aiming through the sights created by Ecstatic wings, you begin to relax and feel any stress melt away. Life is good, and this is exactly the sort of car you could drive until you ran out of land, assuming you could afford the circa-12mpg thirst. The Silver Cloud isn’t a fast car, though 0-60mph in around twelve seconds was respectable enough in 1958, and at anything up to the legal limit it feels composed and comfortable. The power output was never quoted, Rolls-Royce inevitably preferring the somewhat evasive “adequate” when asked, but it certainly feels up to the job.
Intriguingly, Rolls-Royce published a brochure in 1964 written by racing driver Tony Brooks, documenting his experiences of driving the Silver Cloud from Cap Ferrat to Le Touquet, flat-out up part of the Monte Carlo Rally route, and some hard testing at the Goodwood circuit in Sussex. His sole complaint was that he needed to cross his arms to make progress through the Goodwood chicane. Meanwhile, his summary was high praise indeed: “As a big, luxurious car that can nevertheless be driven in a highly sporting manner, there is nothing quite like it.”
We wouldn’t want to throw the Silver Cloud into a corner given that few have the requisite skills of a racing driver, but it certainly handles with more prowess than you might reasonably expect. Not that we’d make a habit of pushing the Silver Cloud hard; it’s unseemly to make a car like this lurch and lean, as indeed it would given the compliance of its suspension and its overall weight. Moreover, the steering wheel is far too large for such undignified antics to be carried out in comfort. Better to rest your arm atop the door on the finely polished walnut, settle back and enjoy the silence.
Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud: our verdict
So many classic car buyers today overlook the Silver Cloud in favour of its newer siblings, under the illusion that it’s the last model from an old era in which cars with pomp and ceremony were so hard to drive that they required a chauffeur. This in turn means they’re perhaps less valued than they should be outside the confines of the Rolls-Royce and Bentley enthusiast communities. It’s still just about possible to buy one (particularly at auction) at a suprisingly low price.
And then, of course there’s the Silver Cloud’s other advantage: not only is it a more driveable car than you might expect, to me it also feels far more special than any Silver Spirit or Silver Shadow. That high driving position with those soft, deep seats, the way other drivers show deference on the road, the smell… everything conspires to make the Silver Cloud one of the most compelling modes of transport in history. The one disappointment for the owner-driver is that every journey feels far too short.
