West Coast Classics are proud to present an absolutely stunning and exceptionally rare example of this unrestored and fully documented 1961 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud II V8 4 door saloon, with only 2,417 of these hand built cars ever built and with only very few remaining! This particular example boasts only one southern California family ownership since 1972 when the car was imported from Switzerland having been sold originally when new in 1961 to it's original European owner in France. The car has it's original factory 'Shell Gray over Blue/Gray' two-tone factory color combination paint with matching 'Light Gray' Connolly leather hides and very rare dealer ordered options of:
Factory air conditioning,
'Sundym' reflective tinted glass,
Adjustable footrests fitted to the base of each rear seat,
'Cubby boxes' with sliding panels in each front door,
Combined direction indicators with side indicators (rare) and headlamp flashing switches,
Hand Brake Warning Light (rarely seen)
Rear Window De-mister,
Additional heater duct installed to provide additional heated air to the rear compartment with the original single heater replaced by two smaller matrices, one for the 'upper' and 'lower' systems with each system able to be operated independently,
Safety Belts,
Fog Lamps,
Driver & Passenger Outside Rear View Mirrors,
White sided tubeless tires and
Power windows.
Finished in its original and very striking factory special order color of 'Shell Gray over Blue/Gray' paint with factory painted pin striping and with its all original 'Light Gray' color Connolly hides showing superb maintenance and care from its long time owners with only very minimal and quite desirable patina for its age.
For those who are unfamiliar, the Bentley S2 and the Silver Cloud II were absolutely identical with both vehicles hand built at the Rolls Royce factory in Crewe, England with the only differences being their nameplates, radiator and mascots. The Silver Cloud II was introduced in 1959 and lasted until 1962. Little changed externally from the Silver Cloud I of of 1956-59 but it now had a much improved 6.2 L V8 engine, which pushed the weight to 2.11 tonnes. Performance was greatly improved and top speed was raised to 183 km/h (114 mph) yet the main improvements were in acceleration and torque. Power steering became standard. Electrically operated windows and air conditioning were now available as an option.
This particular original U.S specification example (Left Hand Drive Model) was originally sold in late 1961 to France and imported to the U.S. from Switzerland in 1972 for its original long time southern California owners of the Rolling Hills Estates, California who have owned the car until we recently purchased the car from their estate.
The car was factory ordered and optioned with rare upgrades including:
Cash Price of Car: $15,655
Electric Windows $220
'Sundym' Glass: $45
Air Conditioning: $795
Special Paint: $54.
The car still retains many original items including quite amazingly its rare all original Burlwood and it's original leather wrapped rear leaf springs and Connolly leather. The car has been maintained in recent years at the renown independent Rolls Royce & Bentley specialists 'Ronny's Garage, Inc' of Santa Ana, California and this family owned and cherished and obviously always garaged car has had no accidents and is a completely rust free example - the floor boards, trunk and all the typical rust-prone areas are completely solid and rust free!
The beautiful and highly desirable original factory special ordered paint color combination is in quite exceptional condition, especially considering it's age and the car has its original matching Rolls Royce hubcaps and a full 'Connolly' 'Light Gray' color leather interior. Connolly leather is legendary for being exclusively used in Rolls Royce and other high end British cars and came from unfenced cows which produced unblemished hides. The hides are in phenomenal condition throughout with only very minor patina for their age. All the chrome work including the front Rolls Royce grille and bumpers is in outstanding condition. The door panels, carpets, dashboard and the original mohair headliner remarkably show very little signs of any wear. The car has it's original spare wheel with original jack still located in their rightful place of storage in the trunk compartment. The car also boasts its original owners handbook with supplementary dealer added factory options descriptions, radio manual, delivery note, shipping order, factory toolkit, trunk carpet, and all it's original factory heavy tools; electric inspection lamp and charging plug, pressure gauge and tire pump, all unused and unlatched from their original trunk compartment location!
Obviously always garaged with no accidents or damage history and owned by only obviously one very careful family for almost 50 years - never abused! The car drives exactly like a well maintained and serviced Rolls Royce should and must be driven to be fully appreciated and seen to be believed!
The car boasts a thick file of service records from 'Ronny's Garage' showing that at no time was any expense spared on this particular car's preventive maintenance with recent and comprehensive service history including but not limited to the following;
Replacement or overhaul of the exhaust system, braking system including dual master cylinders, servos, brake cylinders & hoses, heating & cooling system including new demister heater/AC matrix box, heater valve & actuator, all heater hoses, evaporator & expansion valves, replace air conditioning drier & service AC system with added R12 freon, new tires, radiator recore, new summer thermostat, new heavy duty battery, transmission service, and with a full major service and tune up completed at 71,062 miles.
The car therefore drives like few other Cloud's - exactly as it is supposed to; the engine is extremely strong and purrs like a sewing machine, the transmission shifts smooth as silk with Rolls Royce's legendary almost imperceptible shift and the engine temperature always remains cool. The car drives straight as an arrow with no strange road wobbles, shakes or rattles and is a truly remarkable and responsive daily driver! The factory air conditioning blows cold air throughout the car and the power windows work smooth and fast. A truly remarkable example both mechanically and cosmetically.
This particular model truly must be driven and seen to be fully appreciated. For those who are unfamiliar, Rolls Royce no longer exists as it had for over one hundred years - this is one of the last in the original line of cars built in the legendary Rolls Royce factory in Crewe, England with a quality and craftsmanship that far surpasses that of today's mass produced models with many BMW parts - this is a rare opportunity to own a piece of automobile history, from a time when Rolls Royce was truly building the world's finest motor cars. This increasingly desirable and collectible Silver Cloud II, one of the most desired of the Silver Clouds by enthusiasts with the all aluminum 6.2L V8 engine and the single head lights - which of note, Rolls Royce purists were appalled with at the time when the later Silver Cloud III's transformation with the dubious redesigned front-end lower hood and radiator with quad front headlamps mounted in oval nacelles - considered a shocking violation of RR tradition - one magazine went so far as to refer to the quad lights as the equivalent to installing a jukebox in Winchester cathedral!
Along with it's tall grill and tall flying lady the Silver Cloud II is an absolute moving work of art from a time when Rolls-Royce and Bentley were arguably building the "Best Cars in the World" at the time of it's production; the craftsmanship and quality of these cars obviously speak for themselves and it is becoming increasingly hard to find any examples at all, let alone any such unabused and rust free unrestored stock examples - with only some 2,417 Silver Cloud II's built and very few remaining or available for sale you will surely look long and hard to find another in such fine condition. So bid with confidence, with Silver Cloud II drophead coupe convertibles now selling well in excess of $600K, this will no doubt prove a fabulous investment for the astute investor, Rolls Royce enthusiast or British Classic Car Collector or simply a great weekend toy for the discerning luxury classic car owner!
VIN: LSZD433
