1956 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I

“This is a 1956 Cloud I, which is early-on in production and in survival terms you don’t see that many 56 plates these days. I [think] this one was a March 1956,  and that there were only 2,238 of this generation produced between 1955 to 1958.” the seller says.

Our in-house rating of this beauty is nine out of ten for condition - and this apparently from a man not known for being overly lenient – this 1956 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud represents an awful lot of car for the money.

With just 61,000 miles on the odometer, the seller has invested pretty much the same amount in pound notes since buying it in 2018 - and he paid that £60,000 in the knowledge he would see only a fraction of it coming his way when the time came to let it go.

He’s a bit of a romantic, you see (heh, he runs a wedding car hire business, of course he is) and while he admits “I really should have scrapped the car” he was determined that money wasn’t going to be the obstacle that prevented ‘JFO 290’ from looking its best.

As you can see, the two-year restoration was worth every penny because he’s done a stunning job, returning it to its factory colours in the process. 

All of which means if you’re in the market for a Silver Cloud, we think you can call off the search because we doubt you’ll find a better example on sale today.

The Shell Grey over Black Pearl colour scheme not only looks magnificent, it is also the very colour scheme it left Crewe in, as the build sheets in the history file confirm.

Subtle and elegant, the two-tone pattern shows off those feline curves to great effect, doesn’t it? 

Of course, the quality of the paint - and even the car’s profile - means little if it had been applied to second-rate panels but there’s nothing to worry about here because they all align beautifully with good shutlines.

Peering down the sides shows nothing there to worry about there, either; while some carelessly maintained cars will have ripples and dinks along their flanks, these are excellent.

The chromework is very good too, with a bright shine and a deep lustre to it. 

The imposing radiator grille, which is such an important part of the car’s appeal, is also excellent, and while some might not appreciate the Spirit of Ecstasy’s gold colour, there’s no doubting her condition.

Nor that of the lamp lenses and badges, all of which are good.

And the Silver Cloud withstands close scrutiny, too because the owner chose to sub-contract the niche work such as applying the hand-painted pinstripes on the car’s sides and hubcaps to an expert. 

Of course, he chose to have them re-done in the same colour the factory did them back in 1956 and the subtle red lines add a understated flash of colour to an otherwise restrained colour scheme. 

The 15-inch steel wheels are hidden behind huge chrome hubcaps but that’s okay because the covers are in a great condition and as well-presented as the rest of the chromework.

The wheels are shod with matching Cooper LifeLiner Classic white-wall tyres, all of which have still got a good amount of tread left on them.

We will never get tired of telling you that experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but it does perhaps give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

The windscreen and window glass is undamaged too, and the overall presentation is excellent; we can see why our assessor gave it such a strong rating.

The maroon cloth interior looks magnificent, doesn’t it? 

And that cloth interior is how it should be; leather is a relatively new thing in the luxury car world and was originally used only for the chauffeur’s seat as the poor chap was usually sitting out in the open and hide stood up to rain and adverse weather better than anything else.

Those inside, the people who had the money to buy and run the car, sat on cloth; Alan Clark, who was a despicable man in his personal life but knew his stuff when it came to cars, always eschewed leather in his Bentleys.

Which is a long-winded way of saying don’t regret the fact you won’t be sitting on a dead cow; rejoice instead that you’ve joined the (presumably Old Money) previous owner who had it re-trimmed and revel in seats that are both warmer and grippier than the inferior material the first owner chose.

Pontification aside, its condition is excellent and the plush texture of the seats and door cards makes a great contrast with the polished  warmth of the walnut veneer, the cosiness of the thick wool carpets, and the cool feel of the chrome controls and handles; the Silver Cloud is a very tactile car and nowhere is this more obvious than the materials used in its construction.

The seats are as wonderfully over-stuffed as a country house sofa, and the plumpness of the door-mounted armrests and the padded curves of the rear seat add more layers to the luxury the occupants enjoy.

Nor does it end there because there are also footrests for the rear-seat passengers, plus walnut picnic tables, brocade trim, and two elegant mirrors set inside walnut frames. 

There is a little work to do, but only a little. The walnut veneer at both ends of the dashboard is cracked but that’s the only problem we are aware of.

As you can see, the 4.9-litre, six-cylinder engine rumbles into life without effort and settles into a suitably muted tickover. It shows a good charge to the battery too, and revs as it should. 

It’s also been discreetly upgraded with an electronic ignition system to help both reliability and economy. Unleaded valves too, as part of the rebuild of the cylinder head.

Of course, as a wedding car, dependability is everything and the seller tells us it “has been a very reliable car” that “pulls like a train”.

And it is a proper driver’s car; as Stirling Moss himself wrote of the Silver Cloud’s automatic gearbox when he tested one: "For although I am a racing driver, and my bread and butter largely depends on the speed with which I change the gears on my Grand Prix cars, I want nothing of it when it comes to ordinary driving."

The centre-hinged bonnet opens to reveal an engine bay that is clean without being prissy, which is a perfect state of affairs because it’s good enough to show off without being so pristine you’ll feel the need to spend hours cleaning it after every run. 

As for things you might like to sort out, top of the list must surely be the bright-red windscreen washer pump – but that this is at the top of the list shows that there really isn’t much to worry about.

The underside is good and has been well protected by a coat of underseal.

Please set aside plenty of time to go through the dozens of invoices that are on file in order to fully appreciate the lengths the seller went to to bring it up to the condition you see here.

He’s totted it up and came up with a figure of £60,000 and judging by the car’s condition – and the amount of ink invested in printing out the bills – we suspect he’s accurate.

There are plenty of older invoices from previous owners plus the handbook, brochure, build record and even the original bill of sale.

Despite not needing one by virtue of its age, the Silver Cloud is in possession of an MoT that doesn’t expire until November 2024.

A car of this era reminds of just how far we’ve fallen; at a time when people buy their cars on a PCP and spend less time choosing their family wheels than they do their washing machine, a Silver Cloud harks back to a gentler time, a time when every car looked unique, and manufacturers took a pride in how they engineered and assembled them.

Mind you, in the case of the Silver Cloud, that attention to detail would have set you back a little over £5,000, which is the equivalent of more than £100,000 now; these were exquisitely engineered cars that sold only to the very wealthy. Folk like Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley and Elizabeth Taylor, all of whom owned one.

How times have changed; while a new Rolls-Royce will now set you back a minimum of a quarter of a million pounds and leave you with a nagging sensation you’ve paid a premium for nothing but the name, a car like this could be yours for between £25,000 and £35,000.

That’s astonishing value, isn’t it? 

PS. We don’t want to upset the seller by pointing out our estimate represents only half the amount he invested in restoring it, so can we keep that between us?

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at the Bonhams|Cars Online HQ. Viewings are strictly by appointment. To make a booking, please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, and read our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.