1956 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud

STOCK # 3875

RARE 1956 ROLLS-ROYCE SILVER CLOUD
BODY BUILT BY HOOPER OF LONDON

The Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud series of luxurious motorcars was, like the badge-engineered Bentley S-series, the last of its kind. After this, the Crewe-based British carmaker started offering unibody construction, moving away from the traditional body-on-frame structure. This was also one of the first model lines with which one could order a Rolls-Royce (or a Bentley) with a body straight from the factory. And for those who wanted their luxo-barge more special, there was still the choice of having a coach-built body. For the Silver Cloud I, which Rolls-Royce produced just more than 2300 examples, about 10 % of the total cars got the coach-built bodies. And only a few were by Hooper, making the Silver Cloud I by Hooper — or 'Empress' as it was referred to — a pretty rare car.
There's no doubt that these coach-built cars, especially the Rolls-Royce of yore, were made for those who wanted their choice of wheels to be distinct and made according to their taste. The 1956 Silver Cloud by Hooper is a good example of that. In comparison to the standard-steel-bodied version, this one has a unique front-end styling, a visually more compelling profile, two-tone paint, fender skirts, and, of course, coach doors.

CLEAN TITLE IN HAND
74876 LOW MILES
BLACK/ GOLD EXTERIOR
BEIGE LEATHER INTERIOR
4.9L INLINE 6 CYL ENGINE
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
POWER STEERING
AIR CONDITIONING
WOOD TRIM
POWER WINDOWS
FOLD-OUT PICNIC TABLES
ELECTRICALLY OPERATED DOOR MIRRORS
UNDERCARRIAGE HAS RUST PREVENTION
FENDER SKIRTS
SPARE TIRE
ORIGINAL 123-INCH WHEELBASE FROM THE FACTORY
RUNS AND DRIVES GREAT

It's a terrifically rare car, the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I by Hooper. On sale between 1955 and 1959, the Silver Cloud was accompanied by the Bentley S1. There were more than 2300 units manufactured of the former, the majority of which were the standard steel-bodied cars and just about 120 of the short-wheelbase cars were built by coachbuilders. It's said that less than 20 were made by Hooper during the period, although the numbers are to be verified. The Empress Line was brought out in the mid-50s, and Hooper styled Daimlers, Rolls-Royce, and Bentley with the design. all of which benefited from a curvaceous front fender being molded to represent a single line towards the covered rear wheels. Hooper did stop producing coach-built Rolls-Royce models in 1958 when the brand moved to unibody construction — before being brought back for a while in the 1980s.