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This car is only being offered for sale to help fund the seller's family foundation. Please do not request donations:The following is only part of an article featuring this car in Car Collector Magazine plus a Rolls Royce book Featuring this car on the cover and great details in the chapter about it.This one-off example was designed and bodied by H. J. Mulliner for Mrs. Sybil Rhodes, n American married to British industrialist Frank E. Rhodes. In the prewar years, nd for many years after, hodes made his fortune in concrete, aving the motorways crisscrossing Great Britain. It is believed that Sybil owned a French sports car when she lived in the United States; however, t was never shipped to the Rhodes estate in England. One person suggested that Frank Rhodes was not happy with the French after the war and would not permit anything French on his property (thus we would assume his wine cellar was stocked with bottles from the White Cliffs of Dover). With Sybil's affection for French styling one can see the influence of esteemed Paris salons such as Franay and Saoutchik in the H. J. Mulliner design, articularly the rear deck (boot) with its beautiful chrome fin. The entire body is aluminum under which is the early, hisper-silent, olls-Royce straight six coupled to a four-speed manual transmission. A close-coupled design, he rear is taken up by a wonderfully British traveling cocktail bar. The Long Road to Restoration Owned today by a renowned Pennsylvania collecto, he car has been restored to its original H. J. Mulliner design and color scheme. The owner, ho is known for his meticulous restorations had spent years and over 5000 hours producing a most magnificent car to it glory, dmitted that he had not intended this car to be quite such a project. "I got it from Florida and started working on it, leaning it up; I figured I would just turn it into a nice driver," he recalls. But as is often the case with a restoration, ne thing led to another. There was more to this car than originally met the eye. "Along the way, acquired original plans and other documents that made me more and more interested in this new project. A lot of times with coach built cars changes are made that never get noted in the original plans. This car was originally supposed to have a dickey seat (rumble seat) behind the passenger compartment. At some point this was changed and a full length trunk was put in its place. Also, hey had designed the spare tire to be inserted through the license plate door, ut that would never have worked based on the size of the spare, o that design was changed as well. But the most significant factors about the car were masked under years of old paint and restoration work." As the restoration team began prepping the car they discovered original details that may have been covered over for as long as 30 years. While stripping the paint (many layers including the visible coats of blue, ellow and then the original black) they found holes running down the center of the trunk, s well as along the trailing edges of the rear fenders. "These were details that had been removed and the holes filled," says the owner. "At about the same time we discovered a few rusty pieces of metal in a box in the trunk. We didn't even know that there was a built in box in the trunk, ut found it recessed far forward of the rear axle and covered over. It was then that we started to realize maybe we had something even more special than we already knew." Those rusty pieces of metal turned out to be parts of an original deck lid fin. There were also a couple of threaded bolts that matched the uncovered holes. By placing advertisements on the Internet, nd in British newspapers both in and around the area of the old Rhodes Estate, etters started coming in. "During our research we found out that there were more than the one set of plans at Hunt House (storage of Rolls-Royce records). The second plan showed the elimination of the Dickey seat and a different arrangement of the refreshment (liquor and wine) cabinet. Later there was a note that was in conflict with the original plans. The note called for the placement of the spare tire forward in the boot behind the passenger seat. The prior plan shows its placement to the aft of the trunk, n a well. The measurement for the opening to house the spare was actually several inches shorter than the spare tire!" The owner managed to contact the son of the Rhodes family chauffeur who had lived at Thorpe Underwood Hall, he Rhodes' palatial country estate. Further letters and calls noted that sometime in the late 1950s or early 1960s Mrs. Rhodes had an accident with WGC48 that damaged the left front fender, eft rear fender and rear of the boot. The car was disposed of shortly thereafter. It is believe that the damaged Silver Wraith was sold to Myers- Brunell, hich handled Rolls-Royces and had an extensive fabricating shop. The car was repaired; however, he side trim and center boot molding were not replaced. The holes were filled in and the sections sprayed in black. It was shipped to the United States where it found a new owner. Since then this French influenced Silver Wraith has remained in the U.S., he country where its original owner was born. Below are the Rhodes family ( who constantly appeared in the Society Section of publications ) with friends at their Castle/Country Estate" Thorpe Underwood Hall" with 119 rooms..Family of three. Wife from America...Does it sound like Dounton Abbey?MAJOR AWARDSBoca Raton Concours d'Elegance Feb 2015 Best in Class'Best in Class' plus Most Elegant Open Car'Greenwich Concours European 'Most Distinguished Rolls Royce' chosen on two occasionsEastern United States Concours'Best Open Car' plus Poster carNew Hope Auto Show 50th Best in Show Post WarNewport Rhode Island's Wm.Vanderbilt Concours 'Chairman's Major AwardplusBest in ClassRadnor Hunt Concours Twice awarded Best in ClassBuckingham Concours d'Elegance' Best in Show ' alsoPOSTER CARAACA National First PlacePlus; Major National AACA Presentation "Foo Dog" Grand National Award2012 Rolls Royce Regional Meet NHAS ' Best in Show Governor's Cup Award'plusQueen Elizabeth 11 Trophy ' Best in Show' post war2013 Bratwyn Concours 'Best in Show'Amelia Island Concours d'EleganceBest in ClassOne off Silver Wraith Roadster with handsome French Styling shown in 2015 at Pebble Beach and driven on the Tour...sorry to state that the fog lamp (65 years old) filament broke after the 90 mile tour. SUBJECT OF ARTISTS WORLDWIDEfrom photograpers to oil painters, br>model makers and poster cars for two major Concours d'Elegances..below oil painting by Gail Jeffer (dec'd) depicting the Rhodes family and friends at Thorpe Underwood Hall the stately 'Manor" of the Rhodes family with Rolls Royce roadster in foreground..Check photo #24 or last photo that I found from the early 1950's ...The son of the Rhodes' daughter may be able to identify his mother.I questioned the space for the three children and realized that their chauffeur pulled the front seat up to accommodate the taller child while the other two were perched on the liquor cabinet.This was an event in front of their 119 room manor.Well over 6000 hours to date of a nut and bolt restoration to Pebble Beach standards.We started with a very solid 'driver' but had to make this rare and elegant car perfect.Hundreds of photos. It just completed a 500 mile break in and being prepared for Pebble Beach Concours This wonderful vehicle is being offered solely to generate funds for the owner's family charity a 501 C 3. (please do not request donations )
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