Description
Offered for sale is a spectacular 1978 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith II with just 55k original miles and finished in striking Embassy Black over a lascivious Red Connolly hide interior with black piping. Delivered new to Newport Beach, CA in January of 1979, its original owner would own the car for 16 years until his death in 1995. Following its acquisition from the original owner’s estate in early 1996, the car’s second owner – a wealthy real estate developer and theater chain owner – commissioned nearly $14k of exhaustive service at the local Rolls-Royce authorized service center before having the car shipped to his home in Hawaii. Throughout his 18 years of ownership the car has lived a charmed life, driven sparingly, always garaged in a moisture free environment and always religiously maintained. In fact, during his ownership, more than $50k was spent servicing the car to ensure that it was always kept in superb running condition, documented through the thick stack of service receipts that accompanies the sale.
Because of its prior owners’ meticulous care, the car remains aesthetically superb. The Embassy Black finish is in excellent shape, retaining consistency, depth and luster and marred only by exceedingly minor imperfections, none of which are significant enough to appear in any of the photographs. The body is exceptionally straight, showing no evidence of any accidents and retaining factory consistent panel fits and gaps. The black landau roof is in excellent original condition, the glass, rubber and bright work are all near flawless and the car’s original color matching hub capped wheels are wrapped in Goodyear tires with plenty of remaining tread. Despite its time in Hawaii, corrosion is not an issue with this Wraith II, the undercarriage entirely dry, original and unmolested.
The car’s interior is in truly exceptional condition. The plush Connolly leather seats are impeccable, showing virtually no wear whatsoever, which is also true of each of the cars interior panels. The original carpets (including the thick sheepskin floor mats and rear foot rests) are in excellent condition and the car’s headliner is flawless. The original burl walnut wood interior trim is in outstanding condition throughout, which is somewhat rare for these cars, the luxuriant accents often prone to chips and cracks in the finish and veneer with age. Due to the car’s low mileage and outstanding service history, all the interior features appear to be functioning, including the air conditioning (which blows cold), the power windows and a high quality Alpine sound system added by the second owner.
Unsurprisingly, the result of the previous owner’s $50k worth of service is a car that’s as fine mechanically as it is beautiful. The behemoth 6.75L engine starts effortlessly, idles consistently and pulls with the smooth ease for which Rolls-Royce is famous. The car is a joy to drive, whether tooling through town or floating down the highway, and despite its incomparable civility, the engine truly gets up and goes when requested. The transmission shifts smoothly and the car drives and brakes straight and true with a ride quality that feels far more modern that any other competitors from the era.
In terms of collectability, the Silver Wraith II is considerably more desirable than its smaller, less luxurious Silver Shadow little brother, as only 2,135 Wraith IIs were produced, as compared to 27,922 Shadows. Having witnessed considerable appreciation in these cars over the last decade, their incredible built quality and relatively low production numbers indicate to us that that trend will continue into the future. If you’re in the market for a vintage Rolls-Royce that affords both timeless styling and a more modern driving experience, this Silver Wraith II checks all of the right boxes: a well-cared-for two owner history, a thick stack of service records documenting the car’s maintenance, a striking livery, exceedingly clean cosmetics, and all of the original books and manuals.
