1953 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith, Hooper body, limo partition, LH drive, resto-mod

1953 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith Description

Beautiful 1953 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith resto-mod
All original body by coach builder Hooper. Very solid car. All the doors are "suicide" doors.
This Rolls was just rebuilt from the ground up. It was a three year build and I have about $90,000 invested. I have all receipts, documentation, and manuals. It's a resto-mod built with the aluminum body left all original and everything under the hood replaced with modern systems. There are less than 3000 miles on it since the build. I've driven it enough to work out the usual kinks from such a large build.
This car was built to be very drive-able, very safe, reliable, and very easy and inexpensive to maintain. I built it for use to start my second wedding limo business but plans fell through. Since I planned on carrying paying passengers, I built the car to be very safe.It was built with a modern suspension and chassis and modern brakes.Front and rear modern seat belts were installed.Side mirrors added and the steering column was moved to the left side. Most lights updated to led and are much brighter than the original lights. High intensity halogen driving lights added. Modern gauges look period correct.
This car would be great for car shows and parades or for use starting a vintage limousine business. It was built to be the BEST wedding limo out there. Brides don't want anything less than a Rolls. I talked with owners of other vintage limo companies and their biggest problem and biggest cost is finding parts and maintenance. It's hard to keep the old cars running, they aren't very safe, and they're not very reliable. This car address's all these problems.
I would have no concerns with driving this car on a long road trip. It does 75 mph easily on the highway. It handles and brakes like a modern car.I've made a few long interstate trips and it drove nicely. Aseat cushion would have been nice since the front seat doesn't have much lumbar support.
The entire front suspension and chassis is modern, adjustable coil-over system. The steering column is modern and moved to the left side. It handles very well, no more leaning into corners. It still rides very smooth. Modern front disk brakes and modern rear drum brakes. All new parts except for steering column.
The entire drive train is modern. The engine is a 305 Chevrolet with a new Edelbrock carburetor. The transmission is a 700R with overdrive. 10 bolt rear axle. The engine is a nice running used motor. The transmission is a rebuilt unit. The electrical system is all modern based on a "Painless" wire harness. The whitewall's are new and expensive Diamond Back Classic radials, not the cheaper Coker tires. The new rims and covers are made by Wheel Vintiques.
Two new air-conditioning systems installed; one for the front and one in the rear. Both are new Vintage Air units.
The entire body was sand blasted and repainted a beautiful two-tone white and gray. The original wood is all there and in great shape. There was no need to rebuild any of the wood structure. I had custom built wheel well liners built and installed since rocks from the tires left a couple of digs on the fender. The bumpers where professionally re-chromed. The P100 headlights work and are in good shape.
The interior is mostly original except for the upholsterywas redone in a gray Naugahyde. Also, the limo partition was altered a bit and the partition window is now powered. All the wood is original.
It has some imperfections. The bottom front corners of the front doors don't align very well. See attached photos. There are a few minor scratches and dings. The engine blows a bit of black smoke when first started. It appears to me to be running a bit rich until the choke opens. It doesn't use or leak any oil. It doesn't have any stereo system. Now that I'm selling, I figure whoever buys it would want their own custom system installed.
More pictures coming soon.
Please note my perfect feedback. I've sold several cars here on EBay.Not interested in trades.