This 1948 Rolls Royce Silver Wraith has been in the barn since 1966. Some of us would love to own this old lady if our pockets were deep enough. This grand old Rolls has suffered the indignity of rodents and time for almost 5 decades. The value of these cars has dropped by nearly half in the last few years, so a driver is worth only $40k or less. There was a really nice, low miles Bentley of this era on eBay that went for about $20,000. Could one even get this Rolls revived for that? It is listed here on craigslist near Kansas City, Missouri and they are taking offers. Is there anything one could do with this to keep it out of the scrap heap? Perhaps a sad fate as a sign for a road side restaurant or an automotive shop? Hopefully someone will at least buy this for parts to save another Rolls.
Wait – there was a price bubble around these, and now they’re worth half what they were a few years ago? History repeats…beware, Porsche owners.
Shame on them !
OK. Who’s going to be the first out there to suggest that this will make a good rat rod. Or maybe it already is one ;-) Get it?
So sad to see this type of story repeated time and again. A muscle/pony car guy normally, I would LOVE to be able to save this elegant lady (given much deeper pockets). I’ve seen a ’69 Shelby GT500 and a model T suffer the same fate – owner knew they had “something”, did nothing with it, would not sell, then waited too long, demanded too much. Suspect by the “make offer” they are expecting a windfall, embarrassed to ask for what they expect.
Beautiful car but such a shame to see her in this state……. Hopefully she can be saved.
Since the body appears to be intact, but so much is missing from the car, how about a street rod? LS power, lowered in the front, disk brakes, custom paint and interior.
Travesty. Someone save this! My garage is fully occupied right now with a similar (but non-Rolls) rescue in progress.
I think we are looking at this all wrong. This Roll’s was the owner’s everyday beater. His real pride and joy was the Bugatti Royale for himself, Hispano-Suiza H6 for his wife, and a Talbot T26 Gran Sport, plus the Ferrari 250GT SWB California Spider. Now that might explain why this car was neglected and left in the barn. FYI the Nanny got a Gremlin X Levi Edition for running errands and shuttling the little one’s here and there from their chateau.
why would someone treat a Rolls this way. i hope she runs over their toes ( or more ) when the seller tries to move her. should have been put up for sale a long time ago. great find.
Your reference to a $20,000 eBay Bentley is more harmful than helpful – the typical eBay Bentley needs at least $30,000 in mechanical repair as well as up to $50,000 in cosmetic restoration (figure $15,000 for paint, $12,000 for leather and carpets, $10,000 for chrome and wood refinishing, $10,000 in rust repair and at least another $5,000 for stuff you never considered could be wrong or worn-out but are) before it is equivalent to those cars that are still selling in the $50,000 – $60,000 range but not on eBay! It’s not that the bubble burst, but that people are paying way too much for junk and ignoring the good cars which are far better values and ultimately less costly to own.
Please take the junk off this car and splash some water on it.
cheap easy fix