By Gavin Burnham
Rolls Royce hire does not get any better than the Rolls Royce Silver Cloud of the sixties, combined with Rolls Royce's traditionally elegant and flowing lines and the company's powerful and smooth engine, it is a car that turns heads and causes all eyes to follow it as it glides past.

The Rolls Royce Silver Cloud was first seen in 1955, and was a successful restyling design of the Rolls Royce Silver Dawn which, back in 1949, had been Rolls-Royce's first model to be built by the factory. Before that, the cars from Crewe had been coachbuilt exclusively to customers' individual requirements.

After the Second World War, Rolls Royce identified that a more modern view was needed, providing production assembled cars for new clients who might very well be owners who want to drive the Rolls Royce rather than leave it all to a chauffeur.

The Rolls Royce Silver Cloud is luxuriously equipped, and with a rear seat that is 54in wide, this is splendid transport for up to five persons and is roomier, quieter and faster than the model it replaced. It is powered by an enlarged 4.9-litre version of the Rolls Royce straight six engine, making it the largest petrol engine of that kind in any car in the world at that time, and had the General Motors type Hydramatic automatic gearbox with powered-assisted steering.

This car was designed, built and fitted out to the highest quality attainable at the time, and although on paper there is nothing that remarkable in the specification of the Silver Cloud which might set it apart from several other vehicles of the mid-1950s, it has that timeless dignity.

With Rolls Royce hire there is that special feeling of cosseted comfort and all-round satisfaction, this was a car of the highest quality in its day. While some cars from the 1930s, usually designed for chauffeurs to drive, can be hard work to drive today, the Rolls Royce Silver Cloud offers the driver, and the passengers, that sense of effortless superiority expected of a Rolls-Royce. Although a very large car that is 50 years old, the Silver Cloud is comfortable cruising at a little over 80mph, and will exceed 100mph.

The power-assisted drum brakes, considered outstanding in the 1950s, are sufficiently confidence-inspiring even now. On rough roads, the occupants will be aware of the traditional live axle arrangement at the rear, but this is a quiet, dignified machine which handles safely. Modern cars obviously outperform a Silver Cloud in every way, but there is a certain sense of majesty which the Silver Cloud shares with its driver.

The Rolls Royce Silver Cloud remains an epitome of elegance and smartness, one of the greatest and most timeless of all Rolls Royce's, it pampers its occupants while broadcasting to the world outside that they are people of status, style, affluence and influence.
About the Author:
Learn more about a Rolls Royce wedding. Stop by Gavin Burnham's site www.cars4weddings.co.uk where you can find out all about cars for wedding for you.