Description
On 15 December 1978, the American real estate magnate Murray H. Goodman (it’s really worth looking him up) decided that the word “standard” had no place in his vocabulary. He didn’t order a simple Shadow; he chose this Silver Wraith II: the ultimate “Captain of Industry” edition, of which only 2, 136 were built.
The secret of the Wraith lies in the ten centimetres of extra wheelbase. That may seem modest, but at the rear, it makes all the difference between merely sitting and truly living. At the time, build quality was bordering on obsession. Take, for example, the iconic grille: each blade was hand-bent during assembly to create a visual illusion. If they had been perfectly straight, the eye would have perceived the grille as bulged. No machine could achieve that result – only the eye of a master craftsman could.
Goodman enjoyed this absolute perfection until the car migrated to the Netherlands in 1992. On arrival, this British aristocrat still wore its original chestnut-brown paint from the 1970s, paired with a beige interior. A charming testament to its era, but the first Dutch owner had a more timeless vision. He made the bold decision to strip the car back to bare metal — a process that would give nightmares to any accountant, but which makes a true purist dream.
The car was reborn in the only colour that truly suits a Rolls‑Royce of this calibre: British Racing Green. Not a euro was spared to make this specimen the finest in the country — and thirty years on, that investment is still paying off.
Under the bonnet sits the famous 6. 75-litre V8, completely overhauled in 2013. Where some classics have their quirks, this Wraith’s mechanics operate in perfect harmony; everything works exactly as Crewe’s engineers had intended. From the full toolkit to the original manuals and detailed documentation, everything is in order. Even the air conditioning — capable of cooling like thirty refrigerators — blows a freezing breeze.
It’s one of those rare cars you glide quietly down to the south of France in, knowing you’re driving something rarer still than a modern Ferrari.
“In a car like this, you don’t simply arrive. You make an entrance.” – Jeremy Clarkson
