1979 | Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith II

“The quality will remain long after the price is forgotten.” – Henry Royce

On December 15, 1978, American real estate tycoon Murray H. Goodman (worth looking up) decided that the word “standard” had no place in his vocabulary. He didn’t order an ordinary Shadow; he ordered this Silver Wraith II: the ultimate “Captain of Industry” specification, of which only 2,136 were ever built.

The secret of the Wraith lies in its ten extra centimeters of wheelbase. It may sound modest, but in the back, it’s the difference between merely sitting and truly residing. Build quality in these years bordered on obsessive. Take the iconic grille: each slat was hand-bent during assembly to create a visual illusion. If they were perfectly straight, the human eye would perceive the grille as convex. No machine could achieve this—only the eye of a master craftsman. Goodman enjoyed this ultimate perfection until the car emigrated to the Netherlands in 1992.

When this British aristocrat arrived in the lowlands, it still wore its original ’70s Chestnut coat with a Tan interior. A charming snapshot of its era, but the first Dutch owner had a more timeless vision. He made the bold decision to strip the car down to bare metal—a process that would give any accountant nightmares, but which a true purist dreams of. The car was reborn in the only color that truly befits a Rolls of this stature: British Racing Green. Not a single euro was spared to make this example the finest in the country—and thirty years later, that investment still pays off.

Under the hood lies the famous 6.75-litre V8, fully overhauled in 2013. Where some classics come with quirks and idiosyncrasies, the engineering of this Wraith is in perfect harmony; everything functions exactly as the engineers in Crewe intended. From the complete toolkit to the original manuals and comprehensive documentation, everything is in order. Even the air conditioning—capable of cooling like thirty household refrigerators—blasts ice-cold. This is one of those rare cars in which you glide silently to the South of France, knowing you’re driving something even rarer than a modern Ferrari.

“In a car like this, you don’t just arrive. You appear.” – Jeremy Clarkson