The Rolls-Royce Wraith is a car from Rolls-Royce, built from 1938 to 1939, when streamlining and independent suspension were arriving together. Under the bonnet: 4257 cc Straight 6.
How it came about
The Rolls-Royce Wraith (not to be confused with the earlier small horsepower Goshawk-powered car, the 25/30 h.p) was built by Rolls-Royce at their Derby factory from 1938 to 1939 and supplied to independent coachbuilders as a rolling chassis. Wraith is also the name of a new coupé announced by Rolls-Royce in 2013.
Wraith is an old Scottish word meaning "ghost" or "spirit", continuing Rolls-Royce's (at the time) new nomenclature that they had adopted, using words relating to silent, gracious, elegant, rarely seen and highly sought after for these reasons. In fact, the Wraith name originated from a 40/50 h.p, (Silver Ghost) that was named "The Wraith" by its original owner.
The hardware
Power comes from 4257 cc Straight 6. It weighs 1.9 tons. It shifts through a 4 speed manual. The wheelbase is 3.45 m (136 inches). These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the 25/30; its successor was the Silver Wraith; assembly was at Derby, England, United Kingdom. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Volkswagen Beetle, the Lincoln Continental, the Opel Kapitän — show what else the money bought that year. Its Rolls-Royce stablemates include the Rolls-Royce 100EX and the Rolls-Royce 102EX.
What it costs now
There is no federal ownership record for the Rolls-Royce Wraith — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.
Rolls-Royce Wraith (2013)