1958 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud I Saloon

1958 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I Saloon
Sold for $60,500 Including Commission
RM Auction, Amelia Island, Florida 2014
Chassis no. LSED321
Engine no. SD385
178 bhp, 4,887 cc F-head inline six-cylinder engine with twin SU carburetors, four-speed Hydra-Matic automatic transmission, independent front suspension with coil springs and wishbones, semi-elliptic rear springs with electrically controlled shock absorbers, and power-assisted hydraulic front and hydro-mechanical rear drum brakes. Wheelbase: 123 in.

•Offered from the Pray Collection
•Fascinating ownership history
•Accompanied by Rolls-Royce Foundation and Hunt House documentation


A Rolls-Royce is perhaps the ultimate gentleman's car, which may be why the marque figures so prominently into Malcolm S. Pray Jr.'s collection. For a socialite of the old school, there was a no more proper automobile for arriving at special occasions during the social season.

This Silver Cloud I Saloon, equipped with factory air conditioning and Sundym glass, was delivered by Kumpf Motor Car Company, of Denver, Colorado. Its original owner was Daniel V. Edmundson, who took it to his home on the "high dune" above Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. How long Edmundson owned the Rolls is not known, but it eventually passed into the hands of Colonel Achille Carlisle Tisdelle, of nearby Manalapan.

Colonel Tisdelle had been serving in the U.S. Army and was stationed on the island of Bataan when it fell to Japan in early 1942. He survived the Bataan Death March and three years in captivity before being rescued in September 1945. After the war, he rejoined civilian life and became a successful businessman who was regularly interviewed by newspapers around his Florida home on military and political issues. Colonel Tisdelle had an intense interest in automotive design, as he patented various head and neck restraint systems and customized a Chrysler Cordoba with canework and carriage lamps to suit his own tastes.

A Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I fit nicely into the Colonel's Palm Coast lifestyle, which included moving in the same circles during the winter season as Malcolm S. Pray Jr.; in addition, he shared with Mr. Pray many mutual concerns and causes. It is not inconceivable that this is how Mr. Pray became aware of this car, even though he did not acquire it until 1994, and it has remained a part of the collection since.

This Silver Cloud I, while an older restoration, has enjoyed the same regular, proper service as other cars in the Pray fleet, including a complete rebuild of the transmission in 2002, cosmetic work, which included rechroming the bumpers and repainting the trunk lid, in 2012, and a rebuild of the wheel cylinders in 2013. Naturally, it is accompanied by receipts that relate to much of the work, as well as by copies of build information and ownership documentation that had been supplied by the Rolls-Royce Foundation and the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts' Club (Hunt House).

Offered here is an iconic gentleman's conveyance from the collection of an iconic gentleman.

Robert Myrick Photography