This is a gorgeous 1953 Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn that is a rare US
delivery from new example that has benefitted from a concours
quality restoration. This is one of the very best Silver Dawns
extant. This Rolls was owned and enjoyed by Supreme Court Justice
Abe Fortas and his wife Carolyn Agger in Washington DC from 1965
until 1981. This is the highly desirable combination of LHD, large
bore engine, automatic transmission and "big boot" design. It is
now about as close as you will find to a new Silver Dawn, with an
open checkbook available for its restoration. Chassis No. LSMF-30
was delivered new on June 9 th , 1953, to Mr. John Mason in
Cambridge City, Indiana. By September 16, 1965, Supreme Court
Justice Abe Fortas and his wife Carolyn Agger acquired the Rolls
and enjoyed it for the next 16 years. The Rolls was an important
part of their lives and was frequently written about in Time
Magazine and numerous other publications. By December of 1986, the
LSMF-30 was acquired by Margo Reese from Culver City, California.
Ms. Reese enjoyed ownership for the next 25 years. The present
owner acquired the Silver Dawn in 2011 and set out to have it
restored through 2014. Most of the restoration was performed by the
highly regarded specialist, Santos, at Tony Handlers in Los
Angeles. The mechanical restoration is superb in every respect.
LSMF-30 was ordered new in the same stunning color combination as
it is today, Velvet Green (X21416) over Shell Grey (222/2128) with
a single Ivory pinstripe. The paint and chrome are concours quality
and performed by Lanse Collision Restoration Center in Los Angeles
during 2007 for over $19,000. The quality of the paint and chrome
speak for itself, this is concours quality workmanship. The
interior was restored by Harrys Auto Top & Upholstery in Los
Angeles in 2012 for an investment in excess of $19,000. This
included Grey leather, Grey Wilton wool carpeting and Grey wool
broadcloth headliner. All the leather is like new today. The wood
refinishing is spectacular. The burl walnut and crossbanding is
gorgeous and in excellent condition today. All of the
instrumentation works as it should, and the original radio has been
restored. In the glovebox is a modern stereo CD player as well. The
rear window shade can be raised remotely by the driver for
increased privacy. The venerable 4,566cc (278.6cuin) inline
six-cylinder engine was a replacement engine that was completely
rebuilt by Santos at Tony Handlers. He has more experience
rebuilding Rolls-Royce engines than any other expert in North
America. The radiator, transmission, engine, steering column, and
more were all rebuilt or replaced at a cost of more than $40,000,
with most of the work being performed in 2014. The engine has
excellent power and the transmission shifts perfectly, much
smoother than most any Silver Dawn weve driven. There are no
rattles, clunks, vibrations, etc. All of the instruments work
exactly as they should. The only item we see is that it desperately
needs new tires. We would normally replace them, but we want the
new owner to decide on the new tires such as radials versus bias
ply, whitewalls versus blackwalls, etc. LSMF-30 comes complete with
its original Owners handbook, small tools, large tools with jack
and spare, and a custom fitted car cover. Of course, the history
file for this Rolls is extensive and includes the factory
guarantee, factory build records, service and restoration invoices
since 1989, registration details since 1965 and more. For more
information and details, please call or text Harry Clark at
1.623.404.9042 or email us at
[email protected]. This
Rolls is available for inspection at our showroom in Phoenix. We
are pleased to coordinate inspections, and we help coordinate
shipping worldwide. We also have financing partners if you are
interested in financing.
