The Rolls-Royce Cloudesque Phantom Limousine

The Silver Cloud is a classic Rolls-Royce with timeless elegance, great lines and a true product of the 1950s and 1960s.

The 1959 Silver Cloud II marked the introduction of the legendary L-Series V8 engine and had the longest production run of any engine in a production car, where Bentley only stopped making them in 2020 with the conclusion of the Bentley Mulsanne.

Rolls-Royce Cloudesque named this project P240, or Project 240 at Crewe. Later  due to the proportions people thought it was a Phantom, so the car could also be referred to as the The Rolls-Royce Cloudesque Phantom Limousine, or even the Silver Cloud Limousine. However in the Brunei records the car is called the Rolls-Royce Cloudesque.

The Rolls-Royce Cloudesque was styles by Futura Design in Birmingham and but build by Tickfords in Milton Keynes.  It was build as a unibody car, similar to the Rolls-Royce Touring Limousine, and has modern running gear from the 1995 Silver Spirit III.

Initially two were ordered in 1995, then another order was recieved for a fur two in 1997. 

Here are the known details of the cars made.

Marque	Model	Rego	Year	VIN	Exterior
Rolls-Royce	Cloudesque Phantom Limousine	N282AMP	1995	SCAZH00C6SCH00061	Special Grey
Rolls-Royce	Cloudesque Phantom Limousine	KF7899	1995	SCAZH00C6SCH00062	Special Grey
Rolls-Royce	Cloudesque Phantom Limousine	BQ6363	1997	SCAZH13C4VCH00468	Black
Rolls-Royce	Cloudesque Phantom Limousine		1997	SCAZH13C4VCH00469

Marque	Model	Rego	Year	VIN	Exterior
Rolls-Royce	Cloudesque Phantom Limousine	N282AMP	1995	SCAZH00C6SCH00061	Special Grey

The first Rolls-Royce Cloudesque was registered in the UK with number plate N282AMP.

It was registered as a 1996 Rolls-Royce in Grey, and did not list the model.

The date of last V5C (logbook) issued was 19 November 1996 and Tax is due 11 November 1996. so they are a little late with this. It is not known if this car is still in the UK, or if it is in Brunei.

Marque	Model	Numberplate	Year	VIN	Exterior
Rolls-Royce	Cloudesque Phantom Limousine	KF7899	1995	SCAZH00C6SCH00062	Special Grey

The second Rolls-Royce Cloudesque is in Brunei, and we have photographs.

Here it is. Certainly a modern interpretation of a Silver Cloud, but larger like a Phantom.

You can see the length in this image.

That is all 1995 Rolls-Royce switch gear!

Interestingly this car does not have occasional seats.

Those chrome bumper bars do not look like a 1995 car, but it is.

Marque	Model	Numberplate	Year	VIN	Exterior
Rolls-Royce	Cloudesque Phantom Limousine	BQ6363	1997	SCAZH13C4VCH00468	Black

Here is the tried car made, from the second batch of cars in 1997.

Let's start with the back seat. 

Seatbelts for two - with 6 pleats either side of a central 2 pleat folding arm rest.

Look at the size of the picnic tables - they are very large, more like drawing tables.

Notice the Asprey clock? Yeah, HRH Prince Jefri who order this car also bought Asprey.

Those are standard bullseye aircon vents, as still used today in Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars.

Notice the different centre console between the 1995 car and this 1997 car?

The 1995 car has the centre console that look like a Rolls-Royce, and the 1997 centre console looks more like a Bentley with continuous console to the centre arm rest.

I would presume that by 1997 Rolls-Royce now knew the customers preferences and made it more exacting.

With this image you can see the proportions and the Silver Cloud-esque, hence Cloudesque shape.

It even has the lover under head lamp vents as per the Silver Cloud and Silver Shadow cars/

It does looks large like a Phantom.

Marque	Model	Numberplate	Year	VIN	Exterior
Rolls-Royce	Cloudesque Phantom Limousine	unknown	1997	SCAZH13C4VCH00469	unknown

The fourth and final car is not on the Brunei Master VIN list. This implies that it is not in Brunei, or that if it is, it is held in one of the Palaces and there is no record of it. It may also have been delivered to the UK and not registered. 

Or, as it was a 1997 potentially it was not delivered to Brunei as the money stopped around this time.

The Rolls-Royce Cloudesque seems very much like a folly.  It does not have occasional seats to take the children, it's formal enough, but not as much as a Phantom, it's not a car to drive as it has a division, so it's pretty much as car to be taken to the shops in, where people hopefully just think it's a Silver Cloud, and have no idea that it's a 1997 car where the radio is too complex to use.