Makes / Rolls Royce / Silver Dawn
Silver Dawn
Rolls Royce · on record 1996 to 2025
The Rolls Royce Silver Dawn was introduced after the Second World War as one of the marque's first models to be offered with a factory standard steel body rather than requiring separate coachwork. Closely related to the Bentley Mark VI, it made Rolls Royce ownership somewhat more standardised while remaining highly exclusive. Surviving cars are now significant historic luxury vehicles maintained primarily through collector and specialist networks.
ENDANGERED
Red List classification, from population, five year trajectory and survival against peak. Reviewed each census.
42
licensed vehicles
2025 census
2025 census
60.9% of the peak fleet remains licensed
24
declared SORN
total surviving
peak 69 in 2003 · −1 vehicles a year, five year trend
Population history
Licensed and SORN vehicles at each census. The filters below apply to the family population, MOT and registration figures. They do not alter the generation history above.
Licensed
SORN
Latest census observation
At the average decline recorded over the latest five years, the licensed fleet would reach zero around 2109.
Illustrative projection only; vehicle populations rarely decline linearly. Late fleets typically flatten as surviving examples enter preservation.
Inside the surviving fleet
AutoCensus parses every DVLA variant description, so the fleet can be read by fuel and specification rather than as one number.
First registrations by year
When surviving examples first joined the British fleet.
Recent UK first registrations
This family is no longer sold new. These figures are imports and historic vehicles joining the British register for the first time.
MOT reliability
DVSA test results for this family, 2005 to 2025.
Pass rate by year
| Failure reason | Failures | Share of all tests |
|---|---|---|
| The calculated parking brake efficiency is too low | 69 | 3.0% |
| The windscreen washers do not provide enough liquid to clear the windscreen in conjunction with the wiper(s) | 34 | 1.5% |
| A low braking effort is recorded from the parking brake on any wheel, indicating clearly that the brake is not functioning correctly | 33 | 1.5% |
| The grooves of the tread pattern are not at least 1.6mm throughout a continuous band comprising the central three-quarters of the breadth of tread, and round the entire outer circumference of the tyre | 20 | 0.9% |
| When the brake is fully applied there is no possibility of further travel of the lever because the lever is at the end of its working travel on the ratchet | 20 | 0.9% |
| Amalgamation of failures for all headlamp testers | 19 | 0.8% |
| A rigid brake pipe excessively chafed, corroded or damaged | 15 | 0.7% |
| An obligatory lamp inoperative or less than 50% of the light sources illuminating | 15 | 0.7% |
Counted across every recorded test, 2005 to 2025. Advisories are excluded.
Where the Silver Dawn remains
Based on MOT test locations, 2025. Test location is a proxy: a vehicle is counted where it was last tested, not where it is kept.
| Postcode area | Vehicles tested | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| BL | 4 | 50% |
| S | 3 | 100% |
| LL | 3 | 100% |
| NG | 3 | 67% |
| B | 3 | 100% |
| CO | 2 | 100% |
| SK | 2 | 100% |
| SO | 2 | 50% |
| WR | 2 | 100% |
| GU | 2 | 100% |
| RH | 2 | 100% |
| LE | 2 | 100% |
| ME | 1 | 100% |
| BS | 1 | 100% |
| LS | 1 | 100% |
| WA | 1 | 100% |
| DE | 1 | 100% |
| PE | 1 | 100% |
| HD | 1 | 100% |
| CT | 1 | 100% |
| CF | 1 | 100% |
| M | 1 | 100% |
| SE | 1 | 100% |
| DN | 1 | 100% |
| MK | 1 | 100% |
| SN | 1 | 100% |
| BH | 1 | 100% |
| NN | 1 | 100% |
| CV | 1 | 0% |
| CR | 1 | 100% |
| CH | 1 | 100% |
| TN | 1 | 100% |
How this record was calculated
LATEST CENSUS2025
POPULATION SOURCEDVLA VEH0220 annual
HISTORY SOURCEDVLA VEH0120 GB · to 2013
MOT SOURCEDVSA results · to 2025
FAMILY DEFINITIONROLLS ROYCE SILVER DAWN
PROCESSED20 Sep 2026
Full methodology
Population history combines DVLA VEH0120 Q4 census observations through 2013 with the annual VEH0220 census from 2014 onward. Figures before 2014 cover Great Britain only. Historical VEH0120 is used only when its overlapping UK observations reconcile to the current canonical family definition. Vehicles are grouped into this family using the DVLA GenModel together with durable routing rules for known inconsistencies.
Variant figures are parsed from raw DVLA model descriptions and the original string is always retained. Configuration is only assigned where the model description explicitly identifies it; a blank configuration is not treated as a two door Wrangler. Blank transmission fields are shown as manual because DVLA records the field for automatic vehicles.
MOT figures count tests, not vehicles, and geographic figures count each vehicle at its most recent test location. The decline projection is a straight line fitted to the latest five years and is illustrative only.