At $9,500, Is This Long Dormant 1979 Rolls-Royce Siler Shadow II An Elegant Deal?
According to its ad, today’s Nice Price or No Dice Silver Shadow has been in storage since 1993. Let’s see if the price makes it worth the effort to wake up Rip Van Rolls.
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The main problem with yesterday’s 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 was that its pre-production press car status didn’t make it all that unique or different from the standard series production model. Yes, the cachet is interesting, but in the end, it’s more of a footnote to the car’s history rather than an opening paragraph. As such, the Mustang’s $42,500 asking proved less than “boss” resulting in the car dropping in a 78 percent No Dice loss.
So, a show of hands — who here thinks it’s weird that three of the biggest names in British motoring manufacturing are owned outright by German car companies, while a fourth counts on a German sugar daddy to keep it afloat? What is it about these British marques — Rolls-Royce, Mini, Bentley, and Aston Martin — that the Germans love enough to maintain as ongoing concerns, sometimes seemingly to the detriment of their own home brands?
Today’s 1979 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II comes from an earlier era when the company was wholly British-owned. And, in fine British tradition, its owner played hot potato with the car-business side, shedding it from the parent aero-engine company and eventually selling the concern to Vickers plc. Almost two decades later, Vickers would sell it to Germany’s Volkswagen, which after contentious fighting over the rights, handed Rolls to BMW while keeping Bentley to itself.
Oddly enough for having a parent experiencing so much drama, this Silver Shadow II presents with a calm demeanor. Rolled out in 1965, the Silver Shadow was the first Rolls car to feature a unibody architecture, and while significantly smaller in footprint from the roly-poly fendered Silver Cloud it replaced, it offered more interior room, better visibility, and an appreciable air of modernity.
The Shadow was also the first Rolls with independent suspension all around, and the first to feature Citroën’s hydropneumatic suspension making for a pillowy ride. With the model’s second iteration, obviously denoted the II and introduced in 1977, Rolls added more firsts in the form of rack and pinion steering and alloy bumpers among other updates. The model was replaced in 1980 by the larger and, arguably less elegant, Silver Spirit.
This Silver Shadow comes, appropriately enough, in gold metallic over a biscuit leather and burlwood interior. According to the ad, the odometer shows 43,000 miles but with only five barrels that’s only part of the story as it has apparently rolled over. The actual number is probably 143K. That’s an impressive number impressive nonetheless, considering that the car has apparently not been on the road since 1993.
Obviously, since the car hasn’t been exercised in so long, there are some issues that need attending. Per the ad, those include a rebuild of the twin SU carbs, a full tune-up, new valve cover gaskets, and a brake overhaul. On the plus side, the 6750 cc Rolls V8 is said to still run and the car to drive. That implies that the GM-sourced three-speed automatic is in working order too. One piece of the mechanicals that can prove finicky is that hydropneumatic suspension. Luckily, that’s only on the rear of this model, and the pictures don’t show any sag in the back so it may be just fine. It should be checked for leaks and blown accumulators regardless.
Visually, this Rolls appears to be in top-notch shape. The paint looks excellent and all the brightwork shines as it should. The long slumber hasn’t affected things like the plastic bumper fillers and while the tires are probably past their prime and hence unsafe, they do seem to be holding air and should serve just fine until their replacements can be called to duty.
The interior is equally up to snuff, seemingly needing little more than a good vacuuming of its Wilton Wool carpets and some leather moisturizer massaged into its seats. Nothing seems missing or amiss in here and it even comes with a period-correct Alpine AM/FM/cassette head unit that does sport a laughably fake woodgrain on its bezel.
The car comes with a clean title, but, based on the tags, out of date registration. We can assume that it has been on “Non-Op” status and hence won’t require any back registration fees with the title transfer. For those wishing to do so and keep the car in Californian (where it is presently plated), there’s still the issue of it passing an emissions test and that will likely have to wait on the tune-up and the carbs getting cleaned up.
Overall, this seems like a solid classic Rolls from an era when that meant British steel and everything else (save for the French suspension pieces and the American transmission). Considering the work it needs, will it prove to be a good buy at its $9,500 asking price? What’s required is wrenching and that’s a lot easier to do than paint, bodywork, or sewing up errant stitching in the seats, so maybe it will.
What do you think, is this Rolls priced in accordance to its condition? Or does that $9,500 mean this Shadow’s seller doesn’t stand a ghost of a chance?
You decide!
Los Angeles, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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