This is a car the Queen once owned. It’s been parked on her driveway and now it can be parked on yours, for less than the price of a new Ford Fiesta.
The Lowdown
In 1965 Goldfinger arrived at cinemas. Sean Connery drove (what many still believe to be) the finest Aston Martin ever created, a DB5, around Switzerland. He could have done the same in a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow. It came out the same year, was just as useless for undercover work, and had plenty of room for a surface to air missile under the bonnet.
It was never going to happen, there was more chance of James Bond jumping into bed with Dr No than him getting behind the wheel of a Rolls Royce.
Image problems followed the Silver Shadow around from the start.
Ostentatious cars were on their way out. If you had money you drove a Jaguar
E-Type, if you didn’t you drove a Triumph Dolomite. The Shadow had a
rapidly diminishing market.
Even the current Phantom
model is not without its detractors – apparently the car’s designer
parks his own Phantom round the back of his house to avoid the
neighbours seeing it. It’s difficult to distinguish where (post Second
World War) the Rolls Royce motor car has ever fit it in. The Saudis
loved them from day one though, that’s never changed.
Irony didn’t exist forty years ago. It probably still doesn’t for your parents. Tell your dad you’ve bought a Silver Shadow and he’ll laugh calling you a ‘Northern Industrialist’. "You’ll look common as muck!" he’ll claim. "That’s the point" you’ll answer. You may not speak again for a few weeks.
Thanks to irony we now appreciate the Silver Shadow as a work of art. It’s taken a long time coming, which is to be expected when George Harrison – not John Lennon, he had a Phantom V – once made the owners list. Leaving him behind took time, and forgiveness.
Can You? Should You?
A second hand Silver Shadow takes the right kind of driver to make it work. Bradley Walsh, no. Johnny Knoxville, yes. It all boils down to how seriously you take yourself.
Drive a crapheap Shadow and you’ll feel like Vince Vaughn‘s character in Dodgeball, or Nick Nolte‘s in 48 Hrs. These guys drove big old patriotic cars that used to be great but now made spouses cry with embarrassment. They didn’t give a toss and that’s what made them money.
Could you be this cool? Can’t say the word ‘bra’ without blushing? Feel shy ordering anything less than a pint of bitter in a strange pub? If so, you’ll be wanting a Vauxhall Vectra, and you’ll find that on a different site, loser.
The Ride
hecklerspray has not actually driven a Silver Shadow before, but we have been passengers – and, no, we weren’t wearing morning suits.
What must be conveyed about the ride in a Rolls Royce is the sense of grandeur. It’s unsurpassable. Even if you’re being driven round town in a slightly grotty late 1970’s model with a driver who thinks he’s just bought a two-ton Corsa (as we were), you’ll still feel like a king. A king of some country nobody has ever heard of, but a king nonetheless.
The seats are thick, really thick. As though Shadow designer John P. Blatchley had hotfooted it with a couch from Trewins and literally bolted it on to the chassis. You can’t hear the engine either. A 6.2 litre V8 pumping 10 mpg through a standard 3 speed ‘box, and nothing. Like a cat purring inside a pillow.
The Silver Shadow, as with any Rolls, is not about making a noise. As a passenger you are transported from A to Z with the minimum of fuss and maximum of comfort. As a driver you sit behind the skinniest steering wheel ever created and let the Silver Lady do her duty. Turn this was way, turn that, foot down, foot up, the driving experience is academic. Your main job in the captain’s seat is to look out for petrol stations, about every ten minutes or so.
History
The latter day Rolls is practically all German, but in 1965 it was as British as David Niven doing Knees Up Mother Brown.
The Silver Shadow stayed in production for fifteen years. During that time some 30,000 were built. Most of these transport poor people to registry offices, but there’s still a good few left for the discerning buyer. Actually – and this is what’s so great about a Rolls Royce –you don’t need to that discerning at all. Not only does the Silver Shadow look better a bit worse for wear, other drivers might let you out of side turnings occasionally too.
Buying Used
You can purchase a half-decent Silver Shadow for less than four grand. It’s not going to be tip-top, a few rust bubbles round the petrol cap, the leather seats cracked like Joan Collins’ face; basic imperfections. Mint versions go for up to £30,000, with anything in-between just a less rough version of what £4,000 gets you. Convertibles are at a premium and very rare. Forget them, you can’t even afford to look.
The main thing to check for when buying a Silver Shadow is bills. At the bottom end of the market you’ll not have much genuine service history, but so long as a few things have been changed and updated recently (pads, tyres, oil, etc) you should be okay. A Rolls is built to look after itself, you’re just there to clean up every now and then.
Don’t settle for any cars that are missing the famous Spirit of Ecstasy on the bonnet. She is integral to the image and pricey to replace. A test drive should be quiet and subtle. The Silver Shadow is fast, so anything struggling to get to a hundred is a ringer. The best advice here is to go with your gut. In the words of Burt Reynolds’ Jack Horner in Boogie Nights, "If it looks like shit and it sounds like shit, then it must be shit". Simple, really.
We’ve found a rather nice Silver Shadow on eBay. It’s not white so you won’t look like you’re driving a wedding car, plus it’s cheap enough to buy, basically, for a laugh. Get bidding and start saving your Clubcard points for the fuel.
If you don’t do irony, don’t get a Shadow. Stay in your Mondeo and play with the hands free kit, you’ll be much happier.
If you’re cooler than a Steve McQueen bean-bag then buy the only car worthy of your arse-cheeks, the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow. In duo-tone brown.
Gawd bless you, ma’am.
[story by Chris Laverty]
Burlington says
I think that last paragraph was simply dedicated to me; hell, you’ve almost convinced me to buy one.
I would never describe a Rolls as ‘rubbish’ though…shame on you.
nickalass. says
THE ROLLS ROYCE SILVER SHADOW, or the flying lady,or even the silver lady, not the best car in the world, though maybe it was many moons ago, and now the new rolls royce phantom, NOW this is quality,and yet again,rolls royce-and not forgetting BMW, do have the most desirable-imposing-and very luxurious car in the world…GREAT ARTICLE LOOKING FOWARD TO THE NEXT,
Tex Rolls says
I bought a 78 Silver Shadow a few months ago and I have to agree. Two tone black and copper. It is beautiful and very fun to drive. I did have to spend some money initially to fix a few problems that came up when I started driving it (it had spent the last 10 years as part of a collection and was seldom driven), but it was worth it. I paid less for it than for my 4 cylinder mitsubishi, and when I drive it, everyone presumes that I am a millionaire.
Rocket says
My wife and I own several cars one of them being a 1980 Silver Shadow 2 in duo-tone brown. Rubbish, I think not. A Silver Shadow is and always will be a Roller. If you like them you love them and know why. Ours is immaculate, requires maintenance and occasional repair. All cars do. As far as comfort it is amazing. Fuel milage is a bit low but expected. It takes care and attention to keep it up and looking great but with this attention and care will out last most other vehicles by far. Should everyone own one, no. Should someone who loves cars, by all means.
Ian Whitlock says
Hey everyone i’m looking at buying a 1972 rolls Silver Shadow. its for sale for 9,000 USD and is the long wheel base and right hand drive. its owned by a Rolls dealer and i just have been trying to get a idea of what to expect when buy a rolls. from what the add above said it sounds like they are solid and reliable?
Gawd says
Gawd, you Americans just don’t get it, do you? This is not a review article… It’s a fun one, irony, a short story, opinions, not a garage describing the nuts and bolts… So no-one cares if they are solid and reliable, luv. Google the words irony, sarcasm and satire, maybe it will enrich your life.