The Silver Shadow is one of the most quintessential Rolls-Royce ever made. A true classic that showed a stature of wealth and achievement if you were rolling around in such a luxurious brand.
Produced for fifteen years, the Silver Shadow was the predecessor to the Silver Cloud. In response to concerns that Rolls-Royce were falling behind in the automotive industry, the Silver Shadow was given several modernisations to bring it up to the current trends. Most noticeably was the new body design. Gone were the 50’s curves from the Cloud, to the advanced step of using aircraft technology on the unitary construction of the body shell.
Other features included moving from drum brakes to hydraulic dual-circuit disc brake system and the independent rear suspension was used. The suspension was licenced from Citroen which Rolls-Royce used in their hydropneumatic system with hydraulic self leveling.
Initially, the Silver Shadow was powered by the L410B engine which was a 6.25 Litre (6.230 cc) V8, often known as a Six and a Quarter litre engine which produced what was described as an “adequate” 200bhp. This was used until 1968 when the stroke of the L410 was increased from 3.6 to 3.9 inch which therefore increased the capacity to 6.7 litre (6,750 cc) and which became known as the Six and Three quarter. Designed in the early 1950’s, it was continued to be developed and used by Rolls-Royce up until 1998, and used by Bentley under the ownership of Volkswagen until 2009. It is one of the most well known versions and possibly one of the most famous V8 British engines of all time.
This 1975 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow was purchased by the seller’s family on 1st December 1989. The family, who run a successful wedding and garage business Speedwell Motor Company, purchased the Rolls to add to their growing fleet of Daimlers and Jaguar wedding cars.
The Silver Shadow originally came finished in Walnut but on arrival the car was subsequently stripped down ready to be painted in white to match the rest of the fleet. The cost of the respray at the time, in 1989, was £1,800, so from that price alone you can tell it was done properly.
Throughout its life as a wedding car it had a private plate on, 81 NRO, which has now been removed and put back to KPW 514N. As the car was owned by a garage, any work needed was obviously carried out in house, which when it’s your own and earns you money gets treated and serviced regularly.
The Rolls-Royce has been painted and had a couple of areas treated over the years to keep it looking fresh for that special day, and some body filler is evident in places around the bottom of the arches and wing.
The company decided in early 2019, after the passing of a family member, that they were going to cease their wedding car business, and so the car has been laid up since then, covering just 101 miles since the last MOT. This has led to the sale of the Silver Shadow.
The MOT certificate expired on 17th November 2020 although online you can view them back until 2006, where you will see the car has only completed around 10,000 miles in the past 15 years. The Rolls-Royce is now tax and MOT exempt
There is no real paperwork for Rolls-Royce as everything was completed in house as and when needed.
Inside the Rolls-Royce, when you open the door, the first thing you will notice is there is wear to the driver's seat. Until recently the car always had seat covers on, and it was only on removal of these that the deterioration to the seats was apparent.
One area that usually shows signs of wear on cars of this age is the walnut door tops, but these are still in nice condition. Sitting in the driver's seat the dashboard is all crack free and again the walnut facia is in good condition. The odometer shows a reading of 16,118, which is assumed to be 116,118. The fuel and amp gauge are working as they should, the clock is stuck at 12.00 and the rest of the switches are reported to be working as they should. The windows are working but there is one window switch out of the four fitted to the driver’s door that is missing. This controls the passenger window, but the window still goes up and down from the passenger door.
The centre console has some wear to the walnut finish around the heater controls. There is a Pioneer cassette player fitted but it is unclear if this works as no tapes were available to try. Further down there is another radio fitted.
The carpets in the front of the RR are in good condition with less than average age related wear and the same in the rear. Still present for the rear passengers’ added comfort are the foot rests. The head lining is all nice and tidy with no areas of sagging. Into the boot area and it's nice and clean with no signs of wear and still present are the battery cover, jack and wheel brace.
The 1975 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow is finished in white, coincidentally suitable for weddings, with a gold pinstripe above the factory chrome trim. Starting at the front there are no real signs of any stone chips that we could see. The chrome bumper is free from any pitting and as it’s a later model, it has the Lucas spot lights fitted as standard. The headlights and indicators are free from any chips and cracks and the surrounds are a bright pitt free finish. The all important grille is nice and straight with no dinks and sitting pride of place is the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot. The bonnet aligns straight and uniform with the wings.
On the flanks of the Silver Shadow the car is nice and straight with no obvious dinks that we could see and the panel gaps around the doors are uniform and straight. A firm hand is needed to close the heavy doors, just a sign of a well built car. There are some signs of where the car has received paint along the window rubbers. The door mirrors and chrome trim along the windows are in nice condition showing just some patina. The lower of the rear arches look to have had some body filler and also the bottom of the wings. That said, you would not say the car was in a bad way, it’s just had some areas cleaned up over the years to keep it presentable.
The rear of the car is the same as the rest. The boot aligns well and opens and closes with a sound of quality. The lights are free from cracks and splits. The chrome bumper does look to have a small amount of corrosion under some of the chrome, but you do have to look for this.
The Wheels on the Silver shadow are all in good condition, with the original RR badged hub caps present and all have good tyres with plenty of tread remaining.
Give the key a flick and the Six and Three Quarter quickly and effortlessly awakens. The V8 sounds nice and smooth just as it should with no strange noises creeping in that shouldn’t be there.
The seller reports that the car pulled well through all the gears of the Automatic gearbox and again there are no noises from the transmission side of things. The hydropneumatic suspension is still keeping the Rolls sitting nice and level as it should.
One other thing mentioned is that upon moving the car after 12 months there was a small patch of oil that looks to be coming from the engine area
Do you want to stand out from the crowd? The Rolls Royce Silver Shadow certainly has a presence about it. Yes, the interior does need a little attention, but mechanically it's a well maintained vehicle with reliability that gives you the option of just jumping in and effortlessly cruising off in style.
Or maybe, now that Covid restrictions are being lifted, this could be the perfect opportunity to venture into the wedding car business?
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Although every care is taken to ensure this listing is as factual and transparent as possible, all details within the listing are subject to the information provided to us by the seller. Car & Classic does not take responsibility for any information missing from the listing. Please ensure you are satisfied with the vehicle description and all information provided before placing a bid.
As is normal for most auctions, this vehicle is sold as seen, and therefore the Sale of Goods Act 1979 does not apply. All bids are legally binding once placed. Any winning bidder who withdraws from a sale, is subject to our bidders fee charge. Please see our FAQs and T&C's for further information. Viewings of vehicles are encouraged, but entirely at the sellers discretion.
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1975 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow
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