Considering the sky-high price tags when they were new, sometimes acquiring a second-hand Rolls-Royce from the eighties decade almost seems like a real bargain these days, that is until you have to start making repairs and performing maintenance. But if sheer elegance is a top priority, the RR is hard to beat, and with that Spirit Of Ecstasy grille ornament up front, your entourage will have no doubts you’ve arrived in tip-top style the moment you drive up. Even better, hiring your own chauffeur and stepping from the back of a stretch limo instead makes a much greater impression, and this 1989 Silver Spur Limo here on eBay can help make that fantasy a reality. It’s for sale in Ramsey, New Jersey, where bidding is currently at $32,100.
This one’s also a no-reserve listing, so the high bidder is assured to have the next bragging rights, with some additional good news being it came from the factory as a stretch limousine. Beginning in 1982, the Silver Spur could be had with a 36-inch stretch, but if you waited 3 more years an even longer 42-inch addition became available, with the latter dimension being what you’re seeing here. It’s comforting to know that the Rolls came this way and that no third party was involved in chopping this one up and putting it back together. The seller is brief in his description of the exterior, saying only that the paint needs nothing, and if the finish shows as well in person as it looks in the photos, I tend to agree.
Things appear much the same condition-wise on the inside, with the interior said to be wonderfully original and free of defects. The wood is specifically pointed out as being in beautiful shape, and looking around there’s really not a lot to find fault with, either upfront or in the luxury suite. Just about everything you’d expect for the time period is present for the rear guests, including a sound system and small TV, along with adjustable lighting so you could look over those dot-matrix sales figures with ease. A bit more timeless than the latter are the curtains and sunroof.
If there’s any bad news here, it’s that the limo is said to have sat for a few years, but we are assured it’s had a proper after-storage tune-up and is ready to rolls, I mean roll, just the way it is now without any additional mechanical work needed at this time. The seller says it presents as though it has about a third of the 74,000 miles, and hopefully, the engine’s got a lot of trouble-free miles left. We get to see the bottom side as well, which appears quite solid from every angle in view. I’m liking this one pretty well thinking about the now, but it’s the not yet that has me a bit concerned about future expenditures keeping it on the road. What are your thoughts?
Yes very cool, but outdated. No Reserve.
True, it needs the wood cabinet, door panels, and rear shelf hacksawed so a teenager can duct-tape a new stereo, bigger tv, and subs into the holes. Listening to music on an outdated stereo is so embarrassing.
Perfect homeless car to sleep in at night
At $32,000, that would be quite an expensive homeless shelter. :-)
Ah, but if you have this, how can you be “homeless”…. This thing is bigger than a lot of shacks on the other side of the tracks, and certainly could be parked in a lot of parking lots at swanky hotels…. Hmmmmm
My apologies but we are certainly not nouveau riche, we only have “Laser Disks”. You Yanks never know when to quit.
Great movie prop or cars and coffee ride but nothing says you have arrived like this. Good wedding rental..
Rip out the rear interior install a bed and a RV fridge and stove and then you have a one off mini RV your biggest problem is the mineral oil suspension those always leak.
Google “Radford Countryman” – somebody beat you to it 70 years ago! For a while I had the first one built on a Bentley S1 chassis.
I have a ’91 Silver Spur and it’s been trouble free aside from the usual upkeep. I use a Rolls specialist, NOT the dealership!
It’s such a pleasure to drive that I don’t even mind being in traffic.
Only mod was an $8,000 hidden stereo system. You can easily get 500,000 miles out of the motor and many parts are GM interchangeable!
I spent many years in the fire apparatus business, and we typically had a demo custom pumper or wildland rig parked at our house. My stepdaughter showed absolutely no interest in any of it until it came to senior prom. As a result of her request, she and five of her friends arrived in a $400K custom pumper, rather than a “pedestrian” limo. It was probably the first time that she thought that I was “cool”…
I’d love to have this for my taxi business, but the price is way too high. I typically buy 2011 Lincoln Town Car Executive L cars for around $5k, and even with 300k miles on them, with proper maintenance they’ll go 500k miles. We already have a limo business in town, so I wouldn’t try to compete with them, but my customers would probably piss themselves at the opportunity to arrive in style in this Rolls limo.
You have to remember that Rolls have to be fixed at a Rolls dealership, even for an oil change! Even if your local repair shop couple will he/ she have the room to work on it?
Not so, the RR people want you to think that, but I know this guy in Jersey who works on RR all the time, and he hasn’t been employed for 20 years, but for some reason, he’s never without a cash flow. It seems that those who need a RR mechanic know whom to call.
Bring a Trailer full of money…
Ah yesss, the old myth that you can only have a Rolls-Royce serviced at a R-R dealer. You don’t even have to use the dealer for regular oil changes while the car is under warranty, as long as you use oil & filter that meets or exceeds the factory specs, and the company who makes the oil filters [Crossland] also offers their own brand filter that’s approved, and a fraction of what the dealer price is.
I owned and operated an independent Rolls-Royce [and Bentley] repair and restoration shop for many years, and I’ve owned about 30 R-R & B cars, from 1932 to 1985. I’ve also attended a class for R-R chauffeurs in Britain. The photo above shows yours truly driving [about 3 feet!] the actual Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, often considered the most valuable car in the world, and said to be the most recognized car world-wide.
Here are the top 10 most common myths about Rolls-Royce cars:
1. Is the claim listed above.
2. Rolls-Royce hoods are sealed and only the dealer can open it.
3. The factory will go get the car and repair it under warranty, no matter where the car is in the world.
4. Same as #3, but the warranty is for as long as you own the car.
5. The factory has an archive of matching interior wood pieces for all the cars they ever made.
6. The cars are actually never sold, and cannot be sold. They are leased and must be returned to the factory.
7. The factory has to approve your purchase of a new Rolls-Royce.
8. Only drivers who graduated from the factory chauffeur school are permitted to drive one.
9. The cars are equipped with all the tools needed to work on the car.
10 The factory still supplies all the spare parts for all Rolls-Royce cars ever produced, even if they need to make it for you.