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Riding On A Cloud? 1958 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud

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Just think of what $30,000 will buy you in a new car. A fully-loaded Chevrolet Malibu. A Ford Fusion. A Chrysler 200C. Small Toyotas, Hondas, Nissans and Mazdas. Compare those with this classy Rolls Royce! Ok, it’s not a fair comparison, and your maintenance costs for the Rolls will be many times that of any of the other choices, But just look at it! It’s for sale here on eBay and is located in Concord, Ontario, Canada. The buy it now is $30,000, but offers below that will be considered.

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I’ll bet the Rolls has more trunk space! And just look at that shiny paint and chrome! I’m not sure that the seller’s claim of “absolutely no defects” will hold up, and they even admit to some small paint chips, but gosh, this is pretty!

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I was curious as to what one of these cars was worth. Checking nadaguides.com shows an average retail of $32,100 and a high of $60,600, so I really can’t argue with the buy it now price. I wish I were in the market!

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As it turns out, the inside (note the left hand drive) is just as nice as the outside. I’m not a Rolls expert, so I don’t claim to know whether this car is correct or not, but I can tell you it looks awfully nice to me! Only 2,238 of these exquisite cars were produced and I really wish this one were mine!

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Under hood we find the venerable inline 6 cylinder of 298 cubic inches. It’s listed in one source as making 177 horsepower. Even though the car weighs 4,200 pounds I think that would be perfectly adequate for my needs. I wonder if I can convince Cristina that this would make a great family car instead of the Mark IX Jaguar she wants? Any tips, Barn Finds readers? Do you agree with me?

 

Comments

  1. Avatar Fred W.

    Looks like a nice, well maintained Rolls. Just don’t expect to go down to the local Autozone to pick up a set of brake pads.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Dan h

      Actually, brake shoes. And they cost about $200…..per shoe.

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      • Avatar brakeservo

        Who on earth would pay $200 a brake shoe?? I get mine relined $12 each!! I’m not even sure you can get new brake shoes, they probably haven’t been made in over 50 years. I suppose if Albers still have a few sitting on the shelf, or Barclay, they might quote $200 a shoe but even that I find very hard to believe. Have you ever actually ever owned a Rolls??

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    • Avatar brakeservo

      Any well stocked corner auto parts store will have all the tune-up parts, all the seals to rebuild the brake cylinders etc. You just need to know the interchanges. I’ve found my Rolls-Royces and Bentleys to be easier/cheaper to maintain than my Toyota. Its only people who haven’t owned one who think they are expensive. There are some things though that can be expensive, but mostly that happens when you don’t know what you’re doing.

      Like 0
  2. Avatar Roselandpete

    Love the styling but I hate to think what service would cost on it.

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    • Avatar brakeservo

      Service is very, very cheap – ordinary Delco ignition points, Champion spark plugs. Get an adapter for a modern spin-on oil filter and fit a proper paper air filter element in place of the wire mesh screen and you’re good to go. These are durable, usable, robust and reliable – not at all like a Jaguar or similar.

      Like 1
  3. Avatar Zaphod

    I drove a Cloud 1 for many years. It’s a simple truck, well made, over built. Corrosion problems in the A sub-pillars but easily fixed. Manual front end lubrication via third pedal and constant manual adjustment of the rear brakes. Other wise a nice enough car. Don’t look for road feel or precision steering, buy stock in a tire company, and no radials, please: they screw up the suspension life.

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  4. Avatar John H. in CT

    Jamie, you won’t get a Mark IX in the condition this aopears to be in for this money. However the Jag is a much nicer running car with close to 240HP in the 3.8 L.

    It may be counter intuitive, but some of the best rust free examples come from Canada, because up there if they were ever driven in snow and salt, the rust worm totally destroyed them years ago. A survivor like this likely was garaged every winter and never ever saw sniw. I found my 43K original miles Mark IX in Montreal in similar condition just a few years ago.

    If you can have someone verify its condition, it may well be worth it. Figure in an additional $3K for import duties, a customs agent and transport.

    Like 0
  5. Avatar Ross W. Lovell

    Greetings All,

    The lines of this car was what captivated me the pricing and parts is what drove me to Jaguar Big Cats, like the MKVII-IX. Similar lines, leather and wood interiors with an easier engine to service.

    Love the RR engine, and never expected them to be inexpensive, but dealing with idiosyncrasies of the marque was always met with the response ” guess their too pricey for you”! No, just don’t like to waste my money on poorly thought out failure modes.

    These usually suffer from “poor owner maintenance”, read that either way, the poor can be used to describe both the money spent and the quality of the outcome achieved, both are true.

    Brake pads are the least of this Marques issues when it comes to brakes, it’s the master cylinder to worry about.

    I’ll trust the guide’s price but $60K seems high as this is one of the sixes and most prefer the later eights especially as AC more readily available.

    The ride with a full framed car is awesome.

    Somehow Jaguar managed to achieve most all of what was offered fo far less money……..though there never was a well thought out AC system on any of them including the MKX and 420G variants, though some if the dealer installed systems were not bad.

    RR really does have an amazing steel alloy making up their body panels, they are several cuts above in strength compared to regular sheet metal.

    Like the Jags, the interior work can kill you expense wise.

    One of the better examples I’ve seen lately, guessing the interior has been done along with the headliner….a big deal.

    Like 0
  6. Avatar David J

    “Pardon me. Do you have any Grey Poupon?”

    What a beautiful car. If these are holding their value, it would make for a wonderful 1000-2000 mile per year car, for a little while.

    Like 0
    • Avatar brakeservo

      Do not drive this car so little – use it much more, heck use it daily! Letting it sit will allow it to deteriorate – these were the absolutely best built cars of their day, utilizing the finest technology the 1930s had to offer and are still wonderful cars for modern traffic.

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  7. Avatar Joe Haska

    Very interesting comments, changed my thought process, I was on the negative side , maybe not so much now!

    Like 0
  8. Avatar Stephen

    The big six is sufficient for travelling in style, and dead reliable as long as it’s been reasonably maintained. Brakes are the one really quirky component. Parts are readily available, as these cars were meant to be maintained for several generations. There’s even a good-sized online community for DIY owners.

    Like 0

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