Sometimes, you can just tell when a seller wants to be done with a car. This is a listing for a 1979 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow (mistakenly labeled a Phantom) and the seller is listing it on behalf of the owner. The seller claims it has been with that caretaker “forever”, so fingers crossed there’s some history here that will help the next owner know where they’re starting from with this long-dormant project. The Rolls-Royce is listed here on Facebook Marketplace, which is where the seller says he is helping to “…get rid of it.”
The asking price is $3,900, which seems a touch ambitious for a non-running Silver Shadow from the malaise era. The sad thing about these cars is they were seriously overbuilt in terms of the quality of the interior, the heft of the doors and body, the thickness of the carpeting, and so on. Unfortunately, quality control was still an issue and let these luxury-liners down to the point that they are not particularly sought-after as projects. The interior on this example isn’t terrible for a car that has definitely been sitting.
The crazy thing is how many of these Silver Shadows are still in circulation. It’s an event to see a modern-day Rolls-Royce or Bentley driving down the street, but it sure seems like there were a lot of Silver Shadows roaming around given how many still pop up for sale like this. I cannot foresee a universe 30 years from now wherein there’s just cheap Phantoms popping up all over Facebook Marketplace. The back seat leather appears to be in decent shape, too.
Vinyl tops are the death of many cars, and it may be the case here as well. I can’t easily tell if rust has started to permeate the roof structure, but if it has, it’s all over. These cars aren’t worth enough nor are they special enough to drive to justify making extensive rust repairs to, especially when there’s likely a better example not lurking far behind. If this one were a touch cheaper, it may be easier to swallow the expense of repairing the roof, especially if you’re in the northeast and don’t feel like shipping a project in. Do you think this Silver Shadow is worthy of a rescue?
Be a cool LS candidate for a grand.3900 too much.
Won’t work, the camshaft drives two hydraulic pumps that run the brakes and suspension, no master cylinders. Two separate brake systems as well.
These cars aren’t for the faint of mechanical ability.
When I was a motor vehicle examiner I learned that a RR Silver Shadow front brakes will not work unless the rear brakes are also working. On the road test I applied the brakes and the car nose dived because the front brakes were working very efficiently, however, when I had the car on the brake roller test machine they didn’t even budge the gauges. When the rear brakes were applied they worked as they should. When I contacted the RR agents they told me that is how they are supposed to work. Only us Brits would come up with such a system!
Solosolo,
They are correct, and here’s why:
As pointed out earlier, the front and rear brakes share twin high pressure systems, but there is another set of Calipers on the rear wheels that use a non-high pressure system, both as an emergency backup, as well as providing the “feel” of the pedal.
Once the rear brakes are activated by the manual system, a “walking beam” [think a small Cornish steam engine’s top beam that pivots in the center] between the brake pedal connecting rod and the high pressure valves, the beam pivots and opens the 2 high pressure valves.
The brake pedal rod is connected to one eod of the beam and the manual system. Once there is a firm pressure connection there, the beam pivots and opens the high pressure valves at the other end. If the manual system cannot build pedal pressure, the high systems won’t open.
It sounds crazy, but when it’s working correctly, pushing on the brake pedal gives the driver 3 separate brake systems, with the high pressure systems providing 2,500 PSI brake fluid that can bring this 3 ton car to a surprisingly quick stop, and it’s almost impossible to get the brakes to fade unless you greatly misuse the brakes.
I tell anyone who owns a 1965 and newer Rolls-Royce or Bentley to pay special attention to the brake systems. If either the brake pedal “feel” changes, or one of the 2 red brake warning lights comes on, get them looked at by someone who knows how to work on these specific cars.
And always keep a full set of the factory repair & spare parts manuals in the boot [trunk] of your car. In an emergency if you need to get the car repaired and no R-R mechanic is around, then find a damn good mechanic who has the ability to do top quality repairs on older cars [especially British], keeps his shop spotless, and will go by the repairs as laid out in the manuals.
Where there is a will
there’s a way. You don’
t have to use the RR chassis.That’s why I said it’s worth 1k as a cool ls swap.Sure you’re gonna fabricate but you’ll be the only kid on the block that has one.
I’m trying to grasp when the old car hobby turned from buying an old car and having fun with it, to being all about money, money, and more money. Who gives a #### how much this and that costs; tune it up, hose it down, and enjoy the crap out of it.
I think the point is that it’s very likely that you could find a clean, running Silver Shadow for less than it will cost to buy this one and bring it back. As for tuning it up and enjoying it, good luck with that. These are very complex cars, and once they fall into disrepair, it’s difficult to bring them back. I suspect that owning this car would be an exercise in frustration, with one repair after another, and it’s not like you can just go to Pep Boys and order up some parts. As the saying goes, “there’s nothing more expensive than a cheap Rolls-Royce.”
Like my mechanic would say, you’re a glutton for punishment
426 Hemi swap and a four speed to take care of all fun!!
. . . well, no one is going to be walking into Pep Boys to search for RR parts–nor any kind of automotive parts, for that matter. Pep Boys, around 2022, closed the “auto parts” portion of their business. I believe most of that became the property of Advance Auto Parts, which also bought out Car Quest.
Pep Boys now seems to be concentrating on tires, and basic service. Thus, you’ll still see Pep Boys stores, but they are doing tires and “service”. In our local store, their name is over the service bays, and the rest of the store is “Advance Auto Parts”
Those cars are not cheap to fix like a Chevy Cavalier. You need to take this to a Rolls-Royce mechanic and repairs can cost you up to $5,000.
A free boat.
That happened when people with lots of money drove the prices up where us normal stiffs can’t afford it any more.
License tag says last driven 2011. Nice color, curious how many were this color
I want to know much more about this Rolls Royce and many more pictures. What is the mileage and last time it was running. I want to see the vin number and confirm the year. The interior picture tells me it is an early 1970’s with that large center counsel.
I’d say this is a parts car, but nobody restores Silver Shadows. If the price comes down, it might be a fun project to clean up as much as possible, get running, and drive for fun. This assumes that some major mechanical disaster wasn’t the cause of the 12 year dormancy.
I could see this ending up on Roadkill with a huge blower sticking out the hood, a jar of Grey Puopon (I don’t care enough to look up the spelling of that one) in the glove box, and a giggling buffoon in the driver’s seat.
It would be a great stable mate to their Draguar
I am not finding where this Rolls is located. Love to see a comment on where it is. The fuel mileage on this cars is less than 10 MPG. Can not afford to drive from North Carolina back to California with it.
New Milford Connecticut.
This Rolls Royce also has the chrome bumpers, not the heavy rubber bumpers. I am sure this is a 1970/71 or 72.
Tom, you are right. These have the pre-1974 small bumpers, before the federal 5 MPH large bumpers.
All you need to do is look at the interior – this is definitely not a ’79 – early 70s for sure. That dash layout is angled where the 1979 was much more vertical – that was the giveaway for me.
Anyone check out the carpe pocket near the door, that’s trashed, and the shiplap interior needs a good defart cleaning, this is no way worth 3900 bucks, if he wants it gone that bad, I’ll come from Chicago and cook them a good dinner and drive home
Here in California even the economical gas stations are now at $5.29 per gallon. I could pay as much as $6.00 if I were to go to Chevron. I am talking 87 octane only !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Put a skeleton in it, park it in your front yard and be the most popular house in the neighborhood!
I have a neighbor that has beet me to it. He has a 1967 Silver Shadow sitting in his drive way. However someone removed the radiator cover from his. It now looks terrible and not one bit impressive.
There’s an old VW Convertible with that grille strapped on the front, broken down on the side of the road somewhere in Southern California
I believe this Rolls is a 1973. The 1071 had only a two bulb tail light and a back up light was separate. This has the three piece tail lights, 1972 or 1973 I am sure.
Tom,
You are probably correct, the dash also shows the warning lights are not the individual early round red lamps, but instead now clustered with other warning lights,
The other problem besides the huge amount of work needed to get it running and driving, is the vinyl roof damage. These cars use a very special vinyl roof material known as “Everflex”. It is designed to be a far more stretchy material. This ability to stretch is important because the roof assembly does not have the typical edge gutters like other cars, where the vinyl top materials edges are hidden in the edge gutters.
These cars have rain deflecting recesses down both sides of the roof, and these deep recesses require a material much more pliable than the other vinyl roof materials. My shop specialized in Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars, and I’ve seen MANY of these cars equipped with an aftermarket replacement vinyl top. Every one of these showed the top material lifting away from the roof metal. this usually happened about a year after the vinyl top was replaced [resulting in a bubbling effect].
The correct Everflex top assembly [the ‘ready to fit’ top kit] material alone will cost more than the asking price for this car. Plus, the adhesive is not the same as for all the other vinyl tops, and is quite pricey.
There are also 2 Rolls-Royce emblems displayed on the vinyl top, just to the rear of the rear doors. These have studs attaching them to the body, and the interior sail panel upholstery needs to be removed to gain access to the nuts inside.
Trust me, you do not want anything to do with one of these. Even if it was given to you for free.
glwts
My oft repeated bit of advice: “The most expensive car in the world? A free car”
You see a lot of these Roller’s for sale now days. Almost all of them have been off the road for a decade or more. Like a poor man buying a cheap Ferrari, the thrill soon ends, when the first repair bill shows up.
Chopped, slammed, & tubbed it’d be neatO n’ cool, too.
All black primer with a 502 Crate.
Wheels & traction bars enough for the 502.
I’d pick it up cheap if I had money to begin with.
Bob
Oh.
The pictures are terrible, so it’s hard to know what the actual condition is. The interior seems OK, maybe can be resurrected to 80% or so without too much work or cost. This is definitely worth the most as a parts car, unless it’s unexpectedly sound and turnkey (not bloody likely). Otherwise, it’s a car you can very quickly spend $30K on, to end up with a $10K machine.
I had one, a 69/70. It was actually pretty simple to work on. Except for the hydrolic brakes
Tow it to the nearest scrap yard and put it, and the prospective buyer, out of their misery!
Man recently found dead clutching the steering wheel of his vintage Silver Shadow. Autopsy report said, “Death by optimism”.
I owned a 1971 Silver Shadow in olive green with a tan interior. I woke up one mooring and had this fear I was headed for a $8,000.00 brake repair bill. Advertised the car on Craigs and sold it to the owner of Midas Muffler in Scottsdale, Az..
In 1979. This car had $60,000 price tag. When introduced in 1965. The price was $15,000 which was the price of a house back in the day. Eva and Zsa Zsa Gabor owned many of these cars over the years. To restore this car. You need to have a lot of money similar to Warren Buffet.
1979 prices new started at $22,220.
Put it on a 4×4 frame put a snowplow on it and away you go ! Lol
Right to the junk yard
I think it would make a cool pickup truck (with or without SBC/BBC Hemi whatever)…not that I could afford to buy it or even hack it up.
Comments about the 1965 Chrysler New Yorker: Notice that the tail lights are clear glass. This represents early production of this car. Chrysler experenced very high brakeage of these glass lights and went to a red plastic lens shortly after production started. I continue to look at this same model car out in the country here in California. This one has power windows, power seat and AC. Along with this New Yorker is a 1965 Plymouth Valiant 2 door plain. I might be the proud owners soon.