It’s hard to get one’s head around the longevity of the Silver Shadow. The full-size luxury car line was offered from 1965 to 1980 with very few changes to speak of, and as expected, all of them were unreliable from the factory because of Lucas electricals. But that’s not all, oh no!
The hydropneumatic suspension with dual-circuit braking and self-leveling function? It’s a technical marvel, no doubt about that, but the ride quality is offset by hideously expensive repair bills when the sphere seal or anything related to the suspension system breaks down.
All of the 30,000-odd examples produced were fitted with the L-Series V8, an overhead design known for oil breather pipe flame trap issues, oil leakage, oil burning from worn pistons and cylinders, spark knocking and overheating, and cylinder liner-to-block seals that fail prematurely and allow the coolant and oil to leak into the engine. Be that as it may, an ultra-luxury vehicle goes hand in hand with high levels of regular maintenance.
If you skip to the 10:40 mark of the following video from Regular Car Reviews, you will also understand that not even Rolls-Royce had faith in their own designs. The Silver Shadow Drophead Coupe tested by Mr. Regular came with an auxiliary crank from the factory in case the window motors failed. Yup, that’s what you may call a necessary redundancy.
Owned by Tim the Car Guy, the lovely convertible before your eyes also happens to feature new electrics, a more conventional suspension system instead of the hydropneumatics from Citroen, and a small-block V8 with 350 cubic inches of American grunt. Don’t boo and hiss at this man’s choice because this engine swap makes a lot of sense.
You see, Rolls-Royce used Hydramatic transmissions from General Motors for a long time because they're very reliable and low maintenance. The only downside to the TH 400 in this car is – of course – the lack of an overdrive. 10 to 13 miles to the gallon is the most you can expect from such a heavy car and a carbureted engine with 5.7 liters of displacement.
These being said, Mr. Regular is much obliged to report that “what you have here is a very comfortable couch.” Oh, and a word of warning before you press play to enjoy this review to the fullest. Prepare yourself for a lot of intensifying fart noises, toilet sounds, and all that jazz.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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