ROLLS ROYCE SILVER SPIRIT, SILVER DAWN and SILVER SPUR (1980 - 1997)
CLASS WITHOUT THE COST (2004-08-05)
MODELS COVERED: V8 6570CC 4DR. 1980-1989 - SILVER SPIRIT, LWB SILVER SPUR. 1989-1993 - SILVER SPIRIT II, LWB SILVER SPUR II. 1993-1996 SILVER SPIRIT III, LWB SILVER SPUR III.
1996-1999 SILVER DAWN, LWB SILVER SPUR III
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BY JONATHAN CROUCH
For the price of a new Mercedes S-class, a
BMW 750 or a Daimler, you could have a previously owned
Rolls Royce from a Rolls Royce dealer. Well worth considering - if you have the means. A Rolls Royce, after all, is handcrafted, not mass-produced. And the feeling you get at the wheel of one is like nothing else.
The British motor industry may hardly exist as we once knew it but a lasting legacy has been left. You could own a part of it.
There is still something unique and special about owning one of these cars and about the statement it still makes. Valet parkers spring into action on your arrival. Doormen leap to your aid, waving lesser cars to less exalted berths. Truly, a Rolls Royce has presence and plenty of it.
It's hide-covered interior smells almost literally of money. Stand outside it and the sheer size overwhelms. Walk round it and you should take your rucksack. In both front and rear, you sink your shoes ankle-deep into something which seems more like an entire sheep than a mere carpet.
All around you, theres craftsmanship that would send the Antiques Roadshow team into sheer ecstasy. Anything that couldnt be veneered has been chromed; switches, door handles, ashtrays, air vents; only the nasty plastic column stalks are a reminder of the 20th century. You sit high up, of course, with a commanding view of the proletariat who remain mightily impressed by that enormous front grille, with the famous silver lady statue astride it. After a few miles, you wont care that this car has the drag co-efficient of a garden shed.
All that matters is that behind that endless bonnet, youve achieved a superior kind of peace with the world.
The earliest B-registered Silver Spirits are getting on a bit now and should probably be priced on an individual basis. Allow around £2,250 more for low mileage examples and pay a premium of around £1,000-£2,000 more for an equivalent Silver Spur. The earliest 90G-registered Silver Spirit IIs start at just over £14,500, with more typical J and K-plated cars at between £18,000 and £19,000. Allow a premium of around £2,500 more for an equivalent Silver Spur II.
The earliest L-registered Silver Spirit IIIs start at around £21,000, with more typical M and N-plated cars at between £25,000 and £31,000. Allow a premium of around £5,000 more for an equivalent Silver Spur III.
To avoid potential problems, buy a factory-approved used car from a Rolls Royce dealer. Otherwise get a detailed expert inspection carried out. Insist on a full Rolls Royce service before you buy because running costs are huge.
(based on an M-reg Silver Spirit approx ex-Vat) A full exhaust system (excluding catalyst) is around £1,750 and an exchange gearbox around £1,600. Front and rear brake pads are around £113 and £77 per set respectively. A starter motor is around £480, a radiator (exchange) around £268, an alternator around £675 and a front headlamp lens around £225.
Under the bonnet, you'll find a 6.75-litre V8 engine, which despite the prodigious body weight, still manages to shift this huge Gentlemans Conveyance at a surprisingly rapid pace. Its rather undignified to drive the car like this, of course, but for raising eyebrows amongst your fellow road users, you cant beat it. Most of the time, youll be content to glide from county to county, much as the standard four-speed automatic gearbox slides imperceptibly from ratio to ratio.
You can hear the engine all right, but it sounds a bit like a thunderstorm happening 50 miles away.
A chance to sample the high life for less than you might expect. Its still not cheap, but keep your eyes open and you could well be in a Silver Something for less than
SEAT or
Suzuki money.
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