Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow 1965–1980

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Barcelona
    Posts
    33,489

    Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow 1965–1980

    The Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow is a luxury car produced by British automaker Rolls-Royce in various forms from 1965 to 1980. It was the first of the marque to use unitary body and chassis construction.
    The Silver Shadow was produced from 1965 to 1976, and the Silver Shadow II from 1977 to 1980. To date, the combined model run has the largest production volume of any Rolls-Royce.

    Silver Shadow
    The Silver Shadow was designed with several modernisations in response to concerns that the company was falling behind in automotive innovation, most notably its unitary construction.
    Style-wise, the John Polwhele Blatchley design was a major departure from its predecessor, the Silver Cloud. More than 50% of Silver Clouds had been sold on the domestic market where, by the standards of much of Europe and most of North America, roads were narrow and crowded.
    The new Shadow was 3 1⁄2 inches (8.9 cm) narrower and 7 inches (18 cm) shorter than the Silver Cloud, but nevertheless managed to offer increased passenger and luggage space thanks to more efficient packaging made possible by unitary construction.

    Other new features included disc brakes replacing drums, and independent rear suspension instead of the outdated live axle design of previous Rolls models.

    The standard wheelbase Silver Shadow measured 203.5 inches (5,170 mm), 4,700 lb (2,100 kg) and had a book price of £6,557 in the first year of production.

    The Shadow featured a 172 hp (128 kW) 6.2 L V8 from 1965 to 1969, and a 189 hp (141 kW) 6.75 L V8 from 1970 to 1980. Both power plants were coupled to a General Motors-sourced Turbo Hydramatic 400 automatic gearbox, except on pre-1970 right-hand-drive models,
    which used the same 4-speed automatic gearbox as the Silver Cloud (also sourced from General Motors, the Hydramatic).

    A distinctive feature was a high-pressure hydropneumatic suspension system licensed from Citroλn, with dual-circuit braking and hydraulic self-leveling suspension. At first, both the front and rear of the car were controlled by the leveling system;
    the front leveling was deleted in 1969 as it had been determined that the rear leveling did almost all the work. Rolls-Royce achieved a high degree of ride quality with this arrangement.


    Two-door versions
    A two-door saloon was introduced early in 1966, followed by a convertible in 1967.There are two different versions of the two-door saloon – one by Mulliner Park Ward featuring "Coke bottle" style fenders, and the very rare James Young model that was only built in fifty examples
    (comprising 35 Rolls-Royces and 15 Bentleys). The James Young version was discontinued in 1967, leaving only the curvier Mulliner Park Ward model. The convertible variant, by Mulliner Park Ward, was marketed as the Silver Shadow Drophead Coupι.

    Silver Shadow II
    In 1977, the model was renamed the Silver Shadow II in recognition of several major changes, most notably rack and pinion steering; modifications to the front suspension improved handling markedly.
    Externally, the bumpers were changed from chrome to alloy and rubber starting with the late 1976 Silver Shadows. These new energy-absorbing bumpers had been used in the United States since 1974, as a response to tightening safety standards there. Nonetheless,
    the bumpers on cars sold outside of North America were still solidly mounted and protruded 2 inch(5 cm) less. Also now made standard across the board was the deletion of the small grilles mounted beneath the headlamps.
    Outside of North America, where tall curbs and the like demanded more ground clearance, a front skirt was also fitted to the Silver Shadow II and its sister cars.

    In 1979, 75 Silver Shadow II cars were specially fitted to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the company with the original red "RR" badges front and rear, pewter/silver paint, grey leather with red piping, scarlet red carpets,
    and a silver commemorative placard on the inside of the glove box door. 33 75th anniversary cars were designated for and shipped to the North American market.

    Silver Wraith II
    Rolls-Royce considered offering a more exclusive, long-wheelbase Phantom VII model based on the Silver Shadow, but production was not pursued and no prototypes were built. Instead, a long-wheelbase variant, some 4 inches longer to provide additional rear seat legroom,
    was offered in the United States from May 1969, and available to domestic customers from early 1970. A pilot series of ten long wheelbase cars had been built in 1967 and sold, one of them to Princess Margaret. Some long-wheelbase models were fitted with a privacy glass divider.
    Outside of North America, the cars with a divider were fitted with a separate air conditioning unit mounted in the boot - North American safety laws made this impossible, as the petrol tank would have had to be relocated. The cars with a divider lost the entire gain in wheelbase.
    The glass divider was electrically retractable.


    info form wikipedia.org
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Duell; 09-09-2020 at 04:42 AM.
    Lack of charisma can be fatal.
    Visca Catalunya!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    The Netherlands
    Posts
    4,218
    Interesting to see it even raced.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Rozenburg, Holland
    Posts
    27,329
    Quote Originally Posted by Man of Steel View Post
    Interesting to see it even raced.
    This one did the 1981 Paris Dakar...
    Attached Images Attached Images
    "I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting, but it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously." Douglas Adams

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Northamptonshire, UK
    Posts
    180
    Quote Originally Posted by henk4 View Post
    This one did the 1981 Paris Dakar...
    I remember that one but as i recall it's a Corniche not a Silver Shadow since it's a late model 2 door fixed head coupe. Although originally introduced as Silver Shadow in 1966 from 1971 it became known solely as a Coniche.
    Last edited by RSOWNER; 01-09-2010 at 07:48 PM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Philadelphia, PA
    Posts
    954
    hahaha wow thanx for posting those pics, i woulda nvr guessed in my wildest dreams that Rolls went rallying

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Rozenburg, Holland
    Posts
    27,329
    Quote Originally Posted by RSOWNER View Post
    I remember that one but as i recall it's a Corniche not a Silver Shadow since it's a late model 2 door fixed head coupe. Although originally introduced as Silver Shadow in 1966 from 1971 it became known solely as a Coniche.
    you are right, hadn't even spotted the two doors
    "I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting, but it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously." Douglas Adams

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Delft
    Posts
    4,487
    A 1971 Silver Shadow

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Delft
    Posts
    4,487
    A well used Silver Shadow II from 1976

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Delft
    Posts
    4,487

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Rolls Royce Silver Wraith Aerodinamyc by Hooper
    By ribatejo69 in forum Classic cars
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 12-18-2012, 11:50 AM
  2. Replies: 3
    Last Post: 06-10-2009, 10:46 PM
  3. Rolls Royce Silver Wraith by Hooper
    By ribatejo69 in forum Classic cars
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 03-25-2009, 02:11 AM
  4. Rolls Royce Silver Shadow LWB Special
    By ribatejo69 in forum Classic cars
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 06-26-2006, 03:08 AM
  5. 100 years since Mr Rolls met Mr Royce
    By UK CARS in forum Miscellaneous
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 05-06-2004, 09:10 AM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •