Two years ago, AutoWeek editor Frank Jacobs raised his hand at the wrong moment during an auction. Suddenly, he was the owner of a well-worn Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. That turned into quite an adventure; high time for an update.
It has been some time since you could read about my adventure with an old Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow in AutoWeek. How and why I bought it and subsequently the technical inspection. I’ve now had the car for almost two years, time to look back at how things went for us. I’ll briefly tell you what happened before. In January 2024, this 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow 1 crossed my path. It was auctioned, so the purchase was a leap in the dark. Because I’ve always been a thrill-seeker, I took the risk and managed to make the dream car of my youth mine.
Between 89 and 139 hours of work
I understood that there were quite a few defects, so I went to Rolls-Royce and Bentley specialist Brabocars in Hillegom. There, my acquisition was turned inside out in half a day (costs: €613.95 including VAT, three V-belts and a spark plug), which led to an almost endless list of recommendations. Although there was a kind of quote attached to it, because each repair mentioned a minimum and maximum price and those two were very far apart, I actually knew nothing. To give a few examples: the overhaul of the auxiliary steering box: 3 to 4 hours of work (at €125 excl. VAT), material €1,000 to €1,150 excl. VAT. That is a range of between €1,664 and €1,997 incl. VAT. Replacing the rear shock absorbers will cost me between €1,180 and €1,845. The leaking carburetors between €1,089 and €1,815, the ball joint play on both front wheels between €514 and €1,210, and so on, over a list of 55 estimated items. In total, we are talking about between 89 and 139 hours of work.
Window open
That sounds more dramatic than it is, because not everything needs to be done. I’m perfectly capable with a wrench and a screwdriver myself, and other repairs I don’t think are worth the effort or the money. The missing spare wheel? If you buy a new car now, there isn’t even a temporary spare tire in it. That one hour (to put a spare wheel in?) and €500 (€756.25 incl. VAT) I’ll keep in my pocket. Converting the defective air conditioning (still R12, with a prohibited refrigerant) would cost between €1,664 and €2,178; I’ll just open a window. Radio and antenna don’t work: I happen to be very handy with that myself, and things like engine compartment lighting, left mirror control working in reverse, wrong size Spirit of Ecstasy (mine was originally on a Silver Cloud), and loose rubbers around the trunk disappear to the DIY lists or ‘not really necessary’.
As for the rest: just do it. That turned out not to be so simple. It was another month and a half before it was my turn. The workshop schedule was completely full. Apparently, there are many more crazy people like me. That reassured me again. Well, a little bit anyway.
Always double the costs
By now, I know that working on Rolls-Royces is just like construction: double the cost estimate, and even then, you’re optimistically on the low end of the final price. Ignorant of this at the time, and blinded by love for that magnificent oldtimer that had been shining in front of my door for a few months, I gave Brabo a more or less blank check. They estimated about two weeks of work on my Shadow, but my patience was never tested as much as during that long, beautiful summer of 2024. When I finally received the relieving phone call, three months had passed, and the first autumn showers were entering our country. So long, summer.
Vague quote, ultimately over €22,000
Undeterred by any knowledge, I estimated the damage at around ten thousand, tacitly allowing myself a ceiling of fifteen. If the costs were to exceed that, someone else could break their teeth on this Shadow, I reasoned. But since the quote remained so vague, that intention was utterly futile. The only thing I had a bit of a handle on was that Brabo’s workshop manager more or less hinted that we should be able to get a long way with ten thousand. A long way, yes, but not the whole way. When I finally got white smoke after three months of patience, that smoke mainly came from smouldering banknotes. No “habemus papam,” but definitely “habemus super-thick bill.” I had to pay about 22 thousand. But hey, the missing RR logos on the headlights, a detail that irritated me from day one, I got for free. Still a job I could do myself.
109 liters of petrol in the tank!
Well, then you’re done with the costs for a while, you might say. Forget it, because you also have to go to the pump occasionally. Although it takes 109 liters, E5 of course, it doesn’t like diluted stuff. After a few hundred kilometers, it’s your turn again. Because the odometer was broken when I bought it and was only repaired during the refurbishment, I had no idea for a long time what its consumption was. On the internet, you find values of around one in four, but my contact person at Brabo told me that he has customers who get one in six. Since I drive incredibly carefully and calmly with such an old beast, I hoped to be one of those customers too. But unfortunately, my first measurement came out at 1 liter per 4.2 kilometers. However, that measurement included a drive of about fifty kilometers on the highway when I had to go to the AutoWeek editorial office to exhibit the Rolls at the AutoWeek Fandag. Furthermore, I don’t waste my precious kilometers on highway drives. All in all, you roughly have to count on one euro per two kilometers for fuel. So, if you drive somewhere, the round trip distance is the one-way distance in euros.
Missing Wheel Cap
Before that, I suffered another setback. In my hometown, I’m on a waiting list for a private parking garage around the corner, which is only accessible to tenants and where you have your own fixed spot. Until then, I have an annual pass for the large public parking garage under the boulevard. I live in a God-fearing and conservative village, where people still have old-fashioned respect for each other and each other’s belongings. But yes, it’s also a seaside resort, so many tourists come during the season. Anyway, one day I found the Shadow with one less wheel cap. A black steel wheel on the front left: that’s certainly not a sight. Brabo does have a supply of used wheel caps, but those of the Shadow have a ring in the color of the paint. So you just have to have the right color, and Brabo had it. And since I was at it anyway; the rear left cap had a different colored ring. And yes, Brabo also had a ring in my Cardinal Red: €84.70 including VAT and installation. Oh, and the new wheel cap: €250.
Earlier, after the Rolls had spent the winter indoors, the battery had given up the ghost. I just took it in the back of my MX-5 to my regular mechanic, who tested it and concluded that it was indeed dead. I got a fresh Bosch 74 Ah battery, for €215.38.
It often runs on 6 or 7 cylinders
But the problems didn’t end there. Once back on the road, the engine’s running became erratic; it was running on seven or perhaps even only six cylinders. Now, my MX-5 runs on only four cylinders, and that has never bothered me, but still. A morning grump after a long winter sleep? After thirty kilometers, the problem persisted, so if it was that, it was a very stubborn variant. So, off to call Brabo again. It was another month and a half until my turn.
Some problems resolve themselves. In earlier stories about my Roller, I drew parallels with Stephen King’s Plymouth Fury from Christine. I’m repeating myself, because when I woke my Shadow from its extended winter sleep to take it to Brabo, the engine started as if it had been turned off five minutes earlier, only to then run like a Swiss watch.
Fallen Queen
I already mentioned the AutoWeek Fan Day. That day, my Rolls garnered much admiration, but it ended less gloriously. When I stopped by the supermarket on the way back to do some groceries, the engine simply kept running when I turned the ignition key. I could take the key out, slip it into my pocket, and get out: the V8 six and three quarter purred contentedly. I decided to drive home and turn it off there in an unconventional way, but as soon as I put it in D, it remained stuck in P. R also gave no sign of life.
ANWB called for help for the first time
So I dived under the hood and pulled the ignition coil cable. I then put it back, after which I started it again. That went fine, but again I couldn’t engage a gear, and it wouldn’t turn off anymore. So, I pulled the ignition coil cable again to silence it. When I bought this car, I took out a roadside assistance subscription for the first time in my life, and I was very happy about it for the first time. Not that I had any illusion that a generalist like a roadside assistant would understand the quirks of a half-century-old Rolls, but at least they could deliver my car to Brabo. It must be said: the ANWB was there faster than Lucky Luke shoots. But as I already suspected, the good man had no idea what was wrong. All that remained for him was to call a tow truck, who arrived almost as quickly. So, a little later, I witnessed my fallen British queen sadly disappearing on the back of a car ambulance onto the N206 towards Hillegom.
Short circuit
What could it be? The answer came a few days later from Brabo. There was a loose, non-original positive wire behind the heater control panel that had started feeding power to the car. A short circuit. Tire pressure and fluids were checked immediately. I was mobile again. And €655.03 poorer.
For this story, I put all the above numbers into a spreadsheet, and it taught me that so far, in a year and a half, I have spent €35,138 (excluding fuel and insurance). You have to love a car a lot to turn a blind eye to that. Should anyone ever warn you that a classic Rolls-Royce is an expensive hobby: they are lying. It’s a terrifyingly expensive joke. You can say you heard it from me.
Wedding car request
People don’t realize that either. For example, my brother called me a while ago. A friend of his was getting married, asking if I would drive the bridal couple to the town hall in my Rolls. Now, I would have gladly done that if it had been the town hall of Katwijk, but we are talking about Veldhoven here. That’s three hundred kilometers round trip, so roughly the same amount in euros just for the fuel. I don’t love my brother’s friends that much.
I would do that for my favorite and last remaining uncle, who enjoys his old age in a village between Angers and Le Mans. He has nothing to do with cars, but the whole of Saint Loup du Dorat now knows that his favorite nephew drives a Rolls. He asked if I would come by with the Shadow sometime. 1,500 kilometers round trip. Sorry, Uncle Hans. An MX-5 is fun too. And then we’re only talking about fuel and unforeseen costs. A Silver Shadow needs a service every nine thousand kilometers, and you have to store it. Small advantages: it’s road tax-exempt and APK-exempt (Dutch MOT). When I bought this Rolls, I had the dream of converting it to LPG and using it as a daily drive . Just doing groceries with the Rolls, driving it to work, that kind of thing. By now, I know better.
No regrets
With the knowledge I have now, I would have resolutely clicked away from the auction page back then, but still, I don’t regret this adventure. At least, in summer. Because in the dark months, it stands indoors further down the village, and then the saying ‘out of sight, out of mind’ applies. But in good weather, when my Rolls-Royce shines deep red in the sunlight opposite my house, my gaze keeps stealthily wandering outside. When, typing a story like this, I glance over my screen and notice someone taking selfies or other photos of my Silver Shadow, that passes by curiously circle around it, children respectfully touch Eleanor, then my heart swells with pride. I am the owner of a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow 1, the most beautiful car ever. The child I once was would never have dared to dream that.