Vehicle Description
This is a delightful combination Silver Shadow II finished in
Champagne over Chestnut with hand-painted fine lines in black to
the waist lines and the hubcap beauty rings. The Connolly interior
is finished in light tan (cream) with nicely contrasting biscuit
tan piping. The interior makes for a very elegant combination with
the exterior. This is one of the last of the series of Silver
Shadows and although a mid-western car has only been driven in good
clean summer weather for as long as can be remembered. The
underside is very clean and dry. She has been in climate control
storage for the last few years. Rarely driven over the last 39-odd
years, she sports a very modest 46,000 original presenting miles.
It is primarily an original presenting Silver Shadow II that was
recently lightly restored by the Park-Ward Motor Museum - a
nation-wide leader in Rolls-Royce restoration with over 30 years
Rolls-Royce and Bentley experience. This Shadow II is very straight
with the paint in overall nice presentation. The paint is very
original in presentation which is quite rare for these cars. It is
not perfect and there are signs of age to include chips, blemishes,
minor crazing and signature fractures in the lead-wiping areas of
the car (Rolls-Royce used a process known as "lead-wiping" in which
lead was used to join body panels as opposed to bondo. It was a
true craftsmen process - lost in modern car manufacturing methods.
With this art, came issues of the lead expanding and contracting at
a different rate to the steel and aluminum on the car causing
certain places of the overlying paint to stress crack. Literally,
every Silver Shadow ever made now displays this symptom). So please
do not expect perfection from a show car point of view but it is
otherwise very nice for driver use. Certainly, she is very shiny
with a deep and consistent lustre. The side protection mouldings
are an aesthetic detraction but fortunately these are stick on and
could be removed. The fine lines are excellent and present well.
The burl walnut wood finishes are entirely original and have NEVER
been redone. They are very nice with only some slight hair-line
marks notable in the driver's door and parts of the dash. This is
also very rare to see on a Rolls-Royce of this vintage as the RR
finish was a very thick and deep lacquer which in mostly all cases,
cracks and peels off after many years of seasonal temperature
change. For this car to sport its original wood can only mean that
it has been homed and/or stored under "constant" temperature which
very clearly supports its garaged up-bringing. The Connolly leather
is in excellent condition throughout without any notable marks or
blemishes. It is finished in cream (a light tan) with subtle and
very elegant contrasting piping in biscuit tan. This "connects"
very well with the Champagne and Chestnut exterior combination. The
carpets are a dark tan with the reverse piping theme of cream
edging. Simply delightful. The leather has never been refinished in
any way without the slightest application of dye. They are super
soft and supple and carry with them an absolutely perfect amount of
gently used patina. Please see the various photos showing the
leather "scrunch test" and many close-ups of the leather. All the
graining you see is that suppleness developed and brought to us
only by good quality leather that Connolly is famous for. If you
like perfect, new looking leather, let us know, as this car could
easily be lightly Connollised by us in-house. But, to be frank, we
love it the way it is. All glass, chrome and bright work are
excellent. All lights, instruments, features and functions are in
working order. The car has its original factory push-button
Blaupunkt Radio, Pioneer 8-track cassette player and the further
fitment of a factory correct Blaupunkt regular cassette player.
Mechanically, the car has been subject to the 30 year service and
restoration experience of the Park-Ward Motor Museu
