SOLD

Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II - FSD 815

Chassis:  SRH36548

Fresh off the trailer — and looking far more self-assured than most of its contemporaries — comes this 1979 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II.

According to the factory colour code, the paint is called Horse Chestnut. Which is a charming name, if you’re picturing something warm and brown and autumnal.

This car, however, is none of those things.

In reality it’s a deep, rich red. Perhaps even burgundy, maroon or a blood red. The sort of colour that feels a little dramatic for a Rolls-Royce, yet somehow works rather well once you’ve stopped questioning the name. One suspects someone at Crewe had a poetic moment that went unchallenged.

Whatever the reasoning, the result is genuinely striking.

The bodywork, unusually for a car of this era and temperament, is beautiful. The paint has a deep shine, the panels are straight, and there’s a reassuring lack of filler and DIY repainting. Minimal defects, clean lines, and the sort of presence that makes it look rather proud of itself sitting quietly in the yard.

Which is precisely why this one caught our attention.

The plan from the start was simple: sell it on as a rolling restoration. A decent, honest Shadow someone could improve gradually while still enjoying the experience of owning and driving it. And, technically speaking, that’s still the plan.

Technically.

Because as often happens with cars of this persuasion, the closer you look, the longer the to-do list becomes. Nothing catastrophic, nothing dramatic — but a few leaks have appeared that will require further investigation before anyone starts planning long-distance adventures. The engine runs, the car drives, and generally behaves like a Rolls-Royce should, but there are whispers of work waiting patiently in the background.

Looks, as they say, can be deceiving.

The interior adds its own little twist to the story. Given how well the exterior has survived, you might expect the cabin to match. Instead, the leather shows a fair bit of wear and has gone a little dry in places. The wood veneer hasn’t fared much better, with most of the lacquer having quietly departed over the years, leaving it looking somewhat tired. And then there are the door cards, which are… struggling. Particularly the driver’s door, which appears to be slowly separating itself from the idea of being a door card at all.

We’ll dive deeper into all of that later.

For now, though, this Shadow has been given a temporary secondary role. Before it heads to its next owner, we’ll be keeping it around for a short while to help test some of our parts and work through a few technical guides. Think of it as a slightly overqualified workshop assistant.

So while it will be heading to the sales page as a rolling restoration, it won’t be quite yet.

For the moment, it’s simply a rather handsome — and slightly mysterious — addition to the yard.

Keep an eye on the sales page in the coming weeks. This blood-red Shadow will be looking for its next custodian soon enough.