Just Arrived

Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit - FSD 834

Chassis:  CH14026

Grey isn't usually the colour people remember.

Ask someone to picture a Silver Spirit and they'll probably imagine Wildberry, Brewster Green, Forest Green, or one of the many shades of blue Rolls-Royce seemed rather fond of throughout the 1980s. Metallic grey rarely gets a mention.

Perhaps it should.

This 1985 Silver Spirit has arrived wearing exactly that, and it suits the car surprisingly well. It's understated without feeling dull, somehow making the Spirit look just a little more contemporary while still carrying all the quiet authority you'd expect from a Rolls-Royce.

It helps that the body has held up remarkably well.

The photos don't quite capture it, but beneath a layer of dust there's a respectable shine waiting to come back out. The panels are impressively straight, the paint appears to have survived the years rather gracefully, and perhaps most surprisingly of all, the wheel arches seem to have escaped the rust that normally claims squatter's rights on these cars. Around here, that's enough to raise a few eyebrows.

Open the door and things continue much the same.

The light cream leather has aged honestly. It's not concours, but it's soft, presentable and far better than we'd normally expect from a forty-year-old Spirit arriving with dismantling in mind. The carpets have become a little scruffy over the years, and the lacquer across the dashboard and door cappings is doing exactly what Rolls-Royce lacquer has always done after decades in the sun. It cracks, peels and quietly gives up. We'd almost be disappointed if it didn't.

Then you try starting it.

With a boost pack connected, the old V8 reluctantly turns over. It runs just long enough to shuffle itself on and off the trailer before making it abundantly clear that it would rather not continue.

The noise is... memorable.

Our car buyer, Andy, described it as sounding like "bones in a biscuit tin."

It's one of those descriptions that's funny until you hear it for yourself. Then you realise he's been remarkably accurate.

Something deep inside the engine is having a very unpleasant conversation with something else, and neither side appears willing to compromise. Whatever the fault is, it's serious enough that somebody before us decided their journey with this Silver Spirit had reached its conclusion.

Ordinarily, that would be the end of the story.

But this one has earned a short stay of execution.

The body is simply too good to rush into dismantling, so before the spanners come out we'll be giving it a proper assessment. If there's a sensible route back to the road, we'd much rather see this Spirit continue doing what it was built to do.

If not, then at least we'll know we gave it every chance.

Some cars make that decision very easy.

This one, doesn't.