1985 Rolls Royce Silver Spur 6.75 gas
Summary:
Big
Faults:
Basically drivable as is. The driver's window was sticking and the antenna was broken from the car wash. Tires were old and I replaced them. Also I did an oil change and replaced the front pads.
All in all it was under $1000.00, and a lot less than any other used car I have bought
General Comments:
It's a great car and really well built. I have 14 other cars, including 5 Jaguars. Therefore I can compare the Rolls. I really love the 1987 XJ6, being the last of the series III and I have 2 of them. I really like to give the Rolls all credit due, but it does not ride as well as the XJ6. This is especially true on the Chicago streets. The Rolls is not a driver's car and I bought it mainly just to have one.
There are few other things I find difficult in the Rolls, like the location of the driver's side window control that is under the front part of the armrest. Whereas Jaguar has made the effort to build a truly left-side controlled car, the Rolls only moved the steering wheel. On a car that costs 10 time more than most luxury cars and being partially hand-built, I see no reason, beside arrogance not to change all controls over. As for the window switch, it will only require rearranging the wires. Using flat-head screws installed in a horizontal position is a nice touch, but it adds nothing to the ergonomics of the controls.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 22nd October, 2018
26th Oct 2018, 16:23
This was not the reply I was looking for... LOL. My 1985 Rolls is not a beater; none of my cars are. It is in showroom condition, not a single tinny crack in the wood or blemish in the leather. With all the different cars I owned I can surely make a comment about my Rolls. It's a great car, but from the Rolls I expected greater. I see a car that was built with a lot of arrogance and a "take it or leave it" mentality.
26th Oct 2018, 21:08
I saw that earlier comment - wasn't quite sure the person can actually appreciate a Rolls. Like, "beater" isn't necessarily what you'd call an '83 420SL (or whatever engine powered what was the 350/450SL body at the time). Maybe if the Rolls were an ex-limo rental with worn everything, rips on the leather, 400K miles, peeling clearcoat.
You can see the limitations though of a car built by a company which didn't have the resources of Mercedes-Benz, for example. Maybe in the 1950s or 60s, cars were built like jewelry - who's got the best diamonds, how ornate was the filagree, etc. and with a Rolls, you can get away with having simply craftsmen. But by the '80s, the engineering of most modern cars demanded a lot of financial backing. Just to keep complying with safety and emissions regulations was not cheap. Exclusive as cars like Rolls or Lotus were, the lack of sales meant they just wouldn't earn the vast amounts of capital needed for keeping up with modern demands. Rolls would've died if they didn't sell out.
23rd Oct 2018, 14:45
A beater Rolls-Royce is like a once-famous movie star reduced to doing infomercials: sad :(