Good Morning. I’m Saul Reisman, and we’re here today inside this 1972 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow.
You can read part one of our Rolls Royce Silver Shadow Repair Story here.
This Denver vehicle was truly an element ahead of its time. From the luxury options, like the teak dashboard that was hand made to the switches that control every aspect of the internals of the vehicle. Power antennas, lights illuminating every sensor on a vehicle that most cars weren’t even equipped within 1972. Even had electronic cruise control. Computer-controlled lighting, so that they would turn off automatically after the vehicle.
And here’s one of my favorite things. Of all the pieces of technology that we think is so outdated and so different, on this old-school, eight-track radio, even though it’s still a dial radio to move these indicators side to side, it actually has presets that can push that slide indicator across where it needs to be. This was not only ahead of its time, but this was also physically a mechanical device designed to replace digital technology that hadn’t been invented yet. So some engineer literally spent years on the radio to make it work in this aspect just for this vehicle.
In the case of this car specifically, some of the repairs that we’ll be working with are with the heater and air conditioner. The original, as we call it, airplane throttle that controls the different blower speeds, along with temperature controls, airflow controls, none of these were functional. We were able to completely remove this center section to be able to rebuild all of these switches by hand since none of these are actually available anymore.
One of the last pieces that we have the pleasure of servicing in this vehicle is probably the most important piece of its interior. The clock. Now, we’ve gone ahead and removed the clock from the vehicle at this point for service, and we’ll be posting a video shortly about the watch specialist that’s taking apart this wonderful piece of German engineering.
The clock itself has 480 pieces to it, is a complete time-based, stand-alone mechanism and is designed to wind itself with no electricity. This was something that in 1972 was unheard of. You could leave the car for six months. Come back, the battery would be dead, the clock was still ticking. Rolls Royce owners always need to be on time. That was the original persona in their owner’s manual when they design this vehicle as quote-unquote the Silver Shadow, the predecessor of the Flying Spur. The goal being luxury, opulence and saving you time.
This vehicle managed to accomplish that pretty well. Even from the basic aspects of its suspension design and its engine design. It was a 434 cubic inch V-8, made almost 300 horsepower with rear-wheel drive with an automatic transmission, had speeds in the top range of 150 miles an hour in a time when race cars were barely hitting that speed.
If you own an old collector car in Denver, something like this guy, and it needs a little love, we have the expertise and the meticulous nature to service your vehicle. Whether it be a 480-piece German timepiece into your dashboard or just a horn switch, we can service ‘em.
Please give us a call here at Saul’s Automotive. (303) 919-7769. Thank you.
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