1975 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

This much-loved Willow Gold car has been in the ownership of the same family since 2012, having gone from the vendor’s father to his mother, and then to him.

At the then astronomical cost of £14,647.86, the car was supplied new by H.A. Fox (Wadham Stringer Ltd) of Mayfair to a Mr. Kane of St. John’s Wood.

The car’s odometer is currently showing 63,211 miles which we and the vendor understand to be genuine.

The one codicil to that is the likely replacement of the speedometer in 1979 (there’s no invoice for it, but the numbers make sense) and a drop in the mileage from 4,503 to 266. If that’s correct, and we’ve no reason to doubt it, then the current odometer reading owes some 4,200 miles to the car’s true mileage.

Either way, it’s a very low mileage car given that it is 50 years old.

The vendor has spent somewhere in the region of £20,000 on the car since 2021/22, including cutting out anything rotten and welding-in new sections as appropriate. The work is documented and there are photographs of the work in progress.

Much of the heavy lifting on the mechanical side has been in the service of optimising the car’s braking system, cooling system and suspension – among plenty of other work.

The result of all this labour and expenditure is a car that drives extremely well.

The vendor drives it regularly and drove it to us from Broadway in Worcestershire.

He said it didn’t miss a beat and that he didn’t expect anything less.

It is in very decent overall condition, bar a few minor cosmetic issues.  
 

The car presents very well from every angle and sits with a properly square stance.

We’ve seen no dinks, dents, creases or folds that shouldn’t be there and the car’s shut-lines and panel gaps are consistent and even.

On lesser cars, gold paint might seem a little too ostentatiously opulent or showy.

Not on a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow.

It looks entirely appropriate and wholly in keeping with the car’s overall air of class and old-school grandeur.

For the most part, the Willow Gold paint has held on to its lustre and shine with commendable resilience.

But it’s not perfect and there are one or two things to see once you’ve got your eye in.

There is a little nascent blistering and bubbling to be found in the bases of all four wheel-arches, and we found a few spots of blistering below the windows on all four doors.

There are also a few scuffs, scratches and paint chips atop the o/s/f wing; some micro-blistering and paint spots on the n/s/f wing and some bubbling at the base of the ‘A’ pillar on the same side; cracks and splits to the paint on the bonnet and below the rear screen and the bases of the ‘C’ pillars; and some bubbling around the base of the driver’s door mirror.

The black Everflex roof is in decent nick but, as is often the case with these cars, it is starting to lift a little in the roof gutters. There’s also a slightly wrinkled section at the top of the offside ‘A’ pillar.

The chrome-work is pretty impressive all-round, save for a few light scratches on the front bumper. The rear bumper was replaced in February 2024.

The wheels look fine, as do the matching, correct, Avon Turbosteel tyres.

So, too, do the car’s lights, lenses, badging and other exterior fixtures and fittings.
 

The condition of the interior is far more a reflection of the car’s low mileage than its age.

Everything looks authentic, original and, broadly, very well preserved.

The black leather upholstery has only the lightest patina to show for its many years of service and there are just a few fairly light creases here and there - mostly on the driver’s seat bolsters - to attest to the car’s age.

The seats, front and back, are comfortable and supportive, although the springs in the passenger seat squab feel a little too soft to us.

The front seats come with the rare, factory-fitted, optional headrests.

The headlining is intact, free from any holes or rips, and has stayed taut.

The door cards are good, too, apart from one or two light scuffs on the armrests.

The car’s black carpets are in good order, as are the black lambswool over-rugs, which are thick enough to convince your ankles that your feet have been stolen.

The fine work of Rolls-Royce’s French polishers and veneer whisperers has only succumbed to the passage of time in a few places around the dashboard, where the veneers under the lacquer have faded around the edges.

The black vinyl trim above and below the dashboard has fared very well and resisted all and any temptations to crack, split or fade that we can see.

Ditto the steering wheel, gear-selector, handbrake and other controls.

The carpeted boot is following the same script as the rest of it in terms of quality and condition. It contains a car cover, some tools and a box of ring-bound Rolls-Royce workshop and parts manuals.

As far as we and the vendor are aware, every knob, button, lever, dial, switch, instrument and gauge responds faithfully to inputs in a timely and accurate fashion, although the vendor thinks that the sound from the radio is a little sub-optimal and may need looking at and listening to. 
 

The very full engine bay is clean, dry and orderly, which is what you should expect and hope to find in a car that’s been properly curated and cared for throughout its life and has yet to clock-up so much as 70,000 miles.

The car’s undersides look reassuringly sound and solid, and everything structural appears to have plenty of integrity.

Nothing we’ve seen has given us any cause to tut, frown or otherwise question the car’s character or honesty.
 

This car comes with more stamps than a Stanley Gibbons showroom.

There are three service books, all of them fair bristling with stamps from main dealers and highly regarded specialists.

Kenning of Upper Montagu Street, London, accounts for at least 15 stamps, with the majority of the rest coming courtesy of The Chelsea Workshop.

More recent bills and invoices come via Specialist Cars (South West), RR&B Garages, St. Peter Port Garages (Guernsey), Harvey Walsh Ltd and, of course, Flying Spares.

The car comes with copies of its original build sheets and specifications, final inspection sheets, the original purchase invoice, and a wad of photographs to accompany the invoices relevant to its most recent bodywork restoration.

It comes with a recent, clear HPI report and a set of guides and manuals.
 

This is a car that’s covered fewer than 10,000 miles in the last 16 years and has, since 2012, been in the same family ownership.

The vendor has dug deep into his pockets to get it properly mechanically sorted and he’s done a good deal of heavy lifting on the bodywork, too.

Yes, there are a few minor cosmetic jobs to attend to but, in every meaningful and relevant respect that we can think of, this is a thoroughly useable example and one with all the history, provenance and condition you could reasonable need to reassure you as a bidder.

We are happy to offer this car for auction with an estimate in the range of £12,000 - £16,000.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at Bonhams|Cars Online HQ. Viewings are STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT and we are open weekdays between 10am - 12pm or 2pm - 4pm. To make a booking, please use the ‘Enquire About This Vehicle’ button on the listing. Feel free to ask any questions, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.