Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

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Rolls Royce Silver Shadow
Manufacturer	Rolls-Royce Ltd (defunct 1973) Rolls-Royce Motors
Also called	Silver Wraith II
Production	1965–1980
Predecessor	Silver Cloud III
Successor	Silver Spirit
Related	Bentley T-series Camargue Corniche

1972 Silver Shadow

1972 Silver Shadow, interior view

1977 Silver Shadow II

Silver Wraith II

The Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow is a luxury car produced in Great Britain in various forms from 1965 to 1980. The car was the manufacturer's response to claims that it was falling behind the times, and had lost contact with modern developments. It was the first Rolls-Royce to use a monocoque chassis, and to date has the largest production volume of any Rolls-Royce.

1 Overview
2 Design and engineering
3 Variants
4 Production statistics

Following in the manufacturer's tradition of building luxury vehicles, the standard wheelbase Silver Shadow measured 5.17 metres in length, weighed 4,700 pounds, and had a base price of 19,700 dollars in the first year of production.

The Silver Shadow was produced from 1965 to 1976, and the Silver Shadow II from 1977 to 1980.

The design was a major departure from its predecessor, the Silver Cloud, and aside from a more modern appearance, the Silver Shadow introduced many new features such as disc rather than drum brakes, monocoque construction, and independent rear suspension, rather than the outdated live axle design of previous cars.

The Shadow featured a 172 hp (128 kW) 6.2 L V8 from 1965 to 1969, and a 189 hp (141 kW) 6.75 L V8 from 1970 to 1980. Both powerplants were coupled to a General Motors-sourced Turbo Hydramatic 400 transmission, except on pre-1970 right-hand-drive models, which used the same 4-speed automatic gearbox as the Silver Cloud (also sourced from GM).

The car's most innovative feature was a high-pressure hydraulic system licensed from Citroën, with dual-circuit braking and hydraulic self-levelling suspension. At first, both the front and rear of the car were controlled by the leveling system; the front levelling was deleted in 1969 as it had been determined that the rear levelling did almost all the work. Rolls-Royce achieved a high degree of ride quality with this arrangement.

In 1977, the model was renamed the Silver Shadow II in recognition of several major changes, most notably rack and pinion steering; modifications to the front suspension improved handling markedly.

Externally, the bumpers were changed from chrome to alloy and rubber starting with the late 1976 Shadows.

A long wheelbase variant, some 4 inches longer to provide additional rear seat legroom, was available from 1969. Some long wheelbase models were fitted with a privacy glass divider and are now highly sought-after by collectors.

Initially, the long wheelbase model did not have a separate name, but in 1977, with the introduction of the Silver Shadow II, the longer car was dubbed the Silver Wraith II.

The Wraith II is identified by all of alterations found on the Silver Shadow II and additionally an Everflex covered roof, a smaller rear opera-style window and different wheel covers. Some Silver Wraith IIs were also fitted with electric divisions which took up the extra four inches of leg room in the rear. Vehicles fitted with the division are now considered highly desirable.

A two-door fixed-head coupe or FHC model was introduced in 1965, followed by a convertible in 1967. In 1971 these cars were given the separate identity of Corniche, and eventually went on to outlive the Shadow with production lasting until 1982 for the coupe and 1996 for the convertible.

Another coupe variant on the Shadow platform was the Camargue, with bodywork designed by the Italian firm Pininfarina, and production running from 1975 to 1986. The Camargue had the distinction of being the most expensive Rolls-Royce, with a base price even higher than the Phantom VI limousine.

A Bentley version of the Shadow, known as the Bentley T (and Bentley T II from 1977), was also made. It was mechanically identical and differed only in the badging and design of the radiator shell.

The long wheelbase version of the Bentley T did not have a separate identity and was simply called T long wheelbase or T II long wheelbase.

All two-door cars were also available as Bentleys, however, only one Bentley Camargue was ever produced.

The Silver Shadow was the most successful model ever produced by Rolls-Royce, with a total of more than 38,000 cars built (including all editions and Bentley variants); a remarkable number for such an expensive automobile. In comparison, its predecessor had a production run of 15,362 cars between 1955 and 1966.

Model	Rolls-Royce	Bentley
Shadow I, T I	16,717	1,703
Shadow I long wheelbase, T I long wheelbase	2,776	9
Shadow II, T II	8,425	558
Wraith II, T II long wheelbase	2,145	10
Coupe FHC	607	115
Coupe Convertible	505	41
Corniche FHC	1,108	63
Corniche Convertible	3,239	77
Camargue	525	1