FUEL FOR THOUGHT
It may seem like an unnecessary extravagance, even if it’s good value, to buy a car that weighs more than your living room and would struggle to do 20mpg. There is of course some truth to that, but with any classic car purchase there’s a bit of creative rationalisation involved to make what you really want make sense. If what you really want is the kind of luxury normally only available in a posh hotel, something that makes you feel properly special every time you go out for a drive, and the ability to bring a wide grin to your face when you plant the throttle, then maybe it is necessary to buy one of the cars we have here. At least that’s what you can tell yourself, and with petrol prices the lowest they have been for years, maybe now’s the time. Maybe it’s time to read on.
The Silver Spirit is probably the most affordable way into Rolls-Royce ownership at present, thanks to a large number of survivors and plentiful parts support. Introduced in 1980, it replaced the Silver Shadow and went on to exceed that car’s reasonably long production run until it was ultimately replaced by the next generation of cars in the late 1990s. Alongside it, as before, was a Bentley model now called the Mulsanne.
ROLLS-ROYCE SILVER SPIRIT BENTLEY MULSANNE & TURBO
KEY SPECS
ENGINE: 6750cc V8
POWER: 220bhp-400bhp
TORQUE: 320lb.ft (est) – 590lb.ft
ECONOMY: 12-16mpg
BUY ONE FOR: £7000-£20,000
Underneath the Spirit is a largely unchanged Shadow platform, meaning monocoque construction, independent and hydropneumatic suspension all round, and the tried and tested 6.75-litre V8 paired with a GM
