LABOUR OF LOVE

Buying your first Rolls-Royce at just thirty years of age is inevitably seen as something of an achievement. That was certainly the case for Nigel Sandell, who acquired the car featured here as long ago as 1993. In reality, it wasn’t an unexpected event thanks to Nigel already being involved in the Rolls-Royce and Bentley scene, having joined the Royce Service & Engineering (RS&E) team three years earlier, as well as previously working for a Rolls-Royce dealership. Nevertheless, it marked a major moment in his life and the fulfilment of a long-term ambition.

“We’re going back to September 1993,” explains Nigel, as we meet at the London base of his N. Sandell company, the independent specialist in Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars that he founded seven years after buying his Silver Shadow II. “The car arrived with Paul and Patrick at RS&E and I was immediately taken with it. Some cars feel just right, and this was one of them. With Rolls-Royces, I’ve always had a thing for dark paintwork and light-coloured