The Car That Saved Rolls-Royce - The Silver Spirit Story

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Though often bemoaned for its somewhat bland exterior when compared to other Rolls-Royce and Bentley models, the SZ Range, which gave rise to the Silver Spur, Silver Spirit, Mulsanne, Turbo R, Brooklands and Eight, proved to be one of the most flexible car platforms in the company's history, forming the basis of dozens of offshoots either sold in quantity or created bespoke for individual clients, the car, when launched in 1980, being a breath of fresh air for not only Rolls-Royce itself, but the ailing Bentley brand, which was brought back from the brink of discontinuation after years of irrelevance when the sporting prowess of its heritage was injected into its many SZ-based cars.
Chapters:
0:00 - Preamble
0:51 - Troubled Times
3:37 - An Understated Entry
6:24 - Sharp-Suited Luxury
8:15 - Bring Back Bentley
10:58 - A Car for Commerce
12:24 - Going Turbo
14:28 - The Continental Concept
17:20 - Out of Hand and Out of Season
21:33 - Conclusion
Written permission allowing me to discuss the Silver Spirit and the Rolls-Royce brand has been generously granted by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, and I greatly appreciate their candour in presenting me the opportunity to discuss one of my personal favourite cars.
All video content and images in this production have been provided with permission wherever possible. While I endeavour to ensure that all accreditations properly name the original creator, some of my sources do not list them as they are usually provided by other, unrelated KZbinrs. Therefore, if I have mistakenly put the accreditation of 'Unknown', and you are aware of the original creator, please send me a personal message at my Gmail (this is more effective than comments as I am often unable to read all of them): [e-mail]
The views and opinions expressed in this video are my personal appraisal and are not the views and opinions of any of these individuals or bodies who have kindly supplied me with footage and images.
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Thanks again, everyone, and enjoy! :D
References:
- AROnline (and their respective sources)
- Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit (and their respective sources)
- Wikipedia (and its respective references)

[@fredburley9512]

Dated looks only in the minds of those swayed by fashions. Classic cars are timeless, sirrah.

[@paulschneider9286]

I’ve never really been into RR and went off them when I saw all the Jimmy Saville footage with his and his. In terms of aesthetics, I can’t help but feel that from the mid 70s to the early 90s, the best looking ‘British’ cars were designed by Jaguar. Just more elegant, in my eyes 😅

[@Mark-jz5ye]

Over styled cars date badly. A good design will never date.

[@dayalanvelan3070]

Absolutely agree. The shape is classic and timeless.

[@nick2128]

I think the 1st gen phantom that came out in the 2000s looks cheap now . That’s probably how they felt about the silver shadow, they weren’t a classic at that time .

[@eroche913]

The SZ is the quintessential RR for me. I recently drove a Spirit I and it was exactly the experience you'd want it to be.

[@radudeATL]

Love the car videos.

[@UncleJoeLITE]

The Bentley is my favourite 2 ton personal transport. Sure beats a Ranger/Hilux!

[@igormac88]

I think that the separation of Rolls-Royce and Bentley should have it's own episode to be thoroughly explained. It's such a corporate weirdness the way all things happened

[@francisnewmarch6837]

Highly interesting film, superbly researched, composed and presented. Thanks and regards

[@user-yc2oz8kc5k]

The Continental R 2 door is a total standout. Seen a few tooling around NYC.

[@fhwolthuis]

Beautiful documentary 😀

[@loopwithers]

A great video for research despite failing to mention the barge - like handling and alcoholic thirst which left them in the dust behind Merc and BMW

[@ivanfernyhough3851]

They're no where near as bad as you imagine.my silver spirit is far more economical than my v12 jaguar I had before it and regards handling,theyre actually pretty good for something that weights 2.25 tonnes.more than enough poke to keep up with modern traffic and besides that's not what they're for.the whole idea of a rolls royce is to waft majestically to ones destination not go hooking around corners and racing away from traffic lights.you leave that to those cheap ass mercs and bmws lol.😂

[@archiegoodwinjr]

@@ivanfernyhough3851 My uncle was so proud of his new Corniche that he urged me to drive it. I lived near a lake and the winding road (and my insanity) "upset" the car's poise. The Rolls was beautifully proportioned and detailed but I was used to tossing around my nimble BMW sedan. Then, encountering two Arnages in Hong Kong converted me instantly. The wide stance, subtle curves, mesh grill, diamond pattern upholstery, and tasteful colors (one in BRG and one in burgundy; both with biscuit interiors) made me realize these were on a different level than any other car. After the acrimonious takeover by German makes (and Piech's revenge), I must admit to becoming a fan of Rolls and not Bentley.

[@warringtonminge4167]

I watched this because I bought a Spur recently. Leaving aside the R-R prestige, reputation, image and aristocracy/celebridee image it is the most comfortable, smoothest quietest, least stress inducing drive i've had going back to being brought up on a diet of Jaguars and Silver Ghosts. And, little hint, it cost me less than 1/3rd (one third) of the base price of a "normal" 4-door family saloon.

[@gulfstream7235]

And it will cost you the price of a four door saloon to fix it in the near future.

[@darrensmith6999]

Superb video thank you.

[@pcno2832]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="477">7:57</a> I see the Silver Spirit still had crescent-shaped PRNDL window on the steering column that had all but disappeared from most other makes. After Cadillac was the first to move it to the instrument panel in the mid 1950s, the last U.S. model with it on the column was the 1989 Chrysler 5th Avenue. RR finally moved it to the dashboard for 1990, probably due to the bulk of the airbag, but a vestigial lump the same shape as the window remained on the steering column through 1993. PS: One other unusual feature of these cars was the wipers, which are retracted, with the motor reversing, when the switch is shut off, but are not hidden at all by the back edge of the hoo ..., eh, I mean bonnet. The only other cars I can name with that combination are GM's mid-sized FWD "A" body cars of the 1980s, though the previous generation RR might also have it; the wipers seem to park fairly low on those as well.

[@shaheenal-asadi]

Great Video as always, love the historic analysis of the design and engineering of such fine automobiles

[@stephenberry1205]

Hooper Coachbuilders offered 2 door conversions of both the Silver Spirit and Bentley, plus their 40 inch longer Emperor Limousine.

[@Rom3_29]

Nice cars and used one go above $30,000. Biggest headache is the mineral oil leaks.

[@ladderman2255]

YOU GOT A NEW MIC!! Fantastic :)) Massive massive improvement

[@00Zy99]

Congratulations on being acknowledged by RR itself! And a good job with the vid. Its one of my favorites too. I just love the understated styling. An especial thanks for talking about my favorite limos (though I could listen to you talk for a couple hours about them). It would have also been nice to see the Brunei specials discussed a bit, but then the algorithm would have been unhappy with the runtime, and they really do deserve an episode of their own (if enough information could be found).

[@nlpnt]

I wouldn't think RR would've been that affected by the oil crunch - anyone who could afford a new Rolls could afford to have an assistant line it up for fuel. If anything you'd think it would've boosted their sales in the Middle East.

[@scofab]

Fascinating as always, thank you again.

[@nlpnt]

The resemblance to the '77 GM B bodies and '79 Ford Panthers meant that what was on the face of it (and in its' home market) a *very* in-your-face display of wealth, had the understatement Americans expected from British ultra-luxury goods in context of our streets filled with Chevy Caprices and Ford LTDs.

[@aerotube7291]

Great vid!

[@john1703]

For me, you cannot beat the style of a Silver Shadow Corniche. See the Bond film OHMSS (the DBS was good too).

[@hs1296]

What a splendid looking car! And the old cressida / crown had similar rear ends too lol. Timeless designs. Thanks for the great video!

[@Mr_Spliffy]

Another great quality presentation

[@russellhammond4373]

Great video. Loved it.

[@TheHylianBatman]

I love British luxury cars, so it's always a treat to see them here! Thank you, sir!

[@pdsnpsnldlqnop3330]

At Pressed Steel the Montegos and Maestros would get their panels to be made, fitting perfectly. Meanwhile, for Rolls Royce, an army of men with hammers would have to bash the pressings into shape.

[@user-kw5qv6zl5e]

Back ends look like Toyota Cresida

[@animal79thecat]

Thought it was a Datsun from the rear 😆

[@chuckselvage3157]

The Continental R Turbo is a beast. 0-100 k in under 5 secs.😲

[@captiannemo1587]

Even then the RB-211 almost didn’t make it… it took hauling in retired RR engineers to pull it off.

[@runoflife87]

Well, sofar most of those cars suffered from major quality issues, they couldn't reach MB or even BMW cult level.

[@ckyliu]

The marques were NOT split; VW got everything apart from the Rolls Royce name (factory, IP, staff). BMW got rights to the name as RR Aero were wooing BMW into the BR715 turbofan project, plus rights to continue building cars for a few years based on what was now Bentley tech.

[@john1703]

Yes, VW got the whole Crewe factory. The thorn in the side was that the Silver Seraph used a BMW V12 engine, and the Arnage used a BMW V8. The Bentley had to be revised to re-use the old RR V8. BMW had to build a whole new factory, for completely new cars.

[@_knotgood_1371]

“Credit _ Own Work”…Just appreciating ❤

[@brad4057]

RR RB211, there's a good idea for a video

[@twentyrothmans7308]

Cutting the coffee table anecdote?

[@andyd747]

Silver shadow saved them

[@michaelpielorz9283]

Hmm, it was the first Volks-Royce?

[@RedArrow73]

Maybe, "Badge-Swapped"?

[@RedArrow73]

Reference-Grade content again from Rory.

[@rovercoupe7104]

Why not mention the XJ? M

[@Bod8998]

Love rollers specially from the shadow to the 80s new ones not interested in.the American look is crap in my opinion with twin headlights same with the XJS and mercs

[@anthonyg638]

Not one of their better efforts. Looks like it was designed by Lego .....

[@Mancozeb100]

Front just looks like a Mk1 Granada with a Rolls grille ! A bit like the Allegro with the Vanden Plas grille! Was horrified when I saw it first. Camargue design always looked awkward. Not that I was ever going to be buying one !

[@johnwolffe8473]

Lots of crappy footage in this episode

[@josephwhyman9515]

It’s circa 40 plus years old what do you expect 😂

[@jeffreyhunt1727]

If you borrow a time machine maybe you can go back to the 1980s and shoot some better video for us

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Are you using an AI voice?

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