The Silver Spirit being presented here is a stunning and uniquely breath-taking example of a bespoke motorcar that follows all the rules and tradition of the marque’s designers.
Once owned by well-known and highly regarded afficionado of all Crewe produced Rolls-Royces – Mr John Shostrom – this Silver Spirit was personally bespoked to his specific needs and design. The result was, and remains, a very fine example that presents like it was undertaken by Rolls-Royce itself. This is the key to any specialised customization; “it should always look like it came from the factory that way”. This car hits that bullseye dead centre. For this amazing result, we refer to her as a “bespoke edition”.
This Silver Spirit started from the factory as an elegant combination of Georgian Silver over Claret with light grey leather and grey carpeting.
When John purchased the car some 22 years ago, it was showing signs of paint fade and elected to refinish her as part of what was to become a bespoke redesign of some 450 days of design implementation, love and labour. The current condition of the car is exemplary, presenting in a manner that looks like it was completed only some 3-4 years ago. This is an accurate summary by John Shostrom himself which, on today’s standards, amount to some $80,000 of bespoke design refinements:
EXTERIOR
* New paint in original colours 9510437 Georgian Silver over 9510408 Claret
* Slate double thin over thick fine-lines to body and wheel discs, those on the body being feathered out to the edges as seen only on very early Silver Spirit motor cars
* Factory badge bar to front bumper
* UK/EU factory one-pecs rectangular headlamps
* UK/EU front indicator/parking lamps with amber/clear lenses
* NOS stainless steel grille shell
* Kneeling Spirit of Ecstasy mascot
* Stainless wheel discs completely trued and re-polished
* New factory rubber bumper trims
* New factory brushed stainless steel bumper inserts
* New factory polished stainless steel tailpipes
INTERIOR
* New upholstery in Connolly Autolux A4137 Slate hide, piped in A4211 St James Red hide. 2 matching corner pillows to rear seats, and 2 matching lozenge lumbar pillows to the front seats. (The pillows are no longer with the car)
* Slate hide to headliner, parcel shelf, facia surround, driver’s heel pad, horn button and centre console.
* Wilton cut-pile wool carpet in Cherry Red 21 with Slate hide binding
* Cherry Red oversized mouton rugs to all footwells with driver’s heel pad in Slate hide. (The left rear passenger rug is now missing from the vehicle)
* NOS correct Bakelite steering wheel with horn button finished in Slate hide.
* Boot finished in carpet to match passenger compartment, including underside of lid.
* All moulded plastic boot hinge covers and trim pieces in Slate hide.
* Specially-designed full-through centre console.
* Cocktail requisites to centre console behind hide-covered tambour lid with 2 silver-capped cut crystal decanters and 4 cut crystal nip glasses in correct Tudor ‘Seymour’ pattern lead crystal.
* Hand built MacIntosh MX406 AM/FM/CD sound system to centre console with 5-disc changer in compartment under boot floor.
* Sony stereo cassette player to centre console.
* Alpine speakers to all doors with colour-keyed grilles to match upholstery.
* Colour-keyed coat hooks
* Automatic air conditioning sensor grilles colour-keyed to match upholstery.
* All folding armrests open to reveal compartments lined in Slate hide.
* Glovebox lined in Slate hide.
* Factory centre-mounted high-level brake light covered in Slate hide.
* All woodwork throughout the car, including facia panel, centre console, door callings, picnic tables and rear compartment vanity companions finished in specially-selected and personally-matched Italian burr walnuts. All veneer is book-matched throughout the car, with the exception of the picnic table facings, which are quarter-matched.
* Extra sound-deadening to the insides of door, floorboards, engine and boot bulkheads.
* Rolls-Royce 4-place fully-fitted picnic hamper by S Gadsby & Son to boot. (This is no longer with the care but can be made available at additional cost)
MECHANICAL
* Full hydraulic and braking system rebuild with new accumulators, rear struts, all lines and flexible hoses, pads, discs and pumps rebuilt as per original.
* New dual exhaust system with catalytic converters and silencers.
* New power steering rack as per original.
* New Bosch fuel injectors
* New Bosch K-Jetronic fuel distributor as per original.
* New NGK sparking plugs
* All new factory wrapped hoses throughout engine compartment with new Jubilee hose lamps.
* All new factory belts in engine compartment.
* All new factory compliance mounts and bushings.
* New Bilstein shock absorbers.
* New updated alternator.
* New double electric cooling fans
* New radiator
* New Sanden air conditioning compressor and system changed from R12.
* Full and complete servicing of transmission, differential and associated items.
* 5 new Michelin X-One 235 70 15 whitewalls fit temporary use before arrival of correct Avon Turbosteel or Goodyear Eagle NCT tyres whatever came first.
* Factory secondary door seals.
* All ‘O’ rings, seals, compliance mounts, engine mounts, et replaced with new factory items
* Full set of small and large tools
* Handbook
The bespoke interior items alone are some $40,000 on today’s values.
The car has travelled some 10,000 miles since this work was completed. Even though those miles are minimal for the ensuing 20 years and the car has been regularly maintained by its last collector owner (see under bonnet photos!), that time gone by necessitates she will go through Park-Ward Motors “Predelivery Commissioning” process upon sale. This is a procedure whereby every major and minor service will be done and any preventative maintenance identified attended to. As an example, the car has tyres that present with plenty of tread and look fine, but as they are now 20 years old, these will be replaced. This program is unique only to cars offered by Park-Ward Motors and it is important to remember, it also covers all operational features as well to include climate control (AC & heater) windows, seats, lights etc.
This Silver Spirit has been a Californian car its entire life so is a very clean, dry and totally rust-free example. Even though she is yet to go through her Predelivery Commissioning process, she drives amazingly smooth and quiet. Cabin noise is to a minimum given the extra interior sound-proofing fitted during the bespoke program.
The Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit is powered by a 6.75 litre Rolls-Royce designed V8 engine with the Bosch fuel injection system which provides ultra smooth touring. The Autocheck report on this example is an off-the-charts good with a score of 69 with a typical range of 49 to 59.
This absolutely stunning and most elegant example is being offered as a true, “take the keys and drive” example with no additional budget needed to attend to any nuances or gremlins.
The car is of very high standard and is an easy 10+ out of 10 driver rating.
~~ This is a very elegant presenting Silver Spirit that is of true show standard. She is literally 1-of-a-kind that you could take to your next Rolls-Royce meet that will draw awe and admiration and most likely take out a prize as well. ~~
International buyers always welcome ~ we have sold and shipped 100’s world-wide.
For extra photos on this fine example go to the link below.
The photos are of super high resolution so if you right click on any, you can zoom in and see every little detail and defect in considerable detail.
Click HERE to see additional photos!
Click HERE to see additional photos!
