Jim, I would buy it, if I had room for it, if I was in your place. It's beautiful! Jim, I want to ask your opinion, and anyone elso who would offer theirs, on why the cost of Rolls-Royce, Silver Spirits, and Spurs, from the early 1980's, until the BMW purchase, have taken such an extreme decline? In cruising through ebay, I have seen R-R's, with excellent service history's and low miles, priced from the $mid-teens to mid $twentys. They are priced in the new Toyota Corolla and Ford Focus range! WHY? Is it because BMW, has priced the parts availability and service, to an astronomical price? Perpetual failures, that can't be repaired? Has BMW, made the ROLLS-ROYCE, ownership experience, a bitter and biting, experience? Are there any similar thoughts or agreements as mine? I haven't owned any of the newer R-R's, but I am looking at them and if the "right car," became available, I would probably make a serious attempt to buy it. There is nothing like it, the car and the whole ownership experience, that goes with it. Can one fit a "Rifle-Rack," in the rear window, like a pick-up truck? This for the brick throwers and other party poopers, that one would likely encounter on the way to McDonald's or WalMart? I really prefer going to Kmart, because it is a Michigan, based Corporation and also owns Sears Roebuck, if the Roebuck, still exists? Ciao or should I say Cheerio...Paolo
Maybe the same reason 3x8s, Monidals, GT4s are priced so low. Beginning of the "mass-production" era in their history. Couple that with expensive maintenance for normal income people and you get low prices. JM2C.
I would guess the maintenance. Same reason the pre-BMW Range Rovers can be had for virtually nothing. Talk about a never ending money pit.
Well, I guess no noise with a Rolls - BTW, I have been instructed that it is a vulgarity to call this car a ROLLS...it is properly called Rolls-Royce.
Bravo Jim! Enjoy your fine English Motorcar in the years to come, as you both age gracefully. Ciao...Paolo
After seeing the thing yesterday do you fear a plane attempting a landing on the hood if you are pointing into the wind?
Thanks for the interest and good wishes, everybody. I had just picked it up right before Don's coffee. Yes, writerguy, it is about that fleet carrier big. However, it does handle traffic about as easily (or easier) than the Testarossa due to great visibility, and it is really pretty smooth and agile for the huge size. The only catch is the length - you find your nose or tail sticking out of most normal parking spots by a foot and a half at least. Thus far, as far as spectator interest, it blends into N. Dallas traffic about like a Lincoln or Cadillac. Nothing at all the the cell-phone cam frenzy you get with the Testarossa. Here is just some little trivia I picked up in some research over the weekend, (I knew almost nothing about these cars until just now starting to study, unlike the Ferrari which I had followed since I was a 10 year old kid) - many of you probably already know this stuff: Rolls was the nominal engineer, Royce was the salesman. Royce, a great adventurer, was killed in the crash of his own Wright biplane in 1910. (some think it was the very first English fatality in an air crash) Rolls, in his last years, never visited the factory. He lived in a villa in southern France with a secretary, a small engineering staff, and directed the works by mail until his death in around 1933. The board of directors changed the RR on the grille, and the wheel caps, to black (from the former red) as a measure of respect upon his death. That grill (which kind of looks like the Parthenon) is topped by the famous silver lady. The correct name for the sculpture is "Spirit of Ecstacy", and the model was the mistress of a British nobleman well known for his involvement in motor sports. Earlier cars where this actually came off to add water were also given a plain cap to substitute in bad neighborhoods or in suspect parking garages. I was slightly dissapointed to find that my car has no tachometer. It is otherwise fully instrumented, with even an elaborate outside air temperature. The fuel gauge has a button so it can double as an engine oil level gauge. I guess the owner was not to be bothered by such things as engine speed. The column gear lever (a four-speed automatic, I believe derived from the GM T400 design) has an incredible silky feel. I think that it actually works an electrical servo instead of direct linkage. The performance is indeed "adequate" - I was afraid it would be as slow as a diesel Mercedes, but in fact it actually reminds me a lot of a V8 Mercedes 450SE that I owned years ago. Slow initial acceleration, but with the feeling that speed is just slowly and continually building as you go. One delightful detail is the owners manual: It is a small hardbound book, printed on expensive heavy paper like a cocktail table car book. Several of the illustrations are in full color. It comes in a protective sleeve, and even has a silk place-keeping ribbon just like your grandmother's family bible. All in all, I can see this is going to be quite an experience - I had not personally owned a four-door sedan since that old Mercedes (or even anything with a real back seat), and that was way, way, back in 1974.
