FEATURE CAR ROLLS-ROYCE SILVER SHADOW II
A SLICE OF OLD ENGLAND…
DOWN UNDER G
raham Phillips wanted a slice of Old England. Being an Aussie with an English mother and an engineer father, Graham searched for and found the very best on four wheels. As a result, a pristine 1977 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II now sits on his drive. This drive – and beautiful home – is at Mount Macedon, some 50 miles north of Melbourne in the State of Victoria. And it is here that my wife and I are enjoying Graham’s hospitality with the mountainous scenery as a backdrop. But good as this is, the gleaming Rolls in Nutmeg Brown is giving the Aussie scenery a run for its money. The Rolls looks a million dollars! Graham is telling us the history of how he found the car and it seems the car itself has something of a tale to tell too. How many cars – never mind a beautiful Rolls-Royce – have spent five years behind bars as guests of the Australian Customs? Nothing to do with Graham Phillips, I must quickly add! This history begins in early 1977. A Silver Shadow II has been ordered by a Mr G A Richards; the order reference number is R 8038, the engine number 31171, and the specification check list (dated 14 April 1977) gives a rather modest description of the car as simply a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow fourdoor saloon. This is just the tip of the iceberg, as the subsequent pages of the specification go into the real detail. Steering right-hand, hide beige, headlining beige Ambla, carpet Cumberland Stone 44 – and more detail in the ‘Fine Lines’, which will be gold, both above and below side chrome mouldings and double gold on hub caps (referred to as discs by Rolls-Royce). RR motifs were to be fitted to each rear quarter, as in longwheelbase cars. The instrument roll for the under-dashboard trim and radio
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surround were to be trimmed in beige hide, reference number 3234, not the customary black Ambla. And the radio, a Pye auto-reverse stereo cassette, was to be provided by Mr Richards. Such was the detail of cars built by Rolls-Royce at that time, this information is not to be found until one gets to page 17. Two sheets are dedicated to the engine assembly alone and the specification includes not just engine and gearbox numbers but numbers for each cylinder head, the distributor, the coil type and even the spark plug reference numbers. Details of the alternator, oil pump, P.A.S. pump, front and rear brake accumulator and the carburettors follow on and in case anyone needed to know, the A/C’s fridge unit is given as 08661. Those who know the meticulous attention to detail at the Crewe plant will not be surprised to learn that the build detail of the car was then followed by an exhaustive series of checks before Rolls-Royce would allow the car to leave the factory gate. Graham Phillips is showing us two sheets with no less than 64 checks that the car had to undergo on its final road test. Such items as ‘Wind noise A-post…’ ‘Rattle in door when shut…’ ‘Check rear squab headrest, nearside, offside…’ ‘Check A/C on de-frost…’ Pretty thorough! This was followed by a second paint inspection, carried out in No 16 Shop. Then came a safety check covering everything from the welds in the seat frames right down to the torque setting for the interior rear-view mirror stem to body fixing. Then, and only then, did Graham’s car pass for its Final Inspection report and move on to the ‘Final Road Test – Body Performance’. When it passed, the car was then ready for delivery to P J Evans Ltd, the local Rolls-Royce dealer (today absorbed within Evans » M AY/ J U N E 2 0 2 2 R R & B D
