The Rolls Royce is one of my special ladies in my collection. I have my first car, a 1978 Camaro, a 1989 IROC-Z, a 1986 Corvette, and my Rolls Royce as Show Cars. All have been award winners but the Rolls and Camaro have special stories.
The Rolls Royce is a 1973 model Silver Shadow I. I had the Rolls Royce Enthusiasts Club (RREC) in England run a Heritage Certificate on her this year. This details all production documents on the car when she was produced at the Crewe Production facility in England. As it turns out, her first owner was Vogue Magazine of Hanover Square, London. I hope to find that she was in a photo shoot for Vogue back in the 1970’s but am still researching Vogue issues for that period.
She arrived in Oklahoma in 1984 to a banker. His estate sold it to a gentlemen who deals in exotic automobiles in Kansas City. I acquire her from him in 2014 and brought her back home to Oklahoma. She has 67,000 original miles and has won numerous car shows, including a best of show. She has also been featured in Rolls Royce and Bentley Driver Magazine in England.
She is Caribbean Blue with Tan interior and has a very rare leather sunroof. Fortunately, she came with a two-foot thick series of repair manuals that are valued at over $1000. This has assisted me endlessly when I have performed repairs. These have included rebuilding the electric fuel pump, alternator, and voltage regulator. I have also carried out routine maintenance with fluids, filters, and air intake hoses and have kept her all original.
I went to Los Angeles last year to learn some things under Ronnie Shafer for repair information and to obtain certification as a Rolls Royce Judge for Rolls Royce Car Shows with the Rolls Royce Owners Club (RROC) here in the U.S. Ronnie is fabulous….a genius when it comes to Rolls Royce.
She is a complicated lady, as the brake and suspension system are all on the same hydraulic system which is quite complicated for repairs and maintenance, requiring a special RR363 fluid that Castrol only makes every couple of years. Nevertheless, there is nothing like a Rolls Royce….driving her is like riding on a cloud. The leather seats emit an aroma unlike any car I have ever experienced as well as feeling like you are in your favorite lounge chair in your living room.
The Rolls Royce is beyond description and I cannot express enough about this marvelous creation and the engineering innovations one finds in her from that period. She attracts quite the attention in small Mustang, Oklahoma to say the least. I have named her Queen Elizabeth II.
Jeff Kelley
Mustang, OK
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