| Author | Message | ||
     Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Prolific User Username: soviet Post Number: 254 Registered: 2-2013 |
The weird thing about RR/B is these cars grow on you. The Camargue is not on the road yet I am thinking of another RR/B purchase - this time in Australia. The evil mortgage will soon be paid off and with it I will send off several pages of right nasty abuse to the Director of Witch Bank "No I don't want a personal loan nor did I want the pre-approved credit card you sent me 3 days after I told you I had trouble making repayments on the mortgage - what I would like to do is invite you to a little Russian town for a party you will never leave etc etc." Yes I may spoil myself be buying another car that is on the road, the problem I have is I really don't think it would faze me one bit if I bought another and it blew its engine in a week - I would just freight it home to the be guarded by the Mad Scot. But what to buy? First there is the time honoured advice about getting a car with all the documentation and that's great but to me highly hilarious advice considering the extremely low percentage of cars that have all the documentation re coolant changes etc. Then one has to deal with sales yak like "The interior of the car is very good considering the age of the vehicle". Statements like this cause me to think the owner is trying a swift one. The interior being hoodlining, door trims, dashboard wood,carpets and seats are either worn out, medium wear or excellent as "very good considering the age of the vehicle" is something along the lines of the dribble we have to listen to from politicians who think hardly any of us can think. But the real question is which car. I like the Shadow 1 because of the chrome bumpers but the Shadow 2 has the automatic airconditioning like the Camargue and Cadillac but sadly has hideous plastic bumper bars. I am hedging at a 1976 Shadow 11 or Wraith with chrome bumpers and the 3 speed auto as there is now way after Richard announced the prices involved in overhauling a 4 speed hydramatic transmission am I going to fall into that black financial hole. That aside I remember the feeling I got when I first drove a Shadow - it was perfect - a closeted feeling with a superb view of everthing in front of me. The Camargue does not give me the same feeling. But then there is the Spirit and Spur. I prefer the Spur because it was the more expensive of the two cars and has more rear seat room and living in cowboy country Spur fits in nicely whereas Spirit might encourage the religious which I avoid like the plague. However, I have zero interest in the later Spirits and Spurs with EFI. I absolutely detest working on EFI and can live with any annoyance the carburettors can throw at me. I have no problem with waffle like fuel economy or efficiency. Long ago I solved the problem of the price of fuel/gasoline by refusing to look at the price. My motto is if you are worried about the price of fuel or fuel efficiency just fill the car up, pay the money and don't even think about it. A past employer raved on to me the Spirits and Spurs are better than Shadows because of the rack and pinion steering. I don't buy his argument. Racks seem to me to leak long before a steering box does. If I wanted handling I would go for an XJS Jaguar that made 7 Series BMW feel like a wet bag of rabbits. I have been guilty of quacking on about modifying the Camargue with a Cadillac engine, but for reasons that are not apparent to me, I just can't butcher a Camargue of a Shadow with an American engine. Perhaps I am more conservative than what I think myself to be. I spent many hours cleaning the Camargue's engine and grew to love the thing. Bits like screw in welsh/core plugs, the insane fussiness of crankshaft pulley, the quirkiness of the bolt on hydraulic lifter blocks, the high performance angle of the head studs not bolts affair and the lunancy of the liners and full aluminium engine block and heads with nearly every bolt having a lock tab - not forgetting the out there concept of brake pumps, accumulator spheres and other unorthodox shenanigans. The damn thing is like an addictive drug and there are no RR/B Anonymous meetings to go to even if you wanted to. | ||
| Randy Roberson Grand Master Username: wascator Post Number: 383 Registered: 5-2009 |
Around 1970 the Cars gained the 6.75 L engine and were about as good as they got, so I read. I know my '70 has spunk and it's pretty simple to repair: no electronics to speak of. the '77 Wraith II has electronic ignition, and the automatic climate control is of course more complex. It's very satisfying to drive,but I can't tell if the compliant suspension is much difference. Both are engineered and built very well; enormously interesting Cars. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 1301 Registered: 6-2009 |
Randy, to be absolutely precise the change to the 6.75L engine occurred on chassis number 8742 in December 1969. The first document listed on the Chassis Number Identification, General Specifications, & Modifications Lists page of the Post-War Technical Library gives the changes to all the cars from the Silver Ghost through the 1980 model year SY cars. It is OCR-ed and searchable. That's where I found the above noted information. It makes for interesting searching/reading. Brian | ||
| Bob UK Unregistered guest Posted From: 94.197.120.167 |
The best Shadow was the last one made. The best chrome bumper Shadow is 1973 to 1976. By this time the Shadow was a well sorted car. The very first SY cars would have had the various mods done by RR. So an early car does drive nice as well. I dislike the front vents either side of the rad and the reverse lights on early cars. Spirit wise a early carby toot one is a good choice. It has electronic ignition which could be changed to points if you don't like electronic. After the carb Bosch K jetronic. This system is constant injection and mechanical. It is reliable but the pump tends to fail around the 100k miles plus the relay can fail. The RR version is better built. The Bently 8 is worth a look. Dark solid blue with blue leather and walnut burr. The spirit is very much like a SY2 apart from rear suspension and LHM. Its all easy stuff to understand. The split level climate control is good. However it is complex and the Shadow aircon can be just as good providing one is willing to adjust it while driving. Shadows and early spirits are about the same price in the UK. When I check a car before buying I first standback and give it a walk round. If I am happy I then drive it for quite a few miles. If it drives fine I then delve deeper and deep. I wouldn't for instance crawl under the car if the car drove like a 3 legged camel. I would walk away. I don't buy cars with things wrong with them because cars with nothing wrong are available. The first cherokee I inspected was 650 quid but had loads of faults I found one a day later with no faults for 1500 quid. A much better deal. Because so manytimes I have seen cars with faults and when one delves deep its the tip of the ice berg. RRs are prone to this when owned by the wrong person. The Vendor should also check out. Do they look like the sort of person that has maintained a RR properly. (Message approved by david_gore) | ||
| Omar M. Shams Grand Master Username: omar Post Number: 467 Registered: 4-2009 |
Dear Vlad, you only live once. whats with this Shadow and Spirit selection? You already have a Camargue - my choice would be something flash like a Corniche, or an Azure or a Continental R. They are not that much more expensive than the more common cars - but truly amazing. | ||
| Bob UK Unregistered guest Posted From: 92.40.249.229 |
Corniche rag top. (Message approved by david_gore) |
