| Author | Message | ||
     Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Grand Master Username: soviet Post Number: 1441 Registered: 2-2013 |
My Spirit, originally a London sold car has large rectanglar headlights as do most Spirits and Spurs in Australia. The US market has double smaller rectangular headlights just like my 76 Cadillac Fleetwood. But I have seen Spirits and perhaps Spurs with round headlights like Bentleys. So were there three different arrangements of headlights on the Spirits and Spurs originally? | ||
| Robert J. Sprauer Grand Master Username: wraithman Post Number: 433 Registered: 11-2017 |
The US market had the double square headlamps and non-US had the one piece like yours which I prefer. I seems possible to install the double rounds since the body shell is the same. I have never seen one and the look would be interesting. I'm not that familiar with the architecture in there with SZ cars since I have only owned SY based cars. Interesting thought. | ||
| Roderick Waite Prolific User Username: rodwaite Post Number: 227 Registered: 01-2012 |
My old boss had a 1974 Shadow (in 1974) which I drove as he didn't enjoy driving - and that inspired me to have one of my own one day. But not a Shadow as I didn't like the twin headlamps. The Spirit answered my prayers - the most elegant of all RRs ever produced in my view. I have never seen one with twin headlamps, thankfully, and had no idea such a hybrid existed! | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2847 Registered: 06-2009 |
Headlamp swapping has been a "popular game" with the SZ series cars for as long as I can remember. I personally never cared for the US-law-required twin rectangular headlamps. At the time of manufacture the single European style headlamps were not legal here. To my knowledge, the headlamp inserts are identical on both RR and Bentley as far as the dimensions and the wiring go. I have an article on converting from the US spec headlamps to the European style on a Silver Spur. The process should certainly be reversible for any twin-headlamp insert. I always thought P&A Wood's Gainswood Phantom built on the early Phantom but using twin headlamps from Bentley was a huge improvement on what came out of Crewe. The first three images returned by this search show it: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Gainswood+Phantom+round+headlights | ||
| Robert J. Sprauer Grand Master Username: wraithman Post Number: 434 Registered: 11-2017 |
Here's the image link. I agree, the twin rounds on the Phantom are awesome. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22gainswood%22+phantom+round+headlights&norw=1&iax=images&ia=images | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2848 Registered: 06-2009 |
Robert, Sorry about that. I truncated that URL a bit too much. I have never cared for the styling of the Phantom one bit. Another local (and now late, unfortunately) member of the RROC US nailed it as far as adjective goes: vulgar. And it's gotten more so in my opinion, with inane options like the "starlight fiber-optic headliner." Of course, I never was the target demographic for that car and never will be. I'm waiting for the post-Phantom generation of styling. While the Ghost and derivatives are better, they're not better by much. (I'm also never going to be in the target demographic for any Rolls-Royce or Bentley that is coming off the showroom floor or being ordered bespoke). Brian, who also realizes, "Each to his or her own taste," applies |
