Lot 404: 1995 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit III

The Silver Spirit is regarded by some as the last 'real' Rolls-Royce since it has the distinction of being the last model produced solely at Crewe before the BMW takeover in 1997. Introduced in 1980 It remained in production for seventeen years, almost rivalling in duration the mighty Silver Ghost which established the reputation of the `"best car in the world" in the Edwardian era. Like all its predecessors it was under near-continuous modification and improvement during that time so that the final versions were truly impressive machines in all regards. The Series III, which came in in 1993 had remarkably spritely performance due to improved manifolding, cylinder heads and fuel injection, with unexpectedly agile handling as a result of its active ride system, which automatically adjusted the shock absorbers in real time. Rolls-Royce typically took in its stride modern safety requirements such as air bags, but faced a fairly uncommon problem in what to do about the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot. Convceived in an era when pedestrians and other road users were regarded as either indestructible or dispensible it seemed depresssingly likely to do severe damage to their modern equivalents on impact and seemed doomed to extinction when the company resourcefully developed a system whereby the flying lady was spring-loaded and disappeared into the nether reaches of the radiator when under assault; all was well.We are delighted to offer a splendid specimen of the model, a 1995 car finished in the classic combination of Georgian Silver with blue leather interior. Overall condition is remarkable, a tribute to the two careful owners who have covered only just 60,000 miles from new and to the two RR main agents who have successively carried out the maintenance from new. Of course a complete history of this maintenance is supplied with the car, and a clue to the very fine state of overall preservation is given by the presence in the boot of a full RR valeting kit in a purpose-made suitcase. These late cars now represent splendid value for money, and this example, in one of the most popular colour combinations of all, will provide truly satisfying motoring for many years to come.