Vintage Rolls Royce

thank you sooooo much. My heart broke when I saw the condition the thing was in I was actually out photographing a building which has interesting architectural details but has seen better days.....when I walked around the side of the building, there it was. I may pop over tomorrow when the owner is likely to be around to ask permission to REALLY photograph it. I can photoshop out a lot of the damage. :-) And park my own red Honda out of the way!

Not vintage - it's a '50s Cloud. I *think* it's a Cloud II with the first appearance of the Rolls V-8, but it's difficult to tell due to the angle of the pic - the only real difference from the earlier 6 cylinder model is the height of the rad.

You presumably don't watch Top Gear. This model was nominated as one of the best cars of all time.

Would you say that bonnet fit looks rather suspicious? Perhaps it started life as a Bentley (S1 or S2?).

Excellent observation - I'd say you're right. Perhaps that's why the headlights were changed as well - the originals would have had a 'B' in the middle if a Series I.

snip

Perhaps that tells you more about Top Gear than RR

The general attitude to the Silver Cloud seems to have changed over the years,by 1966 it was regarded so outdated nobody mourned it when it was replaced by the Shadow. Only one of the Wraith branch of the RR family tree I would want to take home is a Bentley Continental.

I don't think the radiator height dropped until the Cloud III /S3. The slightly rounded look to this one's bonnet top panels does indeed make it look like a Bentley to R-R conversion. This figures with the colour of it: "ideal for weddings" (my heart sinks when I see every dog-rough Shadow advertised like that). I think the Bentley version looks even better than the Clouds - the radiator shape fits far better with the overall style of the car, for me. Gorgeous cars. I'm drooling over an S1 at the moment as a replacement for the Mk VI, which _may_ be sold via ebay's "second chance".

-- Kevin Poole

********Use current month and year to reply (e.g. snipped-for-privacy@mainbeam.co.uk)************** B283EW, SA 1838, TC 8512, GAN3/48519, GAN4/63840, GHD5/324616 Tiltbed car transporter trailer hire - £25/ day. Near Derby. May even tow it for you.

Yes you're quite right, that is a bentley bonnet. I didn't notice that at first. In which case the engine will also have B on the rocker cover(s) Or it may have a bentley bonnet incorrectly fitted to a Roller.

Either way, it's starting to look like a wreck/bodge job

Alex

I'll agree with you on that one. The Shadow just doesn't seem to have the same feel as the Cloud. Personally I think the Cloud (or S2, I have) is the last of the great Rollers.

Alex

Mmm. MkVI is a nice car as well. I much prefer the Bentley anyway, the rounded grill is always much more pleasing on the eye. As for the colour, Wedding Cream/White always seems an ugly color for a car of this size and stature. I'd much rather a darker color, perhaps something with Burgandy, or a deep Blue.

Alex

Talking of Rolls literature, my father-in-law recently lent me some Rolls-Royce Bulletins from the fifties that he had inherited along with lots of other RR literature. These are wonderful publications, stuffed with B+W photos of their contemporary cars along with Rolls powered aircraft and boats. I was staggered to find an American website offering the same bulletins for 75 dollars apiece. Interestingly, there are also a number of Jack Barclay Quarterlies from the early seventies containing a strange mixture of Rolls articles interspersed with the odd Fiat (mostly 128 and 130 coupe) review. JB clearly sold Fiats as well as RRs, which must have made for an odd looking showroom.

Feh. Clearwater isn't that bad. I'd be impressed if it was in Ybor.

Richard

Ear, is that a ROT13?

LOL-- But, trust me, there ARE parts of Clearwater that aren't safe for strangers at night. Downtown and the Beach are as safe as they can be, and Tampa and St. Pete are far worse, but.....

I'd say that's a bit much for that one in the pic.

Dunno. The bumper looks good and there's no signs of rust round the sidelights. ;-)

My feelings as well. It was downhill from the Cloud on, with a slight uptick with the release of the Turbo R. I think history would be kinder to the RR and Bentley marque if things had stopped after the Clouds. Emanuel