There are quite a few of these Rolly-polys around Tokyo, for sure. Thanks to the massive Economic Bubble of the ‘80s and ‘90s, Rolls sold a lot more cars in Japan at that time than they did in prior decades. Thus Silver Shadows are not too common, but Spirits, Spurs, Corniches and the like certainly are. Everything is relative, of course: there are far more Flying Ladies from the BMW era (a daily sight, in some parts of town). However, this is a Spur III, which makes it intrinsically rare, and thus ready for its fifteen minutes of CC fame.
I’ve had the pleasure of writing up this model’s immediate successor, the 1995-99 Silver Spur, which should in all logic have been called “Silver Spur IV,” but that number was skipped because it’s considered as unlucky in vital export markets – namely China and Japan. Not that it prevented Rolls from producing the Corniche IV convertible, but then those were even more niche (and a lot more expensive) than the saloons.
As I’m sure most of you might recall, Rolls launched the Silver Spirit and its LWB sister ship the Silver Spur in October 1980. Same 6.75 litre V8 as the Shadow that preceded it with a GM-built 3-speed TH400 automatic transmission, similar all-independent suspension with added hydropneumatics under license from Citroën, and all that. What was new was the bodyshell: slightly longer/lower/wider than the Shadow, very ‘80s in looks, including massive composite headlights (except for US-spec cars, of course) – a first for the marque.
In 1989, the Spirit / Spur II was unveiled. The main innovations included a revamped suspension, ABS, a smaller steering wheel and the generalization of Bosch fuel injection for all models. Externally, nothing really changed. In 1991, a new 4-speed gearbox took over, still made by GM. The Spirit / Spur III arrived in late 1993, featuring new wheel cover trim, airbags and a plastic cover over the engine. Said engine had a redesigned head and manifold for a little extra (but still undisclosed) power.
Redesigned seats were also part of the facelift. But the Spirit / Spur number three proved to be a very short-lived chapter in the car’s two-decade career: only two model years, 1994 and 1995. Consequently, this is a rare model: only 234 Spirits and 465 Spurs were made in total. It’s not a lot, but these numbers do not tell the whole story.
Rolls-Royce knew the Spirit / Spur was getting a bit stale, so they devised two new variants (based on the Spur) launched at the same time as this third series: the US-only Silver Dawn, which was essentially a slightly de-contented and cheaper Spur III, and the Flying Spur, which had the Bentley Turbo R’s drivetrain.
I confess I was unaware of these variants until doing a bit of research for this post. It makes sense, though: Rolls-Royce had been working on a new saloon, as was their custom, for years by the mid-‘90s, but it was still nowhere near ready. Bentley sales, thanks to the Turbo R and the Continental, had kept the lights on at Crewe, but it was known that Vickers, who had owned Rolls-Royce Motors since 1980, were looking to sell. Slapping a new name on an old car was better than doing nothing. Just.
The great twist of fate, of course, was that Rolls-Royce PLC – the aviation arm of the business, which had been independent of the car side since the early ‘70s – ended up buying out Vickers in 1999. That’s a Rolls reversal if there ever was one! It coincidentally took place just as the last Spurs were rolling off the line and Volkswagen were taking over Crewe, only to be undercut by BMW, who snatched the rights to Rolls-Royce cars right from under VW’s nose. Those wily Bavarians.
What does that have to do with our Silver Spur III? Not much, really. But then, the R-R/Bentley buyout and divorce drama that occurred roundabout the time these were actually being made is, in my opinion, a lot more interesting than the cars themselves.
Not that the ones that followed were any better, being a bunch of increasingly overdressed tanks powered by BMW engines. The Spirit / Spur was the final hurrah of the real Rolls-Royce: neither truly beautiful nor really that graceful, but certainly tasteful (again, compared to what followed) and definitely significant.
Related posts:
Curbside Classic: 1996 Rolls-Royce Silver Spur – Peasant-Crushing, Minus The Excitement, by T87
Curbside Classic: Rolls Royce Silver Spirit – Delivered By The Wind, by David Skinner
Curbside Outtake: 1980’s Rolls Royce Silver Spur Mark I – She’s Seen Better Days, by Jim Brophy
Sports Car Shop Classics: 1967 Austin Mini Cooper S And 1999 Rolls-Royce Silver Spur, by PN
Curbside Classic: 1987 Bentley Mulsanne Turbo R – In Case a Rolls-Royce Is Too Common For You, by Roger Carr
I was in Japan just after the bubble burst in the early 1990s. I was surprised by how many Rolls Royce and Bentley cars there were on the roads. A friend of mine in fact had a Bentley, which was given to him as payment for a construction job. The problem was he had a terrible time parking it as spaces in Tokyo tend to be small and very expensive. He drove me to the train station in it. The irony was it was left hand drive, which is seen as status symbol for some people in Japan.
I believe I know exactly where this one sits, having looked at it at least twice myself on completely separate occasions. It doesn’t seem to move, but it does seem to get dusted regularly…
I think of this bodystyle as Britain’s late 1980s Caprice Classic. While not as ubiquitous, it’s big, square, bulky, yet goes slightly better than one might expect, and everyone knows what it is when they look at it. And many years after their debut I kind of like them.
Good to see this one getting its day in the sun, although this might well be the only sun it sees.
Yep, that’s the one.
It does move, albeit very rarely. I re-photographed it for this post a coupe weeks ago, and it was relatively grime-free. Which it wasn’t the first time I snapped it (the closeup of the rear taillight is from that earlier session).
Rolls-Royce Caprice does have a nice ring to it…
The only thing that comes to mind about this generation is it is where Bentley finally regained its lost mojo. I don’t think I’ve ever even seen a Bentley from the Silver Shadow generation. However, I believe there are far more Bentleys of this generation than Rolls Royces.
I always thought the Detroit-inspired “fill the box” styling on these was a brilliant move, since the #1 export market was the US with fundamentally different cultural connotations to what a Rolls-Royce is. A flashy, in-your-face display of wealth in Britain and something expected to carry the understatement ascribed to the British upper crust in America, it stood out among the Minis, MkI Fiestas and Austin Allegros of its’ home turf but blended in among GM B/C bodies and Panther-platform Fords until you noticed That Grille and the almost custom-car paint quality.