Discussion
A few years ago I bought an 1968 Silver Shadow Mulliner Park Ward drophead coupe from a broker friend of mine in the Cotswolds on a bit of a whim. It was a decent but not perfect example that someone had repainted (a slightly bright shade of) red in the Eighties. I thought the car would only get used on high days and holidays but found that actually it was being used almost daily so sold the BMW which sat next to it on the drive and made it my only car. I quite happily went everywhere in it for a year or so until water started leaking into the boot and I got grumpy and sold it.
I have a neighbour who runs a Bentley Turbo RT as an only car so I have to admit that I didn't think it was that unusual running a Crewe product daily. That was until I recounted the story recently and someone thought I was bit crazy. I am sure plenty of you have run a Rolls Royce or Bentley as a daily driver (especially in fine weather) but has anyone else run something older as an only car?
I have a neighbour who runs a Bentley Turbo RT as an only car so I have to admit that I didn't think it was that unusual running a Crewe product daily. That was until I recounted the story recently and someone thought I was bit crazy. I am sure plenty of you have run a Rolls Royce or Bentley as a daily driver (especially in fine weather) but has anyone else run something older as an only car?
A friend emailed me this morning about a willow gold Shadow II that had recently had a 10k recommissioning service. I laughed, went to empty the dishwasher and laughed a bit more. The link got me thinking about the prospect of Rolls Royce and Bentley ownership again; both in terms of the pleasures derived as well as the trials and tribulations. There is no denying that the driving experience (for better and for worse) is unique. But so is the cost of ownership. A small service could buy you a perfectly useable and enjoyable second car, a slightly larger service and new tyres buys you a decent week in the Caribbean and a large recommission on a Shadow (or a year’s running costs in the case of my Brooklands R Mulliner) buys you something very special indeed...
As I mentioned above, a couple of years ago (for a year or so) my only car was a Rolls Royce. I have to admit that very genuinely I didn’t really think too hard about running my drophead as an everyday car; my parents had a neighbour that did the same for 20 years (he was a covent garden fruit trader and wanted to waft to market in comfort at 3 in the morning!). Perhaps running your Crewe product regularly is the best thing for both you and the car - the costs probably don’t get much greater and yet they are divided out by more miles.
But the problems don’t really stop there - the cars are too big to easily park everywhere (most annoying when looking for a winter hibernation post if you only use the car in the summer), drink simply vast quantities of petrol (about 50p per mile in the case of anything with a 6 & 3/4 ltr engine) and remove the possibility of being able to sneak anywhere by car unnoticed. You also come out smelling of wood and leather on all occasions (who needs after shave after all) which I found a little trying for the nasal passages but others seemingly appreciate. Although all five of my Crewe cars had little strops every so often, only one of them ever failed to proceed in a manner that left me stranded. It was an early Shadow and as such, I think such behaviour can be attributed to the normalities of classic motoring rather than anything Rolls Royce specific.
About two years ago, I thought really hard about buying an early Continental R - I like the shape very much and back then there were some very nice examples out there for circa 30k. So off I went and drove a truly superb example being sold by a broker near London. The condition was superlative, the service history near impeccable and the wind noise at eighty intolerable (a friend’s Turbo R was the same on the A406 - I searched for the window switch to check everything was closed properly before he scalded me that that was how they all were). And that neatly sums up my final point - these cars command great sums of money to buy and run and they simply aren’t good enough in light of what else is available. I am surprised so many sold when new really - did none of those London buyers think to swing past Mercedes Benz of Park Lane on the way to/from Jack Barclays for surely if the had, the cheque would have been sent to a different postal address. Or perhaps in London, where the traffic only averages 14mph, you can’t hear that the doors don’t fit properly and the sunroof whistles like the Pied Piper. And let us not forget that Rolls Royces and Bentleys have simply superb low speed tractability; pulling away with such ease makes you wonder quite what the staling teenager in the adjacent learner vehicle is doing quite so wrong. Did Crewe send out a memo reminding all sale agents they were required to have city centre showrooms lest the punters see through the product?
I’m not saying I wont have another - the lures might get the better of me again one day but for the moment why bother when Stuttgart's second hand fare can be bought and run for the price of a couple of boxes of Coco Pops. I once read that the average Bentley driver had five cars to choose from and we surely have to conclude that the minimum he needs is two - one Bentley and one other car that actually works as a car. And so in conclusion, perhaps we can surmise that my query was fruitless - no one (however wealthy) drives anything from Crewe as an only car. If you are poor, you don’t buy a Rolls Royce or Bentley in the first place and if you are wealthy and foolish/sentimental enough to have bought one new, you surely had enough money to go out and buy something else that was built to satisfy the purpose for which it was sold. Perhaps Park Lane Mercedes didn’t have to worry after all.
As I mentioned above, a couple of years ago (for a year or so) my only car was a Rolls Royce. I have to admit that very genuinely I didn’t really think too hard about running my drophead as an everyday car; my parents had a neighbour that did the same for 20 years (he was a covent garden fruit trader and wanted to waft to market in comfort at 3 in the morning!). Perhaps running your Crewe product regularly is the best thing for both you and the car - the costs probably don’t get much greater and yet they are divided out by more miles.
But the problems don’t really stop there - the cars are too big to easily park everywhere (most annoying when looking for a winter hibernation post if you only use the car in the summer), drink simply vast quantities of petrol (about 50p per mile in the case of anything with a 6 & 3/4 ltr engine) and remove the possibility of being able to sneak anywhere by car unnoticed. You also come out smelling of wood and leather on all occasions (who needs after shave after all) which I found a little trying for the nasal passages but others seemingly appreciate. Although all five of my Crewe cars had little strops every so often, only one of them ever failed to proceed in a manner that left me stranded. It was an early Shadow and as such, I think such behaviour can be attributed to the normalities of classic motoring rather than anything Rolls Royce specific.
About two years ago, I thought really hard about buying an early Continental R - I like the shape very much and back then there were some very nice examples out there for circa 30k. So off I went and drove a truly superb example being sold by a broker near London. The condition was superlative, the service history near impeccable and the wind noise at eighty intolerable (a friend’s Turbo R was the same on the A406 - I searched for the window switch to check everything was closed properly before he scalded me that that was how they all were). And that neatly sums up my final point - these cars command great sums of money to buy and run and they simply aren’t good enough in light of what else is available. I am surprised so many sold when new really - did none of those London buyers think to swing past Mercedes Benz of Park Lane on the way to/from Jack Barclays for surely if the had, the cheque would have been sent to a different postal address. Or perhaps in London, where the traffic only averages 14mph, you can’t hear that the doors don’t fit properly and the sunroof whistles like the Pied Piper. And let us not forget that Rolls Royces and Bentleys have simply superb low speed tractability; pulling away with such ease makes you wonder quite what the staling teenager in the adjacent learner vehicle is doing quite so wrong. Did Crewe send out a memo reminding all sale agents they were required to have city centre showrooms lest the punters see through the product?
I’m not saying I wont have another - the lures might get the better of me again one day but for the moment why bother when Stuttgart's second hand fare can be bought and run for the price of a couple of boxes of Coco Pops. I once read that the average Bentley driver had five cars to choose from and we surely have to conclude that the minimum he needs is two - one Bentley and one other car that actually works as a car. And so in conclusion, perhaps we can surmise that my query was fruitless - no one (however wealthy) drives anything from Crewe as an only car. If you are poor, you don’t buy a Rolls Royce or Bentley in the first place and if you are wealthy and foolish/sentimental enough to have bought one new, you surely had enough money to go out and buy something else that was built to satisfy the purpose for which it was sold. Perhaps Park Lane Mercedes didn’t have to worry after all.
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