Late Silver Shadow or mid80s Corniche as a daily cruiser?

[ADP68]

I'm an old fogey by comparison, 44, but had my Shadow 2 for 9 years and my S3 for 8.
May I just advise that, as previously stated, you'll find the 4 door car a lot more practical with child-seats and will curse yourself when your back-aches and you whack your head reaching into the back of a 2 door car whilst settling the kids in. You can always sell it and get a 2 door car when they're about 6 and can strap themselves in.

[campaj1]

Sorry, but none of the above! Try a silver cloud Series 2/3 like this one http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C346818
Very cool in Bond-villain style; saw a family cruising round kensington with two little ones in the back so car seats should be ok methinks!

[roscobbc]

I used to drive my late father in laws late Shadow 1 around outer London in the the mid/late 80's - and whilst they are a comfortable and quiet place to be, and, yes very light controls etc, the car is physically hard work with lots of steering wheel action, body roll and tyre scrub if you are trying to keep ahead of all the commuter traffic. Easy to place/park though despite its size!.

[OLDBENZ]

I have had a Bentley T2 for 10 years and have enjoyed every drive although I still have only 30k on the clock, 10k odd of which are down to me. In fact the T2 started my collection off when I lived abroad as a more interesting alternative to a people mover for hauling children and trunks around the country. We have a house in central London and it suits London very well. It is still a long car in modern terms although no wider than a BMW. The key to a stress free ownership experience as with all older cars is to have it inspected regularly by a marque specialist. It has never broken down and has just had routine servicing with the odd brake pad and hydraulic fluid service. The biggest drawback is that it is only 3-speeds - I think some of the very last Corniches/Continentals had a 4 speed - but it is too undergeared for motorway work. They are not "press-on" cars by any means but a pleasant cosseting experience. I have had a modern Drophead Phantom for three years and get as much fun from the T2.

[kev b]

I am not a RR/Bentley expert but I have plenty of experience with children and 2 door cars.
My advice is to choose 4 doors, as the faffing about with long heavy doors and pulling children from kiddy seats whilst kneeling doubled over rapidly loses its attraction.
On balance though your children will be unable to jettison themselves onto the road from a coupe! Wait a minute, when were childlocks introduced on Shadows?

[ADP68]

It may have been me you saw in Kensington in my s3! I sometimes visit the museums with the kids. You could use one everyday in the countryside but way too unwieldy in London. Like parking an aircraft carrier in Chelsea harbour!

[campaj1]

Small world! Respect for doing it though! Was so funny seeing it weave amongst the Range Rovers with Blonde YMs scowling down at someone with a slicker family car than them!

[campaj1]

You may be right about day-to-day usability though: Wouldn't want to try Oxford Circus in if there are any more riots too!

[Rushmore]

Rubbish. A Shadow has about the same dimensions as a W220 Merc. it is not a New Phantom.

ADP68 said:

It may have been me you saw in Kensington in my s3! I sometimes visit the museums with the kids. You could use one everyday in the countryside but way too unwieldy in London. Like parking an aircraft carrier in Chelsea harbour!

[ADP68]

I was referring to my Bentley S3, which is a cloud with a different badge. Dimensions are slightly different to my shadow ( both are parked next to each other in my garage) but the S3 is a bugger to park, do 3 point turns in and also park in tiny supermarket spaces. I use ocado now!!

[campaj1]

Haha good shout with ocado yeah I would imagine the S3's more swoopy front and back would make it harder to place than the shadow(s), which has pointers to show the edge of the car

To OP have you considered a Conti Spur/Arnage/Silver Seraph? All seem to fall under budget...

[911Thrasher]

campaj1 said:

Haha good shout with ocado yeah I would imagine the S3's more swoopy front and back would make it harder to place than the shadow(s), which has pointers to show the edge of the car

To OP have you considered a Conti Spur/Arnage/Silver Seraph? All seem to fall under budget...

Nope i only want the classic look, and they really the only ones i like...bear the Bentley Azure/Continental R

My budget can actually stretch to 40-45k£ to get the best. And i think this is a min for a good Corniche.

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

[ADP68]

Speak to anyone who's had kids and they'll you that a 4 door car is sensible to avoid hurting your back and knees, unless you're built like the hulk, in which case you'll bang your head a lot!

Edited by ADP68 on Thursday 20th December 13:12

[campaj1]

fair enough: I would tend to prefer the classic look too, just though the others u might not have considered!

[campaj1]

Some interesting options:
Cloud III (Still personal fav!) http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C167499
Corniche: Smart one in London: http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C169192
Shadow kiddy wagon! http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C280028
Smart Shadow II http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C353579
Decent Condition Azure http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C276599
Or... something completely different! http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C347771

[Bluebottle911]

Rushmore said:

Rubbish. A Shadow . . . is not a New Phantom.

True: New Phantom introduced in 1925!

[Rushmore]

911Thrasher said:

My budget can actually stretch to 40-45k£ to get the best. And i think this is a min for a good Corniche.

With that approach you'll become soon unfashionable in PH circles.Why dont you buy a Corniche for, like, 1000 GBP as a "daily runner"? "What possibly could go wrong?"

[tonys]

roscobbc said:

I used to drive my late father in laws late Shadow 1 around outer London in the the mid/late 80's - and whilst they are a comfortable and quiet place to be, and, yes very light controls etc, the car is physically hard work with lots of steering wheel action, body roll and tyre scrub if you are trying to keep ahead of all the commuter traffic. Easy to place/park though despite its size!.

Fair comment. They can be a bit 'soft', including the Shadow 11. You can get (or could) Harvey Bailey handling kits (dampers/spring/rollbars)which stiffen them up a little, and I find a few extra psi. in the tyres helps as well. There was also an RR handling kit available for a while.

I wouldn't describe an HB equipped one (Shadow 11) as hard work, but they still roll more than something like a BMW if you are 'maintaining a decent average speed'. I much prefer them in town to a lot of the modern 'stuff', which can be a pain to manoeuvre because of the limited visibility.

[ADP68]

[quote=Rushmore]

With that approach you'll become soon unfashionable in PH circles.Why dont you buy a Corniche for, like, 1000 GBP as a "daily runner"? "What possibly could go wrong?"[/quote
A very worthwhile contribution- keep up the good work.
You can get bilstein dampers and use a turbo r anti roll bar, which I'm told helps with the roll but I'm not bothered with it in my shadow as I quite like it]

[roscobbc]

tonys said:

Fair comment. They can be a bit 'soft', including the Shadow 11. You can get (or could) Harvey Bailey handling kits (dampers/spring/rollbars)which stiffen them up a little, and I find a few extra psi. in the tyres helps as well. There was also an RR handling kit available for a while.

I wouldn't describe an HB equipped one (Shadow 11) as hard work, but they still roll more than something like a BMW if you are 'maintaining a decent average speed'. I much prefer them in town to a lot of the modern 'stuff', which can be a pain to manoeuvre because of the limited visibility.

My comments were, perhaps a little unjustified as the thread was talking about Shadow 11's etc which had rack & pinion steering, a major improvement I know. I always related Shadow 1's to being almost equivalent to driving a a high quality version of a 60's American car, i.e ultra light 'one finger' power steering, soft 'floaty' suspension with loads of induced body roll, but with an interior to die for. A similar period Lincoln Town car or Cadillac Sedan for example driven back in that period were surprisingly more rewarding cars to drive, even if not of the same quality build. I wonder how they would compare now ?