Anybody using a Shadow or a SZ car as daily?

[rollerderby]

Fancy getting something older and using it as a daily. Surely doing 10,000 miles a year is no more expensive or challenging than using a modern Range Rover, Merc S class.etc? Any high mileage heroes out there?

[BenTurboR]

Whilst it's not strictly a daily driver, my Turbo R is my only car. I just don't need a car in my day to day life, but it does come in handy from time to time. Unless the weather is really poor it gets driven every week, and if I've not had a reason to drive it I'll just go out for fun. I've currently got it insured with an agreed mileage of 4000 miles a year, though I may end up increasing that. I was well under last year but I've already covered quite a few more miles this year.

I bought it in May 2021, and have spent about what I paid for it again since then. That's a bit more than I was hoping to spend but I got quite a few big things sorted out that shouldn't bother me again for a good while so I'm fairly confident I'll be spending a lot less this year.

[FarmerJim]

About 15 years ago I used a 1973 Silver Shadow as my daily for a short while. Of course it was a lovely place to be for my 33-mile each way commute but its 12 MPG thirst was an expensive habit to maintain. Over the eight or so years I owned it, most of which was as a Sunday afternoon car, it generally cost around £2,000 to get it serviced and through the MOT each year.

They do benefit from regular use. Other than fuel,
the period of regular use didn't really affect the annual spend.

You absolutely must find a specialist who knows what he is doing, as well as what needs to be done, what can be left for now and the wise preventative work.

Edited by FarmerJim on Monday 27th February 22:28

[BenTurboR]

I'm getting an average 17 MPG so far this year, though that has involved a fair bit of motorway driving. Average for 2022 was a bit over 15.

[alabbasi]

I know a couple of guys here in Texas who drive them daily. It seems to be better for the car as theirs are pretty reliable.

[Voxy]

There is an early 70s Corniche Saloon in Notting Hill which is a daily driver. Presumably exempt from ULEZ and congestion charge which will offset running costs.

[EdwardC]

A few years ago I bought a 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. My neigbours at the time ran a Silver Spirit 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.

A certain eccentricity is required to run an older Crewe built car as a daily runabout, as is a degree of perseverance. 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 is rarely less than four figures, and a slightly larger service and new tyres buys you a half decent week in the Caribbean. And the problems don’t really stop there - the cars are too big to easily park everywhere, drink vast quantities of petrol (about 50p per mile in the case of anything with a 6 & 3/4 ltr engine) and the lack of anonymity when travelling by Rolls-Royce removes the possibility of being able to sneak anywhere by car unnoticed.

Truthfully, for all their charms, Rolls-Royce stopped making superb cars a good 50 years ago. Their 80s and 90s offerings might be charming, but they’re outperformed by the competition on almost all fronts other than low speed tractability where the L-Series V8 is simply superb. However, if you enjoy the charms and escapism of piloting an older Rolls-Royce or Bentley, then nothing else comes close. After the Shadow, I ran a 4.4 ltr Arnage as a daily car for a couple of years, but these days I have a Continental R. Like BenTurboR, I don’t have a commute but wouldn’t be without a car, and travel 5/6k per annum. I find the Bentley grill and image easier to live with on a daily basis, but I miss the softer ride of my MPW.

[alabbasi]

This followed me home the other day. I've not had an opportunity to shake it down yet so the only thing I can say is that my Ford super duty felt like a racecar once I unloaded it

[Bluebottle911]

I have done 38K miles over 20 years in my Turbo R, which I currently use as one of 3 DDs. Servicing / maintenance / repair costs have averaged almost exactly £3K per annum and fuel consumption has averaged 14.4 mpg, maximum 18 on a run.

[entwisi]

I am about to start this very folly.. My commute dropped from 35K pa to 5K thanks to covid so driving a bonkers motor for a couple of years is part of the old automotive bucket list.. Prior to this my most ball'sy choice was a v10 5 liter VW phaeton..

So when i get back from my hols i am collecting a lovely 95 Turbo R..

So wish me luck..