Silver Shadow debuted in October 1965. The first copies were sold at a price of 6.556 pounds. The development of the model took several years. In the late 50s. The Rolls-Royce management realized that it would take several million pounds sterling to retool production for the new model and made two fundamental decisions: to keep the new car in production as long as possible and create a bearing body for it.
The car was a huge improvement over its predecessors. For the first time, the brainchild of Rolls-Royce was equipped with a bearing frameless body, independent suspension, disc brakes on four wheels, automatic alignment of the suspension and maximum braking force. From 1965 to 1969, a 6.2-liter V8 engine with a capacity of 172 horsepower worked under the hood. From 1970 to 1980, the model was equipped with a power unit with an increased volume of 6.7 l / 189 hp. Automatic box supplied concern General Motors.
An interesting fact, when Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow appeared, the then Minister of the Soviet automobile industry A.Tarasov was able to prove the necessity of buying several such machines for familiarization and study. Four cars were ordered through the company Autoexport. When they were taken to Moscow and shown to Leonid Brezhnev, he was not in awe of them. The purchased cars were handed over to ZIL, where one of them was used as the personal car of the then director P. Borodin, while others were constantly filmed in numerous movies. One Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow was created in England specifically for L.I.
Silver Shadow II was released in 1977. It was an improved version of the previous model. He received a rack and pinion steering mechanism and was distinguished by a modified body. Other minor changes were made. The car was originally conceived as the most advanced, so it tried to collect all the best of the then existing technologies.
Silver Shadow was true to the legacy of earlier models, but it also had important technical innovations, such as automatic power windows and electrically controlled air conditioning. The extended Silver Shadow model got its own name Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith II and was presented in 1977 at the Geneva Motor Show. The limousine had a V - shaped eight - cylinder engine (6.75 l.) And a carrying body. The model provided 4 cm more rear passengers, and in fact was the receiver of the Silver Shadow long wheelbase. Silver Shadow has become the top-selling Rolls-Royce in the world. He bought up faster than all previous models of the brand.
In the late 70s, the volume of production amounted to about 3.3 thousand pieces annually. In just 15 years, 30059 sedans were built.
