1967 Rolls-Royce Mulliner Park Ward 2 Door Saloon

Description

A landmark car in the history of the Rolls-Royce company, the Silver Shadow was launched at the 1965 Paris Salon, taking the Flying Lady firmly into the modern era. Employing unitary construction for the first time, John Blatchley's elegant styling saw Rolls-Royce shift further towards the owner/driver market, with more compact proportions. The Silver Shadow's introduction heralded numerous firsts for the Crewe Company, including independent self-levelling suspension and four wheel ventilated disc brakes. Only the superlative all-aluminium 6.2-litre V8 and Rolls-Royce's own four-speed automatic transmission with fluid flywheel were carried over from the outgoing Silver Cloud, the latter replaced by GM's excellent 400 three-speed 'box in October 1968. Inside, the Silver Shadow combined traditional craftsmanship with modern features. The standard of finish on the upholstery, rich Wilton carpets and burr walnut veneers was impeccable and no less than eight individual Connolly hides were used to trim the interior of each car. The move towards unitary construction meant custom coachwork on a Rolls-Royce became almost entirely the preserve of the limited production Phantoms. Nontheless there was sufficient demand from Crewe's more discerning Shadow customers looking for something a little more sporting and in 1966, both James Young and Mulliner Park Ward unveiled two-door saloons. With distinctive 'coke bottle' styling, the fixed-head was joined a year later by a full convertible and these two models, with their Bentley T-Series derivatives, essentially replaced the Continental as the Rolls-Royce. Selling at a considerable premium over the regular Shadow, these bespoke cars were still essentially hand-made, taking around twenty weeks to complete compared with twelve for the standard saloon. Just 571 fixed-heads were built before the model was rebadged as the Corniche, with both versions continuing to sell strongly for many years. The original Mulliner Park Ward Rolls-Royces are often overlooked but with the Silver Shadow finally getting the recognition it always deserved, these coachbuilt derivatives will surely take their rightful place in Crewe's illustrious history.