Bertie's a star
Living with Bertie
Bertie attracts fans wherever he goes. Parked, driving, filling up, everywhere! People slowing next to you to gawp, then pulling in front gets tiresome, as does repeating “no it’s not too bad” when filling up. Bertie’s used to having his picture taken while on the road and parked; you certainly wouldn’t want to get up to anything nefarious in him - you’ll be plastered all over Facebook and Instagram for sure!
The really positive interactions are usually while washing or working on him. A ten minute job will often take hours after being interrupted by numerous passers-by. Here are the most common questions:
Expensive? To buy and run: no. A reasonable Shadow/T-series can be had for £15-20k. A bargain compared to any new car, unless you dream of owning Hyundais and Kias. Road tax is zero, as are congestion charges. Classic insurance is amazingly cheap, and fuel consumption is only twice that of a modern Bentley. Depreciation is close to zero, or maybe even negative, and that’s by far a motorist’s biggest expense.
On the negative side, maintenance costs aren’t cheap. They’re not much worse than many luxury saloons over 10 years old, but they are commensurate with the car’s new price. SY cars are famous for needing more maintenance than most, and some are now nearly 60-years-old!
Reliable? Yes, the car is not only built like a tank, but the engineering and size of everything is truck like. That is, it’s really over the top for a car.
Stuff does go wrong, but no more than other ‘analog’ cars. And herein lies a plus - anyone can fault-find and fix the essentials - at least to get you home. Fuel pumps, carbs, points, distributor, and plugs - nothing complex or digital. Bertie’s never let me down in 20,000-plus miles.Thirsty? Compared to a ‘modern’, yes, but for an ancient 6.7 litre V8 not bad. Reckon on 12-13mpg around town, and 17-18mpg at a constant 60-70mph. The tank holds ~90 litres, and a typical fill-up is ~80 litres. Reckon on 250-300 miles between fill-ups. I use 98 ‘Super’, but 95 is probably OK? I try to avoid the 10% ethanol fuels due to reports of its effect on rubber seals.
Well built? Compared to what? And define well? The car was expensively hand built, but that’s no guarantee of anything. My own experience of a few SY cars is they’re high quality, but a little over complex and piecemeal in places.
Given the choice of maintaining an SY car or a Mercedes of similar age, the Mercedes would win every time; Germanic engineering is more advanced, rational, and consistent (and metric!).Comfortable? Again, compared to what? Personally I love the ride - it’s very soft, but I’ll admit it’s not as good as some cars of the period (Jag. XJ6?). It’s generally not as good as a modern luxury saloon. It’s not particularly quiet either - quite a lot of wind noise, although maybe that’s old door seals? I can’t hear the clock tick when driving 🤨.
What one can’t dispute is the ‘feel good’ factor the car imparts - a feeling of wellness. Few cars (Mercs, Jags, BMWs, Porches, Ferraris, …) make you feel as good behind the wheel.
Maintainable? Parts are easy to find - at least in the UK. Various breakers, especially FlyingSpares, can get you anything - and for very reasonable prices - much less than comparable Merc. prices.
Expertise is important with these cars. A lot of the engineering is difficult for DIYers. Something like changing the rear discs/rotors is a magnitude harder than most cars (like a truck!). Thankfully, the UK has many excellent specialists (for a price!). Expertise outside of the UK is a little more sparse; Western Europe and North America have a few specialists, but they’re more spread out.
The best thing about Bertie is the smile he puts on all around him. He’s not pretentious, nor envy invoking, and he’s not boring. He’s fun, interesting, well equipped, and practical: he’s a 🤩star🤩 (in The Man from Del Monte - 2023 revision):
I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences/take on living with a Silver Shadow/T-Series (or any classic) everyday. Or if you don’t use them daily - why? Please leave a comment. Thanks.
Well, I agree with most of what you wrote. Mine is an absolutely superb 1978 Silver Shadow 2 however with a bit of a sketchy maintenance history. The car was repatriated from Florida to France 15 years ago. I bought it 7 years ago. It all went well for let say 6-7 years when suddenly (even though the car was regularly maintained) things started to fall apart. The engine started to develop a valve train clicking noise almost like that of a diesel engine. Braking became smooshy and the engine started to die when going up on a climbing road. Scary really. Then the radiator started to leak. All taht in a couple of months. Needless to say that in between I had fallen in love with the car and was not ready to part with it. Here I am now, having spent and still spending unreasonable amounts to keep it alive. The exhaust needs replacing but worse, when having 4 hydraulic tappets replaced, one of the cams on the central camshaft appeared to be quite badly dented...
The deal with older cars in general is how much you are ready to spend to maintain them. Most of these RRs were not properly maintained after a few years of service. Specialists are rare and command high priced service. This probably explains the low price, a bit like with some low end Ferraris. Pretending bad things will not catch you up one day is preposterous. At some point things will start to go awry, there is no escape for that. But then love is stronger, my RR has been in the shop for 4 months now, it should be ready in two weeks. We will see.
I am also a Man from Del Monte: Del Monte Forest, in Monterey County!
I’m glad I reread the post here because the delightful video was absent from the e-mailed version.