The hands
The people behind the car
The people whose work shaped the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow.
No free period portrait on record
John Blatchley
Chief Styling Engineer
Led the broad concept and detailed design of the compact three-box SY body.
Silver Shadow
The monocoque Rolls-Royce
The Silver Shadow brought a unitary body, four-wheel discs and Citroën-licensed hydraulics. High production made it the affordable Crewe Rolls-Royce; service history and maintained hydraulics matter more than price.
Market value · road
$18K–$60K
Typical $39K · 19 sales · +280% vs ’19–’21
$5K$375K
’03’24
Market history · in the terminal
- Engine
- 6'750 cc V8 (1970 onward)
- Power
- ~190 bhp (museum figure · 1971 car)
- Top speed
- 193 km/h (120 mph · 1971 museum car)
- Transmission
- 3-speed (GM400 automatic · later cars)
- Brakes
- Four-wheel discs (high-pressure hydraulic)
- Structure
- Steel monocoque (front and rear subframes)
Market & Price
The price and the proof
A terminal for one car: the model curve over the documented record, the benchmarks it is measured against, and the instruments that read it.
Records: 100 documented road sales on file · 2003–2024; estimate band $18K–$60K · good road cars. recorded sale prices · mixed hammer and premium-inclusive basis.
HCN:SILVERSHLive model
$32'863117.9% · 12M
Model curve · anchored to 100 documented sales · benchmarks rebased at window startmodel v1 · seed rollsroyce-silver-shadow · not investment advice
The readouts · model figures against the benchmarks100 documented anchors · last sale 19 mo ago
Compound annual growth
| Window | This car* | S&P 500 | Gold |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | +117.9% | +18.8% | +21.9% |
| 5Y | -1.9% | +11.4% | +17.6% |
| 10Y | +9.6% | +13.3% | +11.8% |
*Modeled price CAGR · S&P is a price index, no dividends
Deepest drawdown · model window
This car*-97.5%Nov 2006 → Nov 2009 · recovered Feb 2018
S&P 500-50.8%Oct 2007 → Mar 2009 · recovered Mar 2013
Gold-39.3%Sep 2011 → Dec 2015 · recovered Jul 2020
Forecast ladder · model quantiles
| Horizon | P10 | P50 | P90 |
|---|---|---|---|
| +6M | $27K | $33K | $40K |
| +12M | $25K | $32K | $42K |
| +24M | $22K | $32K | $46K |
Median path with the 10th and 90th percentile · not investment advice
Transaction ledger · documented salesMixed price basis · not estimates
100 of 100 recorded sales · shown in USD · recorded currency in each record
Purchase price is often smaller than one cycle of hydraulic, cooling, brake and body work.
Price range · road · openConfidence · lowThe two cited US sales are 2017 and 2020 observations at roughly $20'000 to $22'000. The upper band is an estimate for unusually complete, cosmetically strong, specialist-maintained cars; public results alone do not support a precise current average.
Floor
$18K
Typical
$39K
Ceiling
$60K
Estimate band for good road cars. 19 documented sales since 2019 plotted below.
$5K$18K$39K$60K$379K
Hover the spectrum to read a value, or a dot for the sale behind it.
Band and axis shown in USD. Sale positions use indicative fixed-rate conversion to USD; sale readouts retain recorded currencies. USD; standard-wheelbase saloons. Long-wheelbase, Silver Wraith II, coachbuilt and celebrity cars require separate comparison.
The wider market · Rolls-Royce at auction · median per year · modeled between anchors1,385 lots · 2003–2026 · exact yearly anchors · modeled line
Instrument calibration for this file is in progress — the terminal above reads the documented record directly.
Amounts are reported auction results including buyer's premium. Claimed mileage and recent maintenance require documentary verification.
Overview
Crewe starts again without a frame
Rolls-Royce began the SY programme in the 1950s to package more cabin space into a smaller exterior. The production Silver Shadow arrived in 1965 with John Blatchley's three-box body, unitary construction, independent suspension and four-wheel disc brakes.
The early 6.2-litre V8 grew to 6.75 litres in 1970. Long-wheelbase cars appeared in 1969, while two-door Mulliner Park Ward derivatives took the Corniche name in 1971.
The Silver Shadow II designation arrived in 1977 after extensive changes to steering, suspension, ventilation and fascia. Standard-saloon production is generally recorded as 16'717 first-series cars and 8'425 Series IIs; long-wheelbase Silver Shadow and Silver Wraith II production sits outside that 25'142 total.
- Standard saloons
- 25'142
- Designer
- John Blatchley
- Engine
- 6.2L, then 6.75L V8
- Series II
- 1977 to 1980
- Rear suspension
- Independent · self-levelling
- LWB cars
- Named Silver Wraith II from 1977
Reference
Technical specifications
Powertrain
- Launch engine
- 6.2-litre aluminium V8carried over from the Silver Cloud III
- From 1970
- 6'750 cc L-series V8
- 1971 museum output
- Approximately 190 bhpRolls-Royce did not routinely publish power figures
- Later gearbox
- GM400 3-speed automaticearly cars used a four-speed Hydramatic
Body and hydraulics
- Construction
- Unitary body with isolated subframesthe first Rolls-Royce offered only as a complete car
- Suspension
- Independent at all four wheelshydraulic self-levelling at the rear
- Hydraulic system
- High-pressure dual circuitsCitroën-licensed architecture for braking and levelling
- Brakes
- Four-wheel discs
- Silver Shadow II steering
- Power-assisted rack and pinionintroduced with revised suspension settings in 1977
The records
0
Standard saloons built
16'717 first series and 8'425 Series II
0cc
Later V8 capacity
0mph
1971 museum top speed
0
Wheel disc brakes
HICON BID
Buying interest, silently.
A HICON Bid is a confidential expression of buying interest on the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow file — never public, never shown to other members. It is not a binding purchase, and HICONIUM holds no funds.
Sign in
HICON Bids are a member instrument. Sign in to place one.
The vault
Open a file on yours.
You keep one? The record starts in your garage — identity, papers, photography, and the market evidence this file already carries, bound to your chassis.
The cars
The Silver Shadow register
Documented individual cars — chassis, colour, ownership and sale history. Open one for its full provenance. Public records only; members see the complete registry.
01 documented · public records