TWIN TEST
The Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow was, in the eyes of many, the best car money could buy in the Seventies. But one of the few cars that ever truly challenged it in the eyes of the public was the Jaguar XJ12 Series 1. Despite its lower price, was it as good? We test two cars fit for royalty to find out
THERE ARE some phrases that those of us in the motoring press like to throw around like confetti. 'King of the hot hatches' is a good one, and has traditionally meant other cars wresting it from the grasp of the Golf GTi or the Peugeot 205 GTi.
Best 4x4xfar is another one. But the one that motoring journalists have rarely questioned is the title of 'The Best Car in the World' - and back in the Seventies, that trophy was one which sat firmly in the cabinets at Crewe. Whether it was your thing or not, the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow had, in the eyes of the motoring press, earned that accolade.
That's not to say, however, that there were no challengers to the title. The Mercedes 300 SEL 6.3, for instance, a colossal V8 in the standard S-class shell. The Cadillac Fleetwood, colossal in every sense and truly the Cadillac of automobiles. And - from the Rolls-Royce's home turf -the Jaguar XJ12. Jaguar's first serious entry into the luxury saloon market since the demise of the 420G, the XJ12 - especially in long-wheelbase form - took the talented XJ saloon and turned it into a world-class limousine, with more grace, more space and more pace than ever before. But was the XJ12 ever good enough to beat the Rolls-Royce at its own game? Was it ever, even briefly, the best car in the world?
Encompassing many technical innovations, the 1965 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow was also targeted at a new class of buyer. The first Rolls-Royce developed for the owner-driver was so popular at launch that potential owners – keen to drive them – would pay a premium over the list price for used examples if that meant that they could beat the waiting time. And that list wasn’t confined to traditional Rolls-Royce clientele. While people like Earl Spencer and Princess Margaret remained Rolls-Royce devotees, the Shadow also attracted a new breed of nouveau riche celebrity. John Lennon’s psychedelic Phantom kicked off a revolution, with names such as Keith Moon and Bernard Manning joining the queue. Throughout the Eighties and Nineties, a Silver Shadow was seen as a show of profligacy in a recession; the ultimate fate of which would be to don the white Dulux and silk ribbons of the wedding trade. This image has taken decades to shake off, but the Shadow is now accepted as a classic of standing.
Minor changes including a larger 6.75- litre V8 were introduced over the life of the Shadow, until its replacement with the Shadow II of 1977. This car had rubber bumpers, rack-and-pinion steering, a new dashboard and se
