Evil Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow Drift Car Selling For $130k

Today's episode of Fish Out of Water, Unabashedly Cool Edition features this 1979 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II. Younger readers might think the Silver Shadow is a comic book superhero, but most recognize the name as the ultimate level of luxurious, elegant motoring in the 1970s. If you were a person of taste and some significance, this is what you drove – or perhaps were driven in – around town. People didn't care that basic maintenance costs were equivalent to buying a new Toyota every year. They were enamored with the wood trim, leather upholstery, the 6.7-liter V8, and a gaggling array of optional extras that made every Silver Shadow feel personal.

This particular Silver Shadow is most definitely personalized, though unabashed luxury was not the prevailing theme. Massive fender flares accommodate a set of wheels that could've come straight from the latest NASCAR event. The bumpers are gone, the chrome is gone, the typical Silver Shadow exterior glow has been dampened with a thorough coat of matte black paint, and the suspension has been replaced with air bags to raise and lower the big rig at will.

Inside there's still plenty of red leather to be found, even on the custom race seats installed up front. There's also a curious aluminum handle protruding skyward from the center console, bearing the Rolls-Royce logo. That would be for operating the hydraulic rear handbrake, just in case you decide to take this 2.5 ton luxury barge out for a spot of drifting between tea breaks.

Of course, anyone who's seen Supercar Megabuild on the National Geographic Channel will recognize this Rolls as the subject of episode two of the series, where the challenge was indeed to build a Rolls-Royce drift car. To accomplish that daunting task, the rear differential was welded and the automatic transmission was modified to hold gears. The big 6.7-liter V8 has been remapped, but with these cars only producing 189 horsepower in stock trim, the Silver Shadow relies on the handbrake and locked diff to get sideways.

Prindiville PLC in London is offering this one-off Rolls-Royce for sale with an asking price of £99,995, or roughly $130,000 U.S. dollars. That's a lot of cash considering you can buy a nice, stock Silver Shadow for a cool $20,000. Cut that in half to buy a good project Rolls to create your own crazy monster. But if you want a turn-key drifter with some television cred and guaranteed cool factor, your car is ready.