BMW has only owned Rolls Royce for a fraction of the British brand’s lifespan. So when the 1969 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow was released, BMW had nothing to do with it. However, the Silver Shadow is a part of the Rolls Royce brand’s history and that means it’s now a part of BMW’s history. So it’s always interesting to see what people do with old Rollers. Especially when harry Metcalfe, founder of EVO Magazine, takes his ’69 Silver Shadow up to the Arctic Circle.
Driving to the Arctic Circle is an incredibly difficult drive for any car. Driving there, you’ll face extremely cold temperatures, massive amounts of snow, blinding visibility and limited help in case of a breakdown. So taking a 49 year old British luxury car up to the Arctic, over 1,000 miles one way, doesn’t exactly sound like the best of ideas. Yet Metcalfe did it this past winter because he’s a brilliant madman.
He bought his ’69 Silver Shadow last year for just £4,000 on eBay, which is incredibly cheap. It had less than 100,000 miles on it and was in decent condition, although it needed some engine and brake work. Metcalfe did all of the necessary work to get his Roller in good running condition, fitted it with winter snow tires, threw some spare parts in the trunk and off he went.
Taking a car like the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow through the grueling conditions of the Arctic Circle is a daring trip but one I, personally, would love to do. Maybe not in a Silver Shadow, per se, but in something old and cool. Having said that, his Rolls encountered only minor issues along the way. For instance, the distributor points needed to be gapped a bit, the choke had to be taken off and it ate a bit of oil along the way. However, those issues amount to nothing when considering what could have gone wrong to a nearly 50-year old British luxury car.
It’s a great video and one you should watch, the entire trip up to the Arctic Circle is documented. And that’s only part one. The second part will show them chasing down the Norther Lights, which should be stunning.
