A Rolls-Royce Emerges from the Shadows - Rising from the Dead on the 50th Anniversary of the Design

Click on photographs  to enlarge - far superior rendition

I have owned this 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow SRH 18723 (or more correctly 'Royce') for 29 years. In October it will be the 50th anniversary of the design of this completely underestimated classic. I thought I would give 'Roland' a suitable birthday present.

Over this long period I had noticed the metallic paint becoming progressively duller. This had reached a point where I believed the 80% original finish may well have been matt or about to disappear on further polishing! 

Should I repaint the car or was there another option? 

These cars are now rare with 100% original paint. However after extensive inquiries and analysis of the original paint formulation (very different from today) I discovered it would not be possible to repaint it with the original formulation of RR Shell Grey. 

I received the following by email from my friend the great Richard Treacy in Australia who contributes to the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts' Club (R-REC) Forum and the Australian Rolls-Royce Owners' Club (RROC) Forum.

'The cars were all finished in a high-gloss, probably yours in acrylic clear-over-base.  It was a problematic time with the change from nitrocellulose (so-called Duco) paint, a change started by GM in 1963.  Early acrylic clear-over-base crazed alarmingly so Crewe correctly kept the clear coat as thin as possible to avoid crazing of the thick clear coats applied by most manufacturers at the time.  

They went a bit too far  That stopped the crazing, but chauffeurs polishing the cars weekly soon went through the clear and left a matt finish.  That was the case on my 1972 T-Series Bentley until I repainted it in 1986.  By then the clear coats were of superior quality and it has not crazed since.  My Bentley R-Type was repainted in 1975 and the thickish clear coat crazed in 6 months so eventually I bought a spray outfit, a book, lacquers and did it myself to save the price of two Hondas for a refinish to the bare metal.

Two-pack is fantastic but not repairable.  For a classic car a quality acrylic clear-over-base is still preferred by restorers here in Australia and will give a mirror shine just as does two-pack but can be repaired if a minor incident happens down the track.  When a two-pack finish is damaged the whole panel will need refinishing and there is always a hue contrast between panels.  Acrylic can be blended through a panel to give a perfect result, hence its preference for collector cars.'

On a film and supercar testing event in Silesia recently I was tremendously impressed with the work of a Polish car detailer named Michal 'Rudy' ('Ginger') Zaborowski. He prepares cars for many international auction houses such as Bonhams, Retromobile and RM Auctions. We got on famously as he has an excellent sense of humour as well as absolute dedication to his work and great personal integrity. An excellent gentleman in fact. I contacted him and he decided to work on the car in my own garage even though he actually has his own large premises miles away on the other side of Warsaw.

I passed him Richard's email above which he read with interest. He first carefully and thoughtfully talked me through what I wished to achieve - a simple return to as close as possible the 1974 original gloss and colour depth. This seemed an absolutely impossible task to me. 

At this point he produced a number of high-tech devices to measure the paint gloss, paint depth and colour variations under intense lighting and so on. Compared to the paint gloss figure on a new car the RR was woefully inadequate - less than half the accepted figure. However he felt he could 'bring it back' and set to work. With the use of nanotechnology polish (for both chrome and paint) and a mechanized polisher two days later the results can be seen below.  Autoglym did not stand a chance!

Michal Rudy hard at work

        The dramatic contrast in paint gloss 'Before' and 'After' Michal performs his magic

   A similar transformation can be achieved on the plastic covers of the lights

One of his numerous technological marvels. This is one by Scangrip
Read about it here: 
http://scangrip.com/product/146/509

Repainting is no longer a requirement and am I happy about that!

My philosophy concerning this car has always been 

preservation rather than restoration

If you want a similar transformation of the paintwork and chrome of your classic car contact Michal 'Rudy' ('Ginger') Zaborowski. He is in great demand by many of the great classic car auction houses and Concours d'Elegance events around the world.

                                                                                http://www.rudys.com.pl/

I wonder if Michal knows that 'Ginger' is one of the best friends of 'Biggles', the fictional pilot and adventurer, the title character and main hero of the Biggles series of youth-oriented adventure books by Capt. W.E. Johns. Biggles was adored by millions of schoolboys in the UK and dominions years ago. I loved these books as a lad and read most of them or listened to dramatizations on my crystal set in the dark of my bedroom in Melbourne. Far superior to James Bond.

'Ginger' is the preferred companion of Biggles when the case is a two-man job. He is in the RAF and is considered youthful innocence and energy personified. In several of the adventures it is 'Ginger' who is assigned the task of fixing the various holes that inevitably get shot in their WW I aircraft. 'Ginger' had a brief romance, a war-time encounter with a girl from Monaco (Biggles Fails to Return) which looked promising for a while....

Badge bar left to right:

Brooklands Flying Club 1930; Rolls-Royce Enthusiast's Club (R-REC); 

Early R-REC Club Badge; Goodwood Road Racing Club (GRRC); 

Australian Automobile Racing Club (AARC); Brooklands Society

I have been a member of the R-REC for 25 years