PCH, Maggie Thatcher Edition: SD1 Or Silver Shadow?
In one of the most one-sided matchups ever, the Isuzu Impulse RS Turbo whomped the Bagged Shaved P'Up by nearly 80/20 in Friday's Choose Your Eternity poll. Now let's edge away from the moldering corpse of Isuzu America and head over to one of the top- if not the top- Project Car Hell superpowers: the homeland of Joe Lucas, Prince of Darkness!
We could argue for days about whether Britain, France, or Italy deserves the title of Hell Project Homeland, but there's no arguing with the fact that the Rover SD1 might offer one of the best possible combinations of abysmal Anglo-Malaise build quality and inherent what-the-hell-is-that? coolness you're going to find in North America (and I'm sure they're getting hard to find in Blighty these days, too, what with the rust and all). It's big, it's got a V8, and you can have this 1980 SD1 for cheap! There's no reserve price, and the starting bid is just $1,500. The seller wants you to know this: "By the way, the opening bid is about half what I have in this car not counting my labour, so it is a steal at that price." See? It's a steal! Just like Britain needed some work when Maggie took office, so it is with this Rover; the seller says "I sense it could use some suspension work," which is probably another way of saying "I sense the steering wheel getting ripped out of my hands when the car experiences road crown." Then there's some minor fuel leakage- only when the tank is more than half full, or when the engine is running, or not running. But just picture yourself driving this SD1, with everything working and looking good... and a centrifugal supercharger on that Buick/Rover V8!
The last time we saw a PCH Silver Shadow, it was (just barely) beating a Matra Bagheera. But that wasn't quite fair; even the insanity of the three-seater Bagheera would have a tough time stacking up against a Rolls. That's why we're going with this '79 Silver Shadow today, so that the Rolls can go up against something a bit more upscale and a lot more British. Can ya believe it? Just $500 current bid price! We'll readily admit that this one needs some work, but the seller reassures us with such statements as "The engine isnt in the bay but it comes with the auction" and "from what i see there arent any tears in the leather". All this baby needs is a little elbow grease and a few bits and pieces and your neighbors will be as envious as the Argentinian Navy contemplating a nuclear submarine! Thanks (and a half-credit towards a Project Car Hell Tipster T-Shirt) to Brian for sending this one in.
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