Not opposites. Both are meant to be quiet symbols of super-high status. “I’m so rich and so cool that I don’t need to be seen in a ’59 Imperial or a 2016 Escalade. Only the parvenus need a flashy visible symbol.”
I like the idea that e two cars are in the same person’s fleet. Let the to work miles accrue on the responsible Prius and keep the great Rolls around for special date nights and country drives where it would add so much to the experience.
By no means is a Rolls part of my personal life, so these are just opinions spouted by an armchair observer – unless you count the two Lesney editions that have been in my fleet for decades, both very cost effective and utterly reliable.
A few years ago, I saw a rather tattered version of this generation in a museum parking lot, visiting as a guest. The conditions were salty winter driving, and the Rolls as winter beater fit right in. I was rather shocked when I peaked in the windows and saw the black bus worthy steering wheel and the upright simple execution of the interior – limitations of the Rolls development budget during this era.
Rolls ran this generation for many years, and it seemed a commoditized car for the wealthy that didn’t know better. Cadillac in this era suffers a reputation for dumbing down its cars in a similar fashion, but at least through 1980 you got proven GM mechanicals that could be serviced efficiently anywhere in North America. With the really awful costs associated with keeping any Rolls on the road, its little wonder that you can pick up nice examples of this car for under $20,000 USD.
At least the modern Rolls has a wealthy benefactor behind its name and can build real modern cars instead of cars mired in 30 year old technology.
Interesting thought, but I’m not sure I’m on board with the idea. The entire front seat area is luxuriously finished out, consistent with the back seat. This is far different from some chauffer driven cars of the 1930s where the driver sat in an open compartment ahead of the passengers who rode in a closed compartment.
These Shadows were fairly intimate cars, sitting on a 119 inch wheelbase, they were about par for what was considered a large mid-size car, or a smaller full-size car in the U.S. You had to order the long wheelbase 123.5 inch car to be able to order a window divider between the front and rear compartments.
It seemed like when these cars were current, you saw pictures of them on Rodeo Drive being owner driven.
Are you saying the Rolls had 30 year old technology? In my opinion the Shadow was either ahead of its time or generally up to date technologically throughout its lifetime. The Cadillac by 1980 had 30+ y/o technology and looked and felt CHEAP.
Rolls were very conservative, eg designing their steering to allow for the “sneeze factor” which is no doubt one factor behind the huge steering wheel. They had to have a good reason to change.
The 1980 Rolls was a 1965 car. I have no idea how much carry over the 1965 Rolls had, but certainly the engine.
The 1965 Cadillac was mostly a clean sheet design, excluding some drivetrain components that were updated several times by 1980. The Cadillac was also clean sheet in 1971 and again in 1977. The 1977 chassis was a CAD designed update of the basic then new 1973 GM A body chassis that was considered a milestone in modern, decent handling large car dynamics. The ’77 update further enhanced this. For 1980, GM gave the Cadillac virtually all new sheet metal for the third time since 1965.
Certainly the 1980 Cadillac lacked the old world wood and wool carpets of the Rolls, but was sold at a slightly different price point!
For what its worth, the 1965-1980 Rolls used GM automatic transmissions for its entire production run, sometimes the same transmission that was used in the Cadillac.
For something that’s essentially a 51-year-old design, the Shadow has aged extraordinarily well – smooth, clean and elegant. I don’t hate the Prius, but I doubt its styling will hold up.
I agree–the styling in the Shadow has held up exceptionally. Much better than their blocky successors, which aren’t unattractive cars but don’t have that timeless quality either.
The Prius is literally iconic, in the sense that an icon representing a green/eco car invariably resembles a gen2 or 3 Prius.
Swap out the Rolls for a Bug like the one you’re toying with but with (not necessarily original) ragtop sunroof, and I could see myself with that set if I did enough daily-grind driving to justify the Prius.
From The Beverly Hillbillies episode “The Clampett Look”
The widow Fenwick,”Oh Cynthia, send for the Rolls.”
Cynthia, “Oh, Mummy!”
Jed Clampett, “That’s right Widow! You don’t need no rolls. Granny’s baked some corn pones.
This pic is reminding me so much of the comment I remember reading from a CCer who said he owned a Dacia and a Bentley… You can’t go much more opposite than this.
I’ll go against the grain and say I wouldn’t mind either as a daily driver, considering that for me it would be a biweekly driver and the carbon footprint wouldn’t be all that much different for both.
Of course, if you offered me one I’d take the Rolls.
The Rolls is classic. The Prius looks like a door wedge.
In the Rolls, you want to be seen. In the hybrid, you want to be anonymous.
In a hybrid, one wants to be efficient. With a Tesla however, one can both show off •and• be efficient.
Now perhaps the Prius was a way to show off before, but that has abated.
The doorstop might be quicker and get you to the destination cheaper.
But who cares?
Not opposites. Both are meant to be quiet symbols of super-high status. “I’m so rich and so cool that I don’t need to be seen in a ’59 Imperial or a 2016 Escalade. Only the parvenus need a flashy visible symbol.”
The Rolls is nice, But I’ll take a ’59 Imperial any day.
Me too.
At least, the greenhouses still have a comparable size…
In other news a smug advisory has been issued for the area.
lol
I like the idea that e two cars are in the same person’s fleet. Let the to work miles accrue on the responsible Prius and keep the great Rolls around for special date nights and country drives where it would add so much to the experience.
This is like high school geometry class-squares versus triangles!
By no means is a Rolls part of my personal life, so these are just opinions spouted by an armchair observer – unless you count the two Lesney editions that have been in my fleet for decades, both very cost effective and utterly reliable.
A few years ago, I saw a rather tattered version of this generation in a museum parking lot, visiting as a guest. The conditions were salty winter driving, and the Rolls as winter beater fit right in. I was rather shocked when I peaked in the windows and saw the black bus worthy steering wheel and the upright simple execution of the interior – limitations of the Rolls development budget during this era.
Rolls ran this generation for many years, and it seemed a commoditized car for the wealthy that didn’t know better. Cadillac in this era suffers a reputation for dumbing down its cars in a similar fashion, but at least through 1980 you got proven GM mechanicals that could be serviced efficiently anywhere in North America. With the really awful costs associated with keeping any Rolls on the road, its little wonder that you can pick up nice examples of this car for under $20,000 USD.
At least the modern Rolls has a wealthy benefactor behind its name and can build real modern cars instead of cars mired in 30 year old technology.
The bus grade wheel is there because they were typically intended to be chauffeured, and the chauffeur doesn’t need anything overly special.
I’d rather have something that looks nicer even if I was being chauffeured because I still have to see it, but that was the line of thought.
British cars like Jaguars also had steering wheels that looked like they were from 20 years earlier in those days or maybe a little earlier.
Like this (1980 Rolls)
Interesting thought, but I’m not sure I’m on board with the idea. The entire front seat area is luxuriously finished out, consistent with the back seat. This is far different from some chauffer driven cars of the 1930s where the driver sat in an open compartment ahead of the passengers who rode in a closed compartment.
These Shadows were fairly intimate cars, sitting on a 119 inch wheelbase, they were about par for what was considered a large mid-size car, or a smaller full-size car in the U.S. You had to order the long wheelbase 123.5 inch car to be able to order a window divider between the front and rear compartments.
It seemed like when these cars were current, you saw pictures of them on Rodeo Drive being owner driven.
Are you saying the Rolls had 30 year old technology? In my opinion the Shadow was either ahead of its time or generally up to date technologically throughout its lifetime. The Cadillac by 1980 had 30+ y/o technology and looked and felt CHEAP.
Rolls were very conservative, eg designing their steering to allow for the “sneeze factor” which is no doubt one factor behind the huge steering wheel. They had to have a good reason to change.
Well, it’s hard to know where to begin.
The 1980 Rolls was a 1965 car. I have no idea how much carry over the 1965 Rolls had, but certainly the engine.
The 1965 Cadillac was mostly a clean sheet design, excluding some drivetrain components that were updated several times by 1980. The Cadillac was also clean sheet in 1971 and again in 1977. The 1977 chassis was a CAD designed update of the basic then new 1973 GM A body chassis that was considered a milestone in modern, decent handling large car dynamics. The ’77 update further enhanced this. For 1980, GM gave the Cadillac virtually all new sheet metal for the third time since 1965.
Certainly the 1980 Cadillac lacked the old world wood and wool carpets of the Rolls, but was sold at a slightly different price point!
For what its worth, the 1965-1980 Rolls used GM automatic transmissions for its entire production run, sometimes the same transmission that was used in the Cadillac.
I rhought the opposite pf the Rolls was a Yugo
Saw a Bentley at Walmart Saturday. Everyday low prices, I guess.
The last “Classic” Rolls was the Silver Cloud. This one is too slab sided. Probably a Silver Shadow.
For something that’s essentially a 51-year-old design, the Shadow has aged extraordinarily well – smooth, clean and elegant. I don’t hate the Prius, but I doubt its styling will hold up.
I agree–the styling in the Shadow has held up exceptionally. Much better than their blocky successors, which aren’t unattractive cars but don’t have that timeless quality either.
The Prius is literally iconic, in the sense that an icon representing a green/eco car invariably resembles a gen2 or 3 Prius.
Swap out the Rolls for a Bug like the one you’re toying with but with (not necessarily original) ragtop sunroof, and I could see myself with that set if I did enough daily-grind driving to justify the Prius.
From The Beverly Hillbillies episode “The Clampett Look”
The widow Fenwick,”Oh Cynthia, send for the Rolls.”
Cynthia, “Oh, Mummy!”
Jed Clampett, “That’s right Widow! You don’t need no rolls. Granny’s baked some corn pones.
Nice. Only yesterday I uploaded the following photo to the Cohort under the name “opposites attracted”:
This pic is reminding me so much of the comment I remember reading from a CCer who said he owned a Dacia and a Bentley… You can’t go much more opposite than this.
Yup, that was me. Don’t tell me I’ve actually won something….. a year’s supply of fuel would be good!
Actually, these are rather alike in at least one way. The Rolls get you there in an unhurried, but comfortable, stately manner.
The Prius? Well, it gets you there in an unhurried manner, too, but I guess that’s where the similarity ends.
I’ll go against the grain and say I wouldn’t mind either as a daily driver, considering that for me it would be a biweekly driver and the carbon footprint wouldn’t be all that much different for both.
Of course, if you offered me one I’d take the Rolls.