Consider this 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow drag racer with a supercharged 7.6-liter General Motors V8 engine a reminder who really won the Revolutionary War. The British might know a thing or two about world-beating luxury, but there are few formulas that can’t be improved with a good ol’ fashioned American engine swap.
To be fair, this beautiful monster was actually birthed in Finland of all places, and it’s currently on sale in neighboring Norway for a cool $115,000. That’s way less than the cost of a new Rolls-Royce, but way more than buying a classic example that hasn’t been reborn as a quarter-mile car. So is it worth the scratch?
You may not be able to put a price on freedom, but you can absolutely tell that there’s far more than a hundred grand in parts and labor in this build. Cartoonishly insane as it looks, this Silver Shadow has been finished with a level of care and precision that even the stodgiest owner’s club would appreciate. (Well, maybe.)
Its classic bodywork has been restored to flawless condition and dropped with care onto a custom chromium molybdenum alloy tube chassis and cage. In fact, apart from the lowered suspension and meaty drag tires, there are only two (very obvious) modifications to the exterior: A pair of gold side pipes, and a hole in the hood to make room for the towering engine and supercharger combo.
The 462-cubic-inch V8 engine is connected to a Mooneyham 14-71 blower and twin Holley Dominator carburetors with a huge carbon fiber bug catcher intake up top. It’s like a ice cream sundae of horsepower, and though we don’t have exact specs on the car, suffice it to say it’s rated at a lot.
Impressive as that powerplant is, the interior is where the true spirit of this Silver Shadow comes through. It’s an incredible mixture of modern safety standards and old-school luxury, with handcrafted leather racing seats and the color-matched roll cage blending seamlessly with the original dashboard and steering wheel. And that three-stick shifter setup is a wild centerpiece.
Unlike most drag builds but true to its heritage, this Rolls retains its rear seats and a champagne holder, so you can be chauffeured in comfort at the speed of sound. We’re not seeing any racing harnesses back there, though.
Rolls-Royce testing 3, Alavus 1/8 mile
Lest you think this is all show and no go, there are several videos on YouTube that feature the car revving to the heavens and blasting down a drag strip. It looks, sounds, and performs like a properly-sorted race car—albeit a truly unique one. And it was enough to grab the attention of famous car customizer Gene Winfield, whose signature appears on the center console up front.
Blown Rolls Royce-74 testing part 2
According to this Speedhunters profile from a few years back, this one-of-a-kind Silver Shadow was built by a pair of metal fabricators in their free time simply because they could. Sounds like the true meaning of liberty to us.