1992 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit II

The Silver Spirit is the last Rolls Royce to use the company’s own V8 engine, with its successor, the Silver Seraph using a BMW unit. 1992 cars such as this one benefited from a much improved four speed GM 4L80E autobox, which replaced the old fashioned three speed unit of earlier cars.

This provides much improved cruising ability and allows the engine to rev more slowly at speed, which also improves fuel economy and mechanical longevity. 

The seller of this car is looking after the sale on behalf of his father-in-law.

This Silver Spirit II looks lovely and we didn’t spot any signs of rust or remedial paintwork on it. The rich Rosewood finish is in excellent condition and a fairly unusual hue amongst Silver Spirits, the majority of which tend to be dark blue. There’s no doubt this classy shade suits the car though.

It’s our duty to alert potential buyers to any faults we see and while we hesitate to say this car’s bodywork is flawless, we can says we failed to spot anything worth reporting. It’s a stunning looking classic Rolls Royce.

The Rosewood paintwork shines with the special kind of deep lustre that only a hand built and finished car has. The shutlines and panel gaps are all perfect, the wheels beautiful. The brightwork is gorgeous.

Just as importantly, the car sits on the tarmac just as it should, which indicates that the self levelling suspension system is working properly. It’s an arrangement which can give issues on cars that haven’t been properly maintained. No such problems with this car. 

And finally sitting as it should, we noted that the tyres do not completely match. Two are the factory recommend Avons. 

There’s a tiny mark on the seat base in the offside rear. And we mean tiny. You can see it in the pictures, but you’ll need to have been to Specsavers. Other than that, wow. It’s beautiful in here.

The cream leather with burgundy piping is in stunning condition. Obviously with only 62,000 miles on the clock the car has been used sparingly, but it’s also very clearly been extremely well cared for.

The hide used in this vintage of Rolls Royce isn’t like modern leather. It’s thicker, plusher and generally more luxurious than the versions you get in, say, a modern BMW or similar prestige make of car. Come and sit in it – you won’t want to get out. 

On top of this wonderful hide is the woodwork. Book matched veneers, lovingly put together by master craftsmen – this is what a proper Rolls Royce should be like.

Inside the slightly "sticking" glovebox lid are controls for the Rolls Royce factory-fitted alarm and immobiliser system.

We did also note, that the sliding cover to the cubby hole between the seats has come off its runners, so that is one small job for your limited list to attend to. 

The original radio cassette player is still fitted in the sumptuous dashboard, and a CD player is hidden in the boot, where you’ll also find a trickle charger for keeping the battery happy while the car’s not in use. The original toolkit is also present.

Under a panel in here is the guts of a powerful Alpine in-car hi fi system.

The Rolls Royce L Series V8 is something of a motoring marvel, with a production span that lasted an incredible 61 years between 1959 and 2020. In Silver Spirit II guise it has Bosch K-Jetronic mechanical fuel injection – a highly reliable system that provides both a power and economy increase over the original twin SU carburettors.

Bearing in mind that this engine, with the addition of forced induction, made in excess of 500bhp in later cars, by comparison the naturally aspirated version in this car has an easy time of things, and at this mileage has an awful lot of life left in it.

The engine bay is tidy and complete, with only minor surface tarnishing on some of the smaller parts to detract from the view. Peering under the large body we could see no signs of any serious corrosion, and the recent MoT test pass confirms this, although we always encourage any potential buyers to inspect the car themselves.

We did spot an exhaust box that has some rust on it, although it doesn’t appear to be leaking at this point, and the recent MoT pass confirms this.

This Spirit II was first registered on August 21 1992, and was supplied by Rolls Royce main dealer Henlys of Chester. Its engine number is 76876L4101/NKN.

It’s MoT’d until September 25 next year and has been kept garaged. The comprehensive service record which comes with the car has been stamped as below. 

• 4023 miles 02-11-92 
• 6411 miles 09-02-93 
• 10593 miles 24-08-93 
• 12387 miles 18-08-95 
• 20467 miles 13-02-96 
• 29039 miles 28-08-96 
• 36067 miles 14-01-98 
• 40606 miles 12-11-99 
• 46610 miles 27-09-03 
• 48913 miles 17-03-04 
• 50591 miles 20-09-04 
• 51315 miles 01-12-04 
• 53445 miles 29-09-06 
• 56970 miles 26-08-11 
• 62474 miles 16-04-18 

All these service stamps have been carried out either by Rolls Royce main dealers or authorised marque specialists.

In addition to this full service history the Rolls Royce comes with a stack of old MoT certificates, service and maintenance invoices, and registration change documents. 

There’s an invoice in the file that indicates a new seat ECU was fitted in 2022, another area that can let these cars down, so it’s nice to know this one has been sorted.

Another invoice suggests a reversing camera was fitted to the car in 2015, although we don’t know whether this is currently functioning.

The car’s original handbooks are also in the history file, and it also comes with two sets of keys.

The Silver Spirit II is a hand built Rolls Royce the likes of which will probably never be seen again (there were no large boxes full of parts from Munich at Crewe in 1992). 

We can’t remember the last time we saw a Silver Spirit II as nice as this one – especially one that isn’t blue. It’s a gorgeous motor car and with the way it’s been looked after, it promises to thrill its new owner for very many years to come. We estimate that it will sell for £11,000-£15,000.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at the Bonhams|Cars Online HQ. Viewings are strictly by appointment. To make a booking, please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, and read our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.