Minneapolis Street Sighting: Rolls Royce Silver Spur

When I am on the hunt for cars, there's just some cars I don't expect to see; Rolls' typically fall into that category. Yes, my area is a fairly upscale area, with condos galore, but most of the luxury cars I see here to tend fall into the Mercedes S-Class or BMW 7-Series bracket. Needless to say, I have seen a handful of Rolls Royces in my area, none of which are very new. Same deal goes for Bentleys--yes, they do exist around me, but are very rare.

It's not everyday that just sitting on a sidestreet is a vehicle that once cost about a house or two to buy, and probably close to that to maintain; regardless, I think Rolls Royces are classy vehicles--if you get the right one in the right color. I never really liked Rolls Royces; I've always preferred Bentley if I go all-out-high-roller style. It also doesn't help that the Rolls grille is among one of the most imitated accessories for blingsters here, as are the fake "Phantom" front end conversions. These two aftermarket goodies have made me appreciate old Rollers even less--and I'm almost to the point of not caring about them at all.

I would wager that this Silver Spur is a great "ten foot" car; it looks great from across the street, but up close, the warning signs of living in Minnesota begin to emerge; first things first, there is rust bubbling out from beneath the vinyl roof, and I doubt that's where it ends. Second of all, while the paint seems fine in pictures, there are scratches and pits all over it--definitely suggesting that this a daily driver. The only other thing that really irks about this example are the tires. Classic Rolls' need whitewalls; blackwalls look stupid and cheap on this car, and make it look like the owner doesn't care about cars. Of course, if they're driving a Rolls in this condition, they probably don't.

While this thing is far from mint, it still took me by surprise and I had a lot of fun shooting it; like yesterday's Prowler, this too is probably a one-of-a-kind find. I'm glad I shot it, even though these are far from my favorite British car.