I feel like I’ve been taking it easy on you all recently, showing you cars that run and drive and all. So today, I decided to subject you to a couple of long-derelict rides. One of them is a British classic, and the other just kinda looks like one.
Yesterday’s cars were from the same year, and they complemented each other well enough that I decided to give you a “both” option in the poll. It seems that every time I do this, the “both” option outperforms one of the cars, and yesterday that was the Ford Crown Vic. You all seemed impressed by its cushy interior, but less so by its outward appearance. The Nissan pickup, on its own, won out over the package deal pretty decisively, and I suspect without the “both” option, the gap would have been even wider.
I don’t really have any interest in owning that Ford, nor do I need another 4×4 pickup. I’ll say this much, though: if I ever did decide to sell my Chevy truck, or if some terrible fate befell it, its replacement would probably be a Nissan 4×4 pickup with a stickshift.
Nobody buys a project car with the intention of letting it sit, but things happen. The time isn’t there. Some repair frustrates you more than you thought it would, or thwarts you entirely. All that hope, all those grand plans, that you had when you handed over that pile of cash turns into “I really should go work on that,” and then into “I really should just sell it.” Today’s choices have been sitting for years, and it doesn’t sound like anyone has even tried to get them going in ages. Could you be the one to put one of them back on the road? Let’s see.
“The Duke” – 1939 Jaguar SS100 kit car – $2,000
Engine/drivetrain: 1.6-liter OHV inline 4, four- (or maybe five-) speed manual, RWD
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Odometer reading: 76,000 miles
Operational status: Been sitting for 10 years
Fun fact: the original name of Jaguar was SS, short for Swallow Sidecar. The company got its start making motorcycle sidecars before producing its first car in 1931. Jaguar was used as a model name in 1935, and the company name changed to Jaguar in 1945 to avoid any association with Nazi Germany. This is a replica of the sports car that made the company famous: the SS Jaguar 100, so named for its 100 MPH top speed. I very much doubt that this replica can come anywhere close to that speed, even after you get it running.
Unlike most kit cars, this one is not based on a VW Beetle platform. Instead, it uses a Chevy Chevette engine and transmission, and probably the rear axle and front suspension as well. Whether this is an improvement or not depends on what you think of the Beetle and the Chevette. It does place the engine in the correct spot, at least. This car appears to have been finished and driven some, but it has not turned a wheel in more than a decade. The Chevette’s guts should be easy enough to find parts for, and it’s not a complicated engine.
The interior is where a lot of kit cars feel half-assed, and this appears to be no exception. It’s also disgusting. You’d probably end up gutting the whole thing and starting over. I see a lot of Chevette parts in here, which I would expect; a lot of kit cars use as much of the donor vehicle as possible. The thing in the plastic bin on the driver’s seat looks like an air conditioning compressor, but I can’t imagine why you’d want air conditioning in a car like this.
Like most kit cars, the body of this car is fiberglass, built on a square tube steel frame. The body looks like it’s in decent condition, but the paint is pretty bad. You’d probably have to repaint it. I suggest some wild, garish color; I don’t think this car wants to be brown and beige.
1975 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow – $3,800
Engine/drivetrain: 6.75-liter OHV V8, three-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Beavercreek, OR
Odometer reading: 82,000 miles
Operational status: Been sitting for 5 years
While the car above is not a real Jaguar, this one is the real McCoy, a bona-fide honest-to-Crewe Rolls-Royce. The Silver Shadow had the largest production total of any Rolls-Royce model, more than thirty thousand over fifteen years. But it still proudly carries the Spirit of Ecstasy atop its grille surround, and it’s still hand-built by a bunch of guys with names like Charley and Nigel.
The Shadow was a car of firsts for Rolls-Royce: its first unibody (rather than body-on-frame) car, and its first car with independent suspension on all four corners – with a self-leveling hydropneumatic system licensed from Citroën. Its engine is a 6.75-liter V8 producing 189 horsepower, though Rolls never officially published horsepower ratings in those days, simply listing the engine’s power as “sufficient.” The transmission is a nice, simple, bulletproof TH400 from General Motors. This car has been parked for more than five years, and the seller says nobody has tried to start it in that time. It might wake up without much effort, or it might never run again. You pays your money, you takes your chances.
The interior of a Rolls-Royce is what every lesser luxury car manufacturer aspires to: a cozy environment of leather, wood, and wool carpets. It could use a good cleaning, but it’s in good shape, which is good, because restoring a Silver Shadow interior properly can’t be cheap. One thing does concern me: It has footrests for the rear passengers, but I don’t see any fold-down trays. Where do they expect you to put your Grey Poupon?
There aren’t a lot of photos in the ad, so it’s a little hard to assess this car’s condition, but what we can see looks promising. It doesn’t look rusty, and the paint is shiny under all the dust. The right taillight is cracked, and it might be hard to find a replacement, but there’s always that taillight repair tape. Using that stuff on a Rolls-Royce is my kind of blasphemy.
You’ve got your work cut out for you if you want to revive either of these, but the good news is the price of entry is relatively cheap. It’s only the beginning, of course, but nobody said project cars are cheap. If you were to take one on, which would it be?
The Rolls all day, every day, no question. You couldn’t even give me that kit car, let alone get me to spend money on it. “Disgusting” doesn’t just describe the interior, it’s the entire “car.”
Yeah man, that fuckin dash pisses me off. It’s made out of what, an old floarboard, maybe?
lol probably some Home Depot discount lumber. The gauges aren’t even lined up. This thing should be crushed and forgotten forever.
The kit car’s low difficulty level scores it some points, but when you’re done, you still just have a worthless, ugly ass kit car. At least the Roller would be kinda cool once you’re done emptying your bank account(s) into it.
If you’re able, check out Kirk Seaman’s article in Hagerty’s Driver’s Club magazine from Nov-Dec 2025 (I don’t think this is available on line?). Essentially he spent $44K trying to get a 82 Silver Spirit to not leak (and run, but that ever happened either) before giving up. No way I’d ever get close to one of those cars
I wouldn’t want either, but at least I could probably get a Chevette driving without going bankrupt. Old Rollers sell for a song for a reason.
Hey two feet of snow here can I chose one of the plow trucks?
I’ve met me. I think the …. Wait. I can’t contract this. Phony Jaaaaaag ….. Is a better garage ornament.
Today needs a both button. I chose the Jag as it would be an EZGOTRFI project. But that RR ISa money maker. Clean it strip it and sell for parts. I bet that Spirit of Ecstasy is worth almost what they want for the car. Everything but that taillight is Pounds of profit.
The RR suspension can’t be fixed
I don’t understand why you’d buy a kit car someone else made, as the “making it” seems like the most meaningful part. I can’t imagine driving around in this thing, getting constantly stopped by people who think it’s something fancy and expensive and asking questions, and then either a) lying or b) saying it’s actually the equivalent of one of those go carts at Disney gussied up to look like a cartoon Model T. And someone else built it. And then I bought it.
If I have t choose between swapping out the drive train on a Rolls Royce, or on a questionable kit car I’d have to go for the Rolls. This is one where where, to be honest I would have picked none of the above. I’m not a fan big, floaty luxo-barges, or fiberglass replicas of pre-war cars, especially ones with crappy underpinnings.
I’d be better off putting GM powerplant in the Rolls, and cruising in comfort, than driving around in a Chevette in a bargain store costume of a 1930s British sports car, that it could never even pretend to be.
This is solid logic. I guess I never knew these had GM transmissions so the swap makes sense. Also the leather looks to be in good shape, the dash not so much, but that’s something I can fix. I suspect the paint on these is 1/8 think so bringing back some shine shouldn’t be hard either.
It is a GM transmission, but it’s unswappable to a LS or small blocks. You’re better off just getting an engine and transmission that are already mated, which is easier anyway and not that much more expensive. I would definitely do a swap on one like this.
The Jag is just a fun don’t care runabout for a fun day. The RR is restoring and driving a train.
I would love to mod the Rolls and make it a drag and drive car
I’d roll the Rolls, for sure.It’s a beautiful car and, as others have pointed out, it shouldn’t be too hard to complete the Chevy drivetrain/motor combo.
I have some questions about that “Jag”, though. Has it been sitting in that parking garage for a decade? Given the flat rear tire, I suspect it has. Alternatively, did the owner tow it there just for the photos? Why?? I mean, If so, how bad must the original location have been for this to be an improvement?
I mean “garage” is going to be its natural habitat for the foreseeable future so I’d say it’s a wise choice to let the buyer picture what it could be.
One of the few of these where I am really looking for the “none” option. I guess if I am bothering with either of them it’ll be the real Rolls Royce instead of the fake Jaguar.
Worst case I park it in my backyard and still get to say I am a Rolls Royce owner.
I cannot imagine the Chevette Jaguar would even make a nice top down cruiser if you fixed it up.
Hey a 70s chevette probably still road better than a 30s jag
Take the Rolls, and swap a better driveline into it.
It would be hilarious to K swap it and drive a Rolls that makes Vtec noises.
Or LS swap it and tear up the dragstrip.
Delulu you would need a Hemi at least to get the RR build moving at dragstrip speed
OH yeah, I forgot how heavy these cars are.
If you were gonna race it, I guess you’d want to strip the interior and the like 500kg of noise deadening material LOL.
I’ll roll in the Rolls today. It’s the more interesting since it will still snap heads.
I believe the horsepower rating for a Rolls is “adequate”, not “sufficient”. Big difference.
Yes I believe they reported the 0 to 60 time as who would want to drive it at 60 mph.
My dad had a kit car like that as his daily driver for 3 or 4 years. His was the Mercedes Gazelle kit built on the Pinto platform but basically the exact same thing. No AC, no heater, a very rudimentary AM/FM radio, and a top with vinyl side curtain windows that were an incredible pain to install. It was a one-car parade everywhere you went in that thing but it was still a Pinto at heart so it primarily ran on hopes, dreams, and starter fluid. Anyways, I voted for the kit car today for the memories.
Rolls Royce for me. If I’m gonna have a project, I might as well have a project leads to something I’d actually want to be seen in and drive.
And I do not want to be seen in or drive a Chevette in a drag queen costume.
I misread you at first, but honestly that Jaguette seems campy and showy enough to be piloted by someone in High Drag.
The Rolls is the better option. I can’t even think of good alternative uses for the Jaguar kit. And I don’t know how interchangeable Silver Shadow parts from different years would be, but maybe there’s a chance to refurbish this one without paying a fortune?
RR refurbishment without paying a fortune? Guvnor just keeping it running when it was new cost a fortune. The expense didn’t go down as it got rarer.
But thanks for the chuckle
Rolls! I’ll have it in the driveway so the in-laws will know that I’ve “made it”!
Then towed to the front of my work so that the co-workers will know that I’ve “made it”! Then towed the front of my high school girlfriend’s house so…and so on and so on.
Restoring and even maintaining the Rolls would drain my bank account, and when I’m done, I’d have a nice comfy car that gets shit mileage and is boring to drive.
Finishing the faux Jaaag, would allow me to find the cheapest junkyard parts that fit. When I’m done, I’d have a ratty carsplay Jagish thing that turns more heads in WTF fashion rather than ooo, that’s cool!
Therefore, I’m buying a time machine to go back to yesterday to get both the Nissan and Crown Vic.
“Restoring and even maintaining the Rolls would drain my bank account, and when I’m done, I’d have a nice comfy car that gets shit mileage and is boring to drive.”
But will it drain your bank account more than buying a new one?
I have zero interest in kit cars and this “Jaguar” is no exception. The only thing I like about this car is that it is NOT based on a Beetle – I hate seeing air cooled Beetles desecrated to produce cheap knock offs of classic cars.
I genuinely like the Rolls, though. I struggle doing basic vehicle maintenance so resurrecting a Rolls-Royce is well beyond my ability level, but if I had mechanical skills I would be very interested in this project. I have always wondered if it would be possible to gut the mechanical bits of one of these cars and replace them with a modern, reliable powertrain. These cars were needlessly complex and presumably a tremendous pain to work on, but they are extremely nice vehicles. A classic Rolls with Toyota reliability and ease of maintenance/repairs would be awesome. Also, maybe this vehicle could be a candidate for an EV conversion?
A kit car on top of a Chevette? That is definitely dog shit wrapped in cat shit.
the iron duke being the little bits of kitty litter still attached to the cat turds
IIRC Chevettes didn’t get the Iron Duke. I could be wrong. Either way, a small early 80’s GM four banger is a turd. Fortunately those turds fertilized better 4 bangers like the Quad 4.
I don’t have enough interest in an old Rolls to spend god knows how many hours trying to track down obsucre bits of near unobtanimun parts to do a proper restore and just having one that’s ok-ish to drive around holds no interest at all for me. Yeah, it’s certinaly worth more, even in parts but especialy restored, but my time is worth more to me than to waste it on uninteresting projects.
The Jag-ish looking thing is at least kinda interesting to me and might be a fun project with easy to locate parts (at least the old Chevy stuff). Get it running, do a garage spec paint job and interior fit out, get some wheels that don’t make it scream “I’m an Excalibur knockoff” and use it on weekends till something else catches my eye.
I don’t really want either of them. I feel like I’m capable of reviving the Chevette thing, so it might be a fun thing to tinker on and flip for even money.
I’ll take the Rolls, but I’ve zero interest in getting it running again. Pretty it up and charge the local influencer wannabes to take pictures in front of it. Or maybe let the local high schoolers have some fun with a senior pic or two.