Matt Farah is a fan of driving some really interesting, wild and ludicrous car builds for his channel, The Smoking Tire. Most of the time, they’re kinda weird and funky and usually very fast. This time, though, it’s absolutely out of control. This 1978 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II has been heavily modified by Corbin Goodwin, a man who is not averse to making cars insane (Editor’s Note: I know the Silver Shadow was made before BMW’s ownership of Rolls Royce but this is too crazy to not watch). And what Goodwin did to this Rolls is equal parts madness, genius and hilarious. I’m not sure whether I want to love it or hate it. But either way, I’m glad it exists because it makes me laugh.
Let’s start with the looks. On the outside, it seems as if all of the plumbing for the car’s turbo, intercooler and fuel are all on the exterior of the car. It’s wild looking. Then, it had its rear wheel wells have been flared out and it was given Porsche Panamera wheels. It looks like it belongs in Mad Max. It’s insanity.
Under the hood like the classic 6-3/4 liter V8, which is incredibly robust, as it turns out. It’s been given a Borg Warner turbocharger, an intercooler and what seems to be about a mile of homemade plumbing. It’s madness under the hood. That engine is mated to a four-speed manual from a Ford F250, so it can handle the torque of a turbocharged Rolls Royce V8, and sends power to the rear wheels via a welded diff.
It’s also sitting on off-road truck shocks, because there were no other shocks that were long enough to fit and be durable enough. The upside is that it’s really quite soft to drive. The downside is that it seems to pitch and roll a lot. But, at that point, who really cares?
Inside, things are even crazier. The pedal box seems to be handmade and the gas pedal is this dainty little pedal that sticks out of the floor in the wrong place and seems almost impossible to use. The clutch is the tallest pedal of the three by far and it looks like the most uncomfortable pedal box setup I’ve ever seen. Then, there’s the shift lever, which is a little wooden man attached to a massive metal lever that sticks out of the dash like an old-school Alfa Spider.
To be honest, words can’t explain the hilarity. It must be seen. Go watch as Farah is thoroughly surprised at not only the insanity of the car but how much fun it is to drive. I honestly can’t tell if I should be amazed or repulsed. I think a bit of both. If the people at Rolls Royce sees this, though, they might vomit. Or cry. Or both.