Wednesday 1st October 1980
The Rolls Royce Silver Sprite was introduced to replace the Silver Shadow. It was the first of a new generation of models for the company and formed the basis for the Flying Spur, Silver Dawn, Touring Limousine, Park Ward and apart from branding differences and a different radiator housing also Bentley for the Mulsanne/Eight series.
The Spirit was not entirely new – it continued to use the basic design of the Silver Shadow as well as that motor car’s 6.75 L (6750 cc/411 in³) V8 engine and GM sourced THM 400 3-speed automatic transmission. The Spur / Spirit continued the emphasis toward a high degree of ride quality by utilising the self-leveling suspension from the previous model Silver Shadow, though in this application using a Girling automatic hydraulic ride height control system and gas-charged shock absorbers.