Guy bought 1971 Rolls-Royce as first car but disaster struck

This guy bought himself a 1971 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow as his first car, but disaster soon struck.

As far as first cars go, this one is an excellent choice.

It’s classy, easy on the eyes, and it is a Rolls-Royce for crying out loud – who wouldn’t want that to be their introduction to automobiles?

But alas, this purchase was soon struck with misfortune.

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How did this guy end up with a Rolls-Royce as his first car?

TJ Lamb, the host of the YouTube channel Magnacars, was the lucky guy who got to call the Silver Shadow his first venture into driving.

But how did he manage that?

The story began in 2019, when Lamb was 17 years old.

Speaking in a video, he said: “The car was $6,500 so it wasn’t very expensive.

“My family were looking for a new vehicle, so my mum was looking on Auto Trader and I was looking all over the internet.”

It was going to see the Elton John biopic Rocketman which changed things.

Lamb recalled: “In the movie, Elton John pulls up to his dad’s house in a gold Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow.

“And I remember seeing the car and being ‘Ooh, that’s really cool’.”

If there’s one thing that you can count on with the Tiny Dancer singer, it’s exquisite taste – just take a look at his Atlanta condo which sold for more than $7 million.

He talked his family into buying one, but it turned out to be a bad idea.

I guess in this case, sorry seemed to be the hardest word.

What went wrong with the car?

After $9,000 worth of repairs had been done to the car, Lamb began driving it to high school.

However, he was anxious it would break down every time he got behind the wheel.

On the fourth drive, it did.

Lamb said: “About five minutes into the drive, the car was billowing steam out of the hood.

“I pulled over immediately. It was catastrophically overheated and was pouring out water and steam everywhere.

“My mum had to drive from the house to bring me some coolant.”

Although Lamb managed to get it going again, it began steaming a few minutes later.

Eventually, he managed to get it back home.

Lamb said: “The 20 minute drive home ended up taking me two hours.”

A mechanic came around a few days later and told him that water had gone into the engine cylinder due to a broken gasket, meaning it was ‘toast’.

It was recommended that the head gasket be removed, at a cost of between $5,000 to $10,000.

Unsurprisingly, the high schooler didn’t have $10,000 to spare.

It was decided that the family needed to sell the car on at this point.

Lamb tried selling it on but couldn’t get any buyers, so he had to keep it – despite his parents being understandably sick of it by that point.

Four years later, an interested buyer promised to buy the Silver Shadow for $10,000 but bailed on the pick-up day.

A few months later, another guy got interested in the car…before dropping out a hour before.

We feel like this car might have been cursed or something.

Although nothing is quite as cursed as a car with a tail like the Toyota Pod.

But for Lamb, this car has sentimental value, despite its problems.

He told his viewers: “This was my first car, this was my baby.

“One thing I’ve learned as a car guy is never sell your first car.

“When my parents are gone, this car is one of the only things I’ll have as a memento of them.”

To see the Rolls-Royce for yourself, head over to Magnacars‘ YouTube channel.