The restoration of Silver Cloud LSZD 385 -

or as I call him "Boris"

When I got the car it was in fair shape for a car that was 36 years old (shabbily elegant is a good description).  I was never fond of the tan interior.  So  when the back seat ripped so badly that it could not be repaired I thought it was time for a change.  The car always had red pinstripes running along the sides so I had the interior redone to match that color.  

The exterior has always been "Tudor Grey" and the red makes an excellent contrast. 

Now, why do I call the car "Boris"?  I have always been a fan of old monster movies.  It was thought for a time that this car may have belonged to Boris Karloff (well it turns out it didn't).  So for that reason, and also that Boris Karloff was also British, large, dignified, refined, impressive, and was gray on the outside and red in the inside, the car got its name.

All the work done on the interior, exterior and engine was done by Darbyshire Motors in Petersburg, Virginia  As a result the car has won may awards at local and regional car shows.  You can see pictures of the engine rebuild by clicking on the "engine" button above.

Now for some before, during and after pictures.

This is how the car looked when I got it.  Not bad but needed paint and new interior. 

This is one naked car.  It was stripped to bare metal and no rust was found.  Hurrah!

The first primer was done in red

and the second done in gray.

Now for the paint.  I think it looks a bit like the Batmobile here.

A bit more than a year later I had the interior done.  Here are some before and after pictures of some of the work.

You can see here that the headliner was stained, but what you cannot make out very well in this picture is that the mirror's silver has come off a bit.  This is a common problem in Clouds.  The right hand picture shows the new headliner, mirror, and leather.

This is to show you now much of a mess it is when taking the interior of a car apart.

The old arm rest on the left with it's broken leather strap and the new one on the right.

The dashboard wood (taken August 2005)

Now here he is all done.  Note the headrests I had put in.  They are from the back seats of a dismantled Silver Shadow.

I also had installed a third brake light in the rear window from a wrecked Jag.