Rolls Royces in Orlando, Florida

[Michael Stoops]

Every so often we are invited to an event and asked to put on a seminar or two. This is different from our usual car show sponsorships where we just send product or maybe set up a booth - we actually send someone to conduct a program similar to our Saturday Classes.

In this case, yours truly has just landed in Orlando, FL for the Rolls Royce Owner's Club 33rd Annual National Inter-Region "Wheels to Wings" Meet and will be conducting seminars on Thursday and Friday.

As I drove up to the lobby of the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center I was met with the sight of a brief history of the Rolls Royce marque - these beauties were lined up out front!! Apologies for the extremely poor image quality but lighting was beyond poor and I had to hold up traffic to get these! Better images to follow over the next couple of days, I promise!

[Still Learnin]

Re: Rolls Royces in Orlando, Florida

awesome cant wait till we see more coverage! looks like your in for a great time!

[TimG]

Re: Rolls Royces in Orlando, Florida

Those are some exquisite set of automobiles. Hope to see more pictures sir

[Daniel Kinder]

Re: Rolls Royces in Orlando, Florida

Elegance!!!

[TH0001]

Re: Rolls Royces in Orlando, Florida

Can I get in? I would love to meet you, attend a class, etc?

[CieraSL]

Re: Rolls Royces in Orlando, Florida

I wonder just how much money is sitting there?

[TLMitchell]

Re: Rolls Royces in Orlando, Florida

Wow, can't wait for a more detailed writeup and pics. Those cars flashed me back to a Rolls Royce moment a few years ago.

I was out west on a motorcycle trip and figured it wouldn't be complete without a run through Death Valley. I was surprised how mountainous it was and the vistas... I was expecting nothing but a big, hot valley full of sand!

I pulled off at an overlook after not having seen a single car or person for hours. When I was pulling back on to the road I never gave a look feeling like I was the only person left on the planet. I caught something out of the corner of my eye and hit the brakes. Watching the car roll by I realized I almost pulled out in front of a RR Corniche. Older guy cruising through Death Valley in the middle of nowhere with the top down and a beaming grin on his face.

Whilst shaking my head I once again started to pull on to the road while at the same time watching the Corniche disappearing around a curve when once again I had to hit the brakes. Another Rolls Royce! What are the chances? This one was vintage... open chauffer's cockpit, rear hinged passenger doors, spoke wheels, spares on the running boards and right-hand drive with those humongously gorgeous headlights. Yet another older guy cruising through Death Valley in the middle of nowhere in a Rolls Royce with a big grin on his face. Who woulda thunkit??? It left me scratching my head for a good long while.

So I spent the rest of my trip through the Valley wondering what these guys are doing in the middle of Death Valley in Rolls Royces? About the time I started down the mountains with Las Vegas coming into view it came to me... they were probably returning from a car show or other shindig in LV.

Really looking forward to more pics, hopefully with details on the cars.

TL

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Rolls Royces in Orlando, Florida

Enjoy the show. Can't wait for your writeup and more pics.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Rolls Royces in Orlando, Florida

As promised, more pictures from the event. This first group is not from the show, just the cars parked in the hotel parking lot. Seriously, people just arriving at the hotel must have wondered what sort of place this was, what with a parking lot full of all kinds of Rolls Royce and Bentley automobiles!





















My office for the past couple of days, where I conducted seminars for the RROC. And believe me, distilling our half day Saturday Class presentation down to a mere 90 minutes was quite a challenge!!



After concluding the seminar yesterday a few RROC members asked if I would evaluate their cars, so we headed back out to the lot.

How about this 1962 Rolls Royce that the owner tells me is driven 4 days a week and is NOT garaged! The paint is mostly a respray and it's not perfect, but it is very, very nice. And for what's practically a daily driver that's also 48 years old? Gorgeous.






This beautiful Silver Spur is 15 years old but beautifully maintained. The couple who owns it has been known to spend an entire weekend detailing, even to the point of the wife laying down on a mechanics creeper while her husband slides her under the car so she can detail the undercarriage and suspension! They've struggled with swirls over the years, however, and I pointed out some rotary holograms on the door panels. The owner recalls someone in the past using a rotary on the car, and now he knows what the result of that episode was. More importantly, he is now confident that he'll be able to fully remove the offending swirls. Oh, and check out the custom two tone interior - all done in fresh Connolly leather. Stunning.









Here's a 1984 Rolls Royce Silver Silver Spur with almost 140,000 miles on the clock! The current owner is the 5th custodian of this car, with all previous owners being members of the RROC! How's that for keeping it in the family!! The owner was kind enough to offer me a ride to the Rolls Royce Dealer Party later that night, rather than having me ride the bus. The reflections in that long hood while driving through downtown Orlando after dark were really something to see. He maintains this car impeccably.





Here's a gorgeous Corniche II convertible owned by a gentleman who is as crazy about the appearance of his car as anyone I've ever met! The paintwork and interior are near flawless, and he just finished spending many, many hours detailing the engine bay himself.













I'll have some pictures from the dinner party at the local Rolls Royce/Lamborghini Dealer later today. Right now, I have a plane to catch!

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Rolls Royces in Orlando, Florida

What beautiful machines. Lucky you.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Rolls Royces in Orlando, Florida

This was a terrific event and I was fortunate to meet a lot of super nice people - who knew Rolls Royce owners preferred to work on their cars themselves?!

Friday night we were treated to a wonderful dinner party at the local Rolls Royce - Bentley - Lamborghini dealership outside Orlando. Good food, wonderful people, and fantastic automobiles. What more could a car guy want?!?!?!?

Right inside the front door was this Bentley Continental Supersports finished in Quartzite. With a 0-60mph time of 3.7 seconds, a top speed of 204 mph and boasting 621bhp, 590lb-ft torque, this is the fastest Bentley ever produced.


Here's an ordinary, everyday, run of the mill Continental.


Or maybe your tastes run more to the Rolls Royce Phantom Drop Head Coupe, here in Arctic White with Ebony trim.






Apparently all the Lamborghinis had been cleared out of the showroom due to the Rolls Royce Owners Club being treated on this evening, but they left this immaculate 1965 Lamborghini 350GT in the central showroom. One of only 135 ever built, this one was nearly flawless.


Out back in the shop they had all manner of Rolls, Bentley and Lamborghini vehicles in attendance. Here a Gallardo Superleggera between a pair of Bentley Continentals.


One of two Lamborghini Countach examples on hand, this one with the unfortunate federalized bumpers in order to comply with ever tightening restrictions in the US.


This black Countach was getting a major mechanical refresh.


And here, safely under wraps at the request of the owner, is a recently restored 1965 Ferrari 550 Superfast. As it turns out, this dealership has an off site restoration shop that brings in clientele from all over the country. They handled the restoration on this Ferrari, completing it within the past year. In the background sits a Rolls Royce Phantom - in some parts of the country $400,000 buys a very large house. Here, it buys a very large car. And this dealer had several in inventory.

[Andrew Wilson]

Re: Rolls Royces in Orlando, Florida

Makes me think I am back in Hong Kong, where those cars are daily drivers on the roads. Crazy!

Awesome pics Mike!

[THE BIG BUFFER]

Re: Rolls Royces in Orlando, Florida

Beautiful!

So which one did you take home?

[Hemin8r]

Re: Rolls Royces in Orlando, Florida

Hey Mike I'm sure you had a blast. Thanks for sharing!

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Rolls Royces in Orlando, Florida

Beautiful!

So which one did you take home?

Don't I wish!!

I did get a nice 40 mile ride to dinner in this one:






But if I could take one home, it would definitely be the Bentley Continental Supersports. Or the '65 Lamborghini 350GT. No, wait....the Phantom Drop Head Coupe. Hmmmm.... maybe the Superleggera. Or it might be.........