Corbin Goodwin made his name by lighting up the internet with his “Zero F**ks Given” RX-7 back in 2013. Recovered from a ditch, V8 swapped, and plastered with stickers meant to offend, outrage, and amuse, it appeared on our YouTube channel, and has since collected almost 5.5 million views. A year later to the day, The Smoking Tire showcased Corbin’s second project, the Jettamino, a Volkswagen Jetta TDi with Corvette wheels up front, a truck bed, and Smart ForTwo-spec tires out back. Both vehicles could be described with as many synonyms with “crappy” as are in the English dictionary, yet both were delightful, if we’re to take Mr. Farah’s grin at face value.
It seems Corbin has refined the concept of thrilling, yet sketchy cars, with his latest build, a 1978 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II dubbed “Trolls Royce.” Adorned with kill marking of the flags of England’s former colonies and “God save the EU” on the intercooler, its imperialistic themes aren’t the only things inflammatory about it. Those pipes going over the roof and into the trunk are coolant lines for the rear-mounted radiator.
One would assume, and for good reason, that anything with a Rolls Royce badge and a curb weight approaching 4,200 pounds would handle like a pool noodle, doubly so due to the car’s welded differential, but reality proves otherwise. Corbin invested enough money in truck-grade off-road suspension parts to make a Baja racer jealous. The shocks, for example, at 31 inches long, are so big that car-grade aftermarket parts just don’t exist.
The entirety of the car is a hodgepodge of parts priced between discounted and free, with the turbocharger coming from one of Corbin’s cousins, the transmission from a diesel pickup, and the wheels, from a presumably wrecked Porsche Panamera. Yes, the Porsche wheels were the cheap option. Corbin said he wanted to install 20-inch Volk Racing TE37s instead, but the cost was, as the British say, prohibitive.
Altogether, far too much to list has been done to this Rolls. Those interested in the build itself, or even just the driving experience, can watch the video below. It was worth our 20 minutes, and we think it’ll be worth yours.
