The Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph was a
large
Large means of great size.
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Mathematics
* Arbitrarily large, a phrase in mathematics
* Large cardinal, a property of certain transfinite numbers
* Large category, a category with a proper class of objects and morphisms (or ...
luxury automobile
A luxury car is a car that provides increased levels of comfort, equipment, amenities, quality, performance, and associated status compared to moderately priced cars.
The term is subjective and reflects both the qualities of the car and the ...
produced by
Rolls-Royce Motors
Rolls-Royce Motors was a British luxury car manufacturer, created in 1973 during the de-merger of the Rolls-Royce automotive business from the nationalised Rolls-Royce Limited. It produced luxury cars under the Rolls-Royce and Bentley brands. ...
from 1998 to 2002. First unveiled on 3 March 1998 at the
Geneva Motor Show
The Geneva International Motor Show is an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva. The show is hosted at the Palexpo, a convention centre located next to the Geneva Cointrin International Airport. The Salon is organised by th ...
, it replaced the
Silver Spirit, which ended production in 1997. Silver Seraph production was discontinued when the licence to use the Rolls-Royce marque was sold to
BMW, which began manufacture of an unrelated line of vehicles under a new corporation,
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited is a British luxury automobile maker which has operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of BMW AG since 2003 – as the exclusive manufacturer of ''Rolls-Royce''-branded motor cars. The company's administrative ...
.
Development
Development of the Silver Seraph began in the late 1980s, with design work commencing in October 1990. By April 1991, the conceptual design was frozen and approved by the management in June 1991. After several refinements were made, the definitive design was reached in 1994. On 28 July 1995 design patents were filed for both the Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph and
Bentley Arnage
The Bentley Arnage is a full-size luxury car manufactured and marketed by Bentley Motors in Crewe, England, from 1998 to 2009. The Arnage and its Rolls-Royce-branded sibling, the Silver Seraph, were introduced in the spring of 1998. They were ...
utilizing production design prototypes as representations. Development concluded after nearly a decade in late 1997, with pilot production models being produced into early 1998 bearing R396 DTU registration plates. The Silver Seraph was launched at the 1998 Geneva Motor Show.
Description
Aside from the radiator grille, badges and wheels, the Seraph was externally identical to the contemporary
Bentley Arnage
The Bentley Arnage is a full-size luxury car manufactured and marketed by Bentley Motors in Crewe, England, from 1998 to 2009. The Arnage and its Rolls-Royce-branded sibling, the Silver Seraph, were introduced in the spring of 1998. They were ...
, sharing both its platform and body shell. It was powered by the
BMW M73
The BMW M73 is a naturally-aspirated, SOHC, V12 petrol engine which replaced the BMW M70 and was produced from 1993 to 2002. It was used in the BMW E38 7 Series, E31 8 Series and Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph.
Design
Compared with its M70 predece ...
engine, a 5.4L aluminium alloy
V12 engine
A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines.
The fi ...
coupled to a 5-speed
automatic transmission
An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving c ...
, making it the first twelve-cylinder Rolls-Royce since the 1939
Phantom III. The car conforms to the
Euro III emission standards
The European emission standards are vehicle emission standards for pollution from the use of new land surface vehicles sold in the European Union and EEA member states and the UK, and ships in EU waters. The standards are defined in a seri ...
.
The body was 65 percent stiffer than that of its predecessor. Standard electronics included digital engine management,
adaptive ride control An active suspension is a type of automotive suspension on a vehicle. It uses an onboard system to control the vertical movement of the vehicle's wheels relative to the chassis or vehicle body rather than the passive suspension provided by large sp ...
and anti-lock brakes. The exterior was available in one and two-tone finishes.
Inside, the Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph and the Bentley Arnage were similar yet distinct. The Seraph's gear selector was column-mounted, and gauges followed a traditional Rolls-Royce layout. In both cars, the seats and dashboard were upholstered in
Connolly Leather
Connolly Leather Limited was a British company that supplied highly finished leather primarily to car manufacturers. Founded in 1878, it went out of business in that form in 2002. A successor firm, Connolly Brothers, UK, has resumed producing ...
, with dashboard trim and folding picnic trays for rear passengers faced with glossy burl
walnut
A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''.
Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...
veneer.
The Seraph was known for its relatively limited acceleration and comfortable handling, in comparison to the Arnage, which had a twin turbocharged
V8 of its own design and firmer suspension. However, the Seraph still had a top speed of .
The
RAC
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gave the car a rating of 7.6/10, stating "The Silver Seraph marks a new start for Rolls-Royce in their quest to once more be recognised as manufacturers of the world's best cars. And it's quite a credible effort.
Production
All Seraphs were hand-built at the
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to:
* Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct
Automobiles
* Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
factory in
Crewe
Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. The car had a base price of
£155,175 in the UK and $220,695 in the
US. It was second in cost and exclusivity only to the
Rolls-Royce Corniche
The Rolls-Royce Corniche is a two-door, front-engine, rear wheel drive luxury car produced by Rolls-Royce Motors as a hardtop coupé (from 1971 to 1980) and as a convertible (from 1971 to 1995).
The Corniche was a development of the Mulliner ...
, though it was the cheapest Rolls-Royce ''per se'' after the discontinuation of the Silver Spur.
A total of 1,570 Silver Seraphs were produced before manufacture ceased in 2002.
Park Ward model
An extended wheelbase 5-passenger version of the Silver Seraph called the Park Ward debuted at the
2000 Geneva Motor Show. Introduced for the 2001 model year, it had added to the size of the doors (mostly the rear), resulting in more leg room for passengers. Rolls-Royce initially planned to build 200 of the model. However, it was discontinued after 2002, with a total of 127 having been produced.
It was the last model to use the Park Ward label.
Gallery
File:DTW LITC 067 gen98.jpg, Press presentation, Geneva 1998
File:Rolls Royce Silver Seraph.jpg, Silver Seraph quarter front view
File:RR Silver Seraph.jpg, Silver Seraph quarter rear view
File:Rr silver seraph interior.jpg, Interior
References
External links
Rolls-Royce Silver SeraphSilver Seraph Reviews
{{Rolls-Royce
Silver Seraph
Full-size vehicles
Rear-wheel-drive vehicles
Sedans
2000s cars
Cars introduced in 1998
Limousines