I encountered this relatively rare Rolls near my place in Bangkok a couple of times and finally tried to photograph it. Unfortunately, it was guarded (must belong to some VIP) and the guard wasn’t cool with my taking a few snaps, so I only managed three. Still, we haven’t featured this car on CC before I believe, so here’s a little taste of the roly-poly jelly bean Rolls.
This is a blurry mess, but the guard was hurrying over by then and I never got a second shot.
The Silver Seraph came out in early 1998 to replace the Silver Spirit/Spur. It was the last Rolls to have a Bentley clone, the Arnage (though those, along with the two-door cars — Rolls-Royce Corniche V and Bentley Continental — kept the old V8), the last to be built at the historic Crewe works and the last model developed before the VW takeover in 1998. On the other hand, it was the first Rolls with a German engine, in this case a 5.4 litre BMW V12. In the end, BMW managed to wrest control of the Rolls-Royce brand off of Volkswagen, but had to build a new factory from scratch to make them. And they also had to devise a completely new model from the ground up, which they presented to the public in 2003 as the Phantom VII and has changed little since.
So the Seraph’s time on this Earth was rather fleeting, for a Rolls-Royce. They made just over 1500 of these in five years, including 127 extended wheelbase saloons (but excluding the Corniche) made by whatever remained of Park Ward from 2000 to 2002. I couldn’t tell if the car I found was one of them, but there’s a fair chance it might be. The BMW L7 I caught a while back hails from the same car park, so someone in there likes turn-of-the-Century V12-powered limos.
I remember that when the Seraph came out, I thought it looked better than the Spirit. Nowadays, I’m not so sure. It’s certainly the last Rolls design that looked more like a car than a tank. There’s lots to be said about how Rolls got snatched by BMW and how this car is the archetype of a transitional model, but that will be for another time with another Seraph – hopefully one that is not chaperoned by a guard I can’t communicate with.
These are exceedingly rare, because, yes, the Bentley and Rolls-Royce brands were very quickly split up once Vickers’s involvement was over.
Meanwhile, on the Bentley side, the Arnage initially used a modified twin-turbo BMW M62 (4.4-liter) V8. However, customers weren’t enthused about the new engine and began dropping off quite a bit. So Volkswagen Group rectified that by preparing the heritage 6.75-liter “big block” V8 engine (in turbocharged guise) that Bentley had been using. The one with the Bentley/Rolls-Royce V8 became the Arnage Red Label. Likewise, the one with the BMW V8 became the Arnage Green Label.
I believe the last year for the Arnage Green Label was 2000; after that, they quit using the BMW engine. While Rolls-Royce re-did its entire lineup using BMW engineering—the 2003 Phantom VIII you mention shared its electronics architecture with the then-cutting-edge “E65” 7 Series—Bentley continued under Volkswagen Group, using the same bodies that debuted in 1998: the Arnage as a sedan, and the Brooklands and Azure as coupe and cabriolet models, respectively. And Bentley retained the Crewe factory. The Mulsanne, which was developed entirely under Volkswagen Group, uses a unique platform and the same heritage V8, but seems to rely on an Audi electronics architecture.
Nowadays, if you order parts for a lot of the Vickers-era Bentleys and Rolls-Royces, they’ll say “Parts By Crewe.” I believe Bentley retained that division, since they kept the Crewe facility.
But the funny thing, and the last bit you hinted at, was that the most valuable part of Vickers was the Rolls-Royce name and logo. And basically, while Volkswagen Group retained the Rolls-Royce radiator-grille, Rolls-Royce Spirit of Ecstasy, the Crewe facility, and everything related to Bentley…they did *not* get the Rolls-Royce name and logo. Those were controlled by Rolls-Royce Aerospace, and not Rolls-Royce Cars. Rolls-Royce Aerospace decided to license them to BMW, and for a mere fraction of what Volkswagen paid for everything else. It was then that BMW and Volkswagen Group reached an agreement. Volkswagen Group would keep the Crewe facility and all Bentley trademarks, while Rolls-Royce would walk away with the Rolls-Royce trademarks. And, as you see, BMW had no issues spinning up all-new Rolls-Royce models and a facility in Goodwood.
Another reason these were rare is that by this time Volkswagen knew they were about to lose the rights to the Rolls-Royce brand and thus emphasized Bentleys in their marketing. They were happy to sell a Rolls to anyone that wanted one, but they were doing their best to build up the Bentley brand which for several decades sold at a far slower rate than Rolls-Royces.
To paraphrase Volkswagen Group’s feelings at the time, “Well…huh! We didn’t want Rolls-Royce *anyway.* Bentley is the volume seller. Neener, neener, neener.”
And while it was true that Bentley sold far more cars—and Volkswagen did an excellent job maintaining the Bentley brand with its in-house-developed Continental GT and (Continental) Flying Spur—they paid way more than they wanted to, just to lose out on Rolls-Royce.
Volkwagen’s claim that they only really wanted Bentley never seemed remotely believable. It’s just easier saying that than “our legal team screwed up”. (Actually, from what I’ve read VAG was fully aware that the Rolls Royce aviation company owned the trademarks and not Vickers, but they assumed they would sell or license them to whoever bought RR Motors).
To me, it is inconceivable that VW did not know that buying the business known as Rolls Royce Motors, by then part of engineering group Vickers plc not part of Rolls Royce Aero Engines, did not include ownership of the RR name and logo.
It was never any secret that the RR name and logo belonged to the aero engine business and was licensed to RRM/Vickers, and seemingly with clauses around change of ownership.
RR Aero Engines had links with BMW, so a deal was done to licence the name and logo to BMW for a fairly nominal sum, whilst VW paid a full price for the RRM business to thwart BMW and fulfill one of Piech’s dreams.
That is a good looking car!
Wish there were more around.
I think your closely-guarded celestial being is indeed Park Ward-stretched for a long Thai. And yes, remnants of Park Ward it must surely have been. I fancy they’ve scrambled about in the dust and found some ancient employees and stitched together unexploded Luftwaffe shells and old tweed and quite possibly an expendable East London peasant in making up that extra length. Still, job must’ve been up to snuff, as this tropically-transplanted imperialist hasn’t disintegrated in the heat nearly 20 years on.
I wasn’t taken by these new, though really, anything with wheels moved me than the Spirit ever did (the Roller, that is, though I never really ever heard from god either). They seem nicer in retrospect, even if still a bit high in the hat and laboriously filed-off on all the rounded edges to ever be regarded too highly.
It’s hard to tell from the angle of the pictures, but yes, it does look like the Park Ward.
These very much fitted in with the retro trend of the late ’90s, appearing around the same time as the Rover 75, Jaguar S type and TX1 taxi, all a modern twist on classic designs. In the case of the Rolls there’s obviously a lot of Shadow, though from the rear the influence of the earlier Cloud can be seen. I still think it’s rather handsome while the 1980s Spirit was just a mite too boxy. Indeed the rear lights would have looked better on a road coach (funnily enough the Spirit’s original front lights did end up on a coach – the Leyland Royal Tiger Doyen.).
OOI, Silver Seraph and Arnage were styled by Roy Axe, late of Austin-Rover (Rover 800, 200, Austin Montego), Chrysler (K car, Omnirizon) and Chrysler UK/Rootes (Rapier fastback, Chrysler Alpine)
Next to the Camargue, this is probably my least favorite Rolls Royce ever. I just find the styling of it so awkward and strange that I’ve never warmed up to it before. I get why some people never liked the Silver Spirit/Silver Spur, I will admit that it is very blocky and the styling wore pretty thin by the time the 90s came around and the company was desperately trying to make it look relevant, but throughout its time in the 80s, I’ve always thought it was rather handsome in its own way. Some cars just make that awkward blockiness work, and the Silver Spirit/Spur was one of them, and I think it might’ve been more warmly received had it not just come after the Silver Shadow. The Silver Seraph is rather lifeless and stiff, and caught in that awkward late 90s period of trying to evoke a retro feel while still being modern.
Though, I haven’t looked at prices lately, I remember there was a time when you could get these things for less than five figures in relatively decent condition. And this was back around 2014/2015, I’m not sure if that remains true today. Though I think the fact that it’s powered by BMW’s V12 as opposed to the tried and trued 6.75 V8 might play a part in it, both from a reliability perception and an exclusivity perception. Kind of hard to justify forking up the cash for a Silver Seraph when it comes with the same engine I could get in a 750il that not only looks better but is also half the price.
Easily the least attractive RR ever built. The boxy lines with the hyper rounded edges make it look as if a 1980s Silver Spirit had been melted in the microwave.
I certainly don’t blame them, this was simply the “oval era” of automotive styling, where everything had to be rounded off to the max; Infiniti J30, C5 Corvette, Ferrari F50, etc.
Why people continue to bash the 3rd generation Ford Taurus instead of recognizing it as the most important car (styling-wise) of it’s time is beyond me.
I always thought the Silver Spirit-based Bentleys looked like Rolls-Royces turned into Bentleys, whereas the Silver Seraph looked more like a Bentley turned into a Rolls-Royce.
Maybe that’s because I have never (??) seen a Seraph on the road. The Arnage, however, oozes cool while the Silver Seraph looks like a fussier version – Aussies will get this reference, but the Silver Seraph reminds me of a ’90s Holden Caprice or Ford LTD, a handsome body tarted up with OTT wheels, fussier grille, etc etc
I hope I see a Seraph on the road one day so I can decide how much I like them. Thanks for braving the awkward situation and taking photos!
As I recall, these Rolls used the BMW V-12 engine; a wonderful smooth thing, that can become a monster. You see, the V-12 is essentially two of BMW’s fabulous straight 6’s joined at a common crank. A great design idea until one gets to the fuel injection and timing systems. Yes, systems. Not as in one fuel injection system and one distributor equals two systems but as in a complete fuel injection system and distributor for each engine bank. As long as they are perfectly synchronized, every thing is perfect. But when they ain’t – all Hell can break loose. Many BMW mechanics won’t touch them.
Worst. RR/Bentley. Shape. Ever.
Worse than the worst Gulbenkian.
Bentley still hasn’t recovered.