MODELS OF THE MARQUE – THE 1990s: THE ROLLS-ROYCE SILVER SERAPH – AutoMart Canada

• A brief history of the Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph, built between
  1998 and 2002
• A technological bridge and tangible connection between Rolls-Royce
  Heritage and the modern Goodwood era
• Tenth chapter in a series celebrating a landmark model from each
  decade of the marque’s history
• Year-long retrospective marks the 120th anniversary of the first
  meeting between Henry Royce and The Hon. Charles Stewart Rolls in 1904

“A magnificent motor car in its own right, Silver Seraph is
uniquely important as the tangible, technological link between the
pre-Goodwood and contemporary Rolls-Royce eras. It was the first
Rolls-Royce in history to be designed using CAD – and more
importantly, the first to be powered by a V12 engine from BMW Group,
which would acquire the Rolls-Royce brand while Silver Seraph was in
production. Its development was extraordinarily protracted, with
many twists and turns, at a time of great economic challenges and
widely differing client requirements in Rolls-Royce’s major markets.
That it answered its complex brief so successfully and beautifully
is a tribute to the design team, who combined innovation and
imagination with their fidelity to the marque’s fundamental principles.”

Andrew Ball, Head of Corporate Communications and Heritage,
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

In 1989, Rolls-Royce sold a record 3,333 examples of
its Silver Spirit – a model that by this point was a decade into a
production run that would eventually extend to 18 years. Silver Spirit
was the descendant of a long-lived ancestor, the Silver Shadow, which
enjoyed a career lasting some 15 years.

Such prolonged lifecycles were highly unusual in the automotive
industry. The longevity and commercial success of these models seemed
to prove that conventional wisdom did not necessarily apply to large,
luxury cars.

Nevertheless, the replacement for Silver Spirit was already in
development. In typical Rolls-Royce fashion, work on the project,
codenamed SXB, had begun five years previously in 1984.

SXB was to be an entirely new model. The challenge facing the
design team was to create a motor car that could simultaneously
satisfy the contrasting market requirements in the United States and
Britain. Clients in the former still wanted a car that unashamedly
celebrated wealth and success; while those in the latter were uneasy
about displays of conspicuous consumption at a time of economic recession.

One potential solution was not to make SXB a Rolls-Royce at all.
The marque had acquired Bentley Motors in 1931 and, from 1933 until
1998, when the two brands were sold to separate owners, produced motor
cars under both names, catering for two different customer bases.
Those seeking the ultimate in space, comfort and ‘waftability’ could
choose a Rolls-Royce; those more concerned with performance could opt
for a Bentley.

Silver Spirit was itself based on the long-established SZ range;
the designers were initially briefed that SXB should be smaller than
the SZ cars but have at least the same interior dimensions. They were
also instructed to include as large a boot space as possible without
compromising the design’s aesthetics. Finally, the new model should
seat the driver and occupants in the imperious yet cossetting ‘Command
Position’ that had long been a signature Rolls-Royce feature, and is
retained to this day in Phantom VIII.

It was a complex assignment; but happily, the designers could
turn to a wondrous new technology to help them. SXB was the first
Rolls-Royce to be created using computer-aided design (CAD), which
became available to the team in 1989, to supplement the traditional
clay, wood and fibreglass styling bucks still used at Goodwood in
contemporary Coachbuild projects.

At that time, car designers everywhere were obsessed with the
wedge shape: low at the front, high at the rear. Everywhere, that is,
except in the Rolls-Royce styling department. Not only did Rolls-Royce
– then as now – never merely follow fashion; its own fundamental
design tenets were precisely the reverse, with a high front tapering
to a lower rear.

Another important factor their heirs and successors at Goodwood
would recognise was feedback from clients. When asked, American owners
conceded that the SZ range were good cars, but lacked the charisma of
the earlier Silver Cloud and Corniche models. Launched in 1955, Silver
Cloud took its styling cues from motor yachts, with a tall radiator
forming a prow, front wings flowing like a bow wave and curvaceous
rear wings representing a wake wave, and a tail set low and sloping
forward. To add to the design team’s burdens, they were told to
include similar aesthetic touches in SXB.

Initially, the plan was to build the Rolls-Royce and Bentley
variants of SXB on the same underpinnings, but with different bodies.
As the design developed, it became obvious that a single-body design
could accommodate the biggest aesthetic difference – the two brands’
distinctive radiator grilles – with other details providing sufficient
visual separation between them. The decision to drop the two-body
approach was also driven by an urgent need to cut costs. Even with
this major saving, however, the project was halted in 1992 for
financial reasons.

When SXB was finally revived in January 1994, the designers
continued with their homage to Silver Cloud, producing designs
featuring its distinctive stepped rear wing. By now, however, the
yacht-inspired form was almost 50 years old and deemed too retro for a
modern Rolls-Royce. SXB was given a more contemporary falling
waistline, with the yacht influence greatly reduced but still present.
The designers paid particular attention to the rear three-quarter and
full rear views, reasoning that owing to its performance, these were
the angles from which it would be most commonly seen by other motorists.

In October 1994, SXB (by now known as project P600) was given
the formal go-ahead for a launch in 1998. In a first for the marque,
and a foreshadowing of events to come, the new models would be fitted
with BMW engines: a 5.4-litre V12 for the Rolls-Royce, and 4.4-litre
V8 for the Bentley variant.

Six months later, in May 1995, P600 was redesignated as P3000
(P2000 for the Bentley variant), and the design details were
finalised. After much alteration, the radiator shell was less angular
and more rounded than the original design; the Spirit of Ecstasy was
also made slightly smaller than on the Silver Spirit. Viewed from the
side, subtle but clear styling cues from Silver Shadow remained in
place, with flat panels reduced to an absolute minimum to restore that
all-important ‘charisma’.

The new Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph was unveiled to the world’s
press in January 1998 at Ackergill Tower Castle in Scotland. The
assembled journalists were informed that the car had, “Solidness
without heaviness. Authority without arrogance. Elegance without
effort. Presence without pomp.” To help them understand what the
designers termed the car’s ‘aesthetic premise’, they received a
limited-edition print of chief designer Graham Hull’s ‘Yacht
Aesthetics’ rendering.

The Silver Seraph remained in production until 2002, together
with a long-wheelbase version introduced in 2000, known as the Park
Ward Rolls-Royce Touring, some four years after the Rolls-Royce brand
had been acquired by BMW Group. Indeed, its use of BMW powerplant,
expertise and engineering are thought to have been instrumental in
making the company attractive to its new owners.

Having taken an astonishing 14 years to get from the drawing
board to the open road – almost certainly the longest gestation period
of any Rolls-Royce in history – Silver Seraph then had one of the
shortest lifespans. Its overall concept – to be smaller and less
imposing than its predecessors – also upended previous Rolls-Royce
thinking (and in fact has been comprehensively disproved by the
consistent success of Goodwood-era models).

Yet Silver Seraph remains a highly significant model. It was the
correct design for its time; and like all great designs, it has aged
well and remains a good-looking motor car even today, albeit very much
of its period. Perhaps most enduringly, with its BMW V12 engine and
production extending until 2002, it also acts as a technological
bridge and tangible connection between the ‘old’ Rolls-Royce and the
modern Goodwood era.