Silver Seraph and Arnage - The Last of the Classics

Hello again! :D

Touching on Rolls-Royce and Bentley once again, we now look back at the last two models from the classic era of these brands, the Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph and the Bentley Arnage.

Built to be the flagship of their respective companies for at least a decade, the Silver Seraph and Arnage found themselves mired in the political turmoil of the corporate divorce between Rolls-Royce and Bentley during 1998, though while the Seraph ultimately disappeared into obscurity, the Arnage would go on to become a much-revered motoring icon, and keep the general underpinnings of these cars alive until as late as 2009.

Written permission allowing me to discuss the Silver Seraph and the Rolls-Royce brand has been generously granted by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, and I greatly appreciate their candour in presenting me the opportunity to discuss one of my personal favourite cars.

Chapters:

0:00 - Preamble
0:42 - Bringing the Brands Together
5:15 - The Rolls for the 1990s
8:12 - Enter BMW
10:24 - Into Sales
12:09 - German Warfare
14:04 - The Long Goodbye
16:20 - A Fresh Face for a Dying Breed
18:33 - End of an Era
21:23 - The Bentley Rolls On
25:19 - Conclusion

The views and opinions expressed in this video are my personal appraisal and are not the views and opinions of any of these individuals or bodies who have kindly supplied me with footage and images.

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Thanks again, everyone, and enjoy! :D

References:
- Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
- Car and Classic (and their respective sources)
- Wikipedia (and its respective references)

[BibTheBoulderTheOriginalOne]

Having owned both a 6.75 and a 4.4 Arnage I can attest to what incredible cars these are. Sublime design by Graham Hull, they are so 'differently shaped' they don't age (IOM). Hideously unreliable, or faultless. I've experienced both. Would I have another one? OH YES....

[TheHylianBatman]

My dream car is a Rolls-Royce.
Amongst many. Always happsy to see them on this channel.

[gregharvie]

From Sydney, Australia. YES. the LAST REAL Rolls Royce. Back a quarter century ago my Great Uncle ordered a 1998 Seraph in navy blue with magnolia hide, lovely Dark blue enamel paint with creamy-white leather. Uncle Len's car was beautiful, I feel privileged to have driven it, he had owned multiple RR's however his two favorites being his original metallic red with magnolia leather 1965 Shadow that he had kept & still owned plus the Seraph. Both sides of my mum's family were VERY tall, slim and fit Norwegians. Len lived and drove until 99 yrs old, both fit and with it mentally he enjoyed the Seraph and wished that it had been made when he was a bit younger. He swam daily and in the last 10years of life moved to the Gold Coast in Queensland, where he collapsed one morning after his daily swim & jog on the beach. He used the 2 cars daily the '65 metallic red Shadow & the '98 Navy Seraph these two cars were as well known to the fit beach fraternity as he was himself. On his passing I sold one car to each of his younger surf and swimming mates, that was in 2012, now 11 years later both those 2 guys still own his 2 cars. With X'mas just moments away I had just spoken with both those 2 guys and both said that they will never, never ever sell either of Len's cars, ever, even if petrol is no longer available they will be kept as works of art !!

[CTXSLPR]

The Silver Seraph is one of my favorite Rolls and the last of the Rolls I would even be interested in.

Great video as always!

[auntbarbara]

Thank you Rory dear, superb. Favourite channel.
Aunt Barbara adores you! 😚

[michaeloreilly]

Lovely to see your own work included in the video.

[davidarmitage]

Excellent video, very informative. Lots of great clips. Thank you!

[Diptera_Larvae]

The more of your videos I watch the more I understand that “historical” brands often exist in name only, but owned by a few much larger companies.

I had no idea that an even luxury brands also raid the parts bin from time to time, BMW motor, ford gear box. That just wild.

[derekstocker]

Fabulously detailed report on these wonderful vehicles, fabulous driving and amazing just to look at and admire. Thank you for this, brilliant!
Prices now in 2023 for these cars are extremely tempting but the biggest snag is maintaining them,
Would recommend them to the enthusiast without a hint of hesitation, just beware of running cost's!

[mattg]

Very elegant looking motor cars. Much better than the bling mobiles RR has become.

[scofab]

Fascinating as always, thank you and Happy Holidays to you.

[richardharris]

Thanks. Very informative and well presented.

[Siddharth_shivshankar]

This story Of RR and Bentley was so nostalgic and very informative about the veterans of British Automotive Industry

[rdsyafriyar]

"I have only one regret … that I have not worked harder." - Henry Royce

[davidcomtedeherstal]

My Dad owns a Silver Ghost from 1925, still driving. Even RR wanted to buy it back for the price of a today`s Rolls which would have meant tey would have paid like 6 times more than the Silver Ghost had cost.

[lukemallory]

1998 was a great year for cars with the Jag S-Type, Rover 75, and this Rolls Royce Silver Sereph. I still have all my Autocar magazines from back then - what a time to be 16 years old. Also that year, my parents bought the then-new Volvo C70 T5 coupe. Great times! So therefore I also have a fond affection for all of the cars mentioned above, along too with things like the 406 Coupe, Saab 9-5, Merc CLK/SLK. I really have not the slightest bit of interest in anything built after about 2008, when the credit crunch decimated the engineering in cars entirely in favour of the accountants.

[LewisLevy]

Great choice of topic, I'm glad that you were finally able to get permission from RR to talk about it!

[edwardalexander]

Just an aside, when I visited Edinburgh as a child around 1973, I was drawn to the curved windows of the Bentley showroom on Shandwick place. Sadly I can't find an image of the windows, but now occupied by specsavers 14 - 16 Shandwick Place (can't be 100% sure about exact address). Vauxhall had a showroom on Lothian Road, nearby at a similar timeframe, maybe 1974 (used to be a well-visited HMSO but now a "Nandos") where I saw a silver droop-snoot Firenza in the front window. Ergo, take your mobile camera with you everywhere, everyday you step out of the house, as specific memories like Bentley curved windows and Droop-snoot have no record now, just in my memory. Look and see and curate - so easy now - it's surprising what's not documented still. All in the detail.

[gtobob]

As crazy as it sounds, I am glad the BMW V12 was picked over the Northstar! Imagine the embarrassment and tarnshing of reputation once the Northstars started to pop their head gaskets!

[alancrisp]

😂 Absolutely gorgeous. The Silver Seraph 1998 -2002, is engine aside the last real Rolls_Royce ever made. Only around l600 were built. Very rare and highly collectable modern classic vehicles..😅