Bentley Arnage, Bentley Arnage T and Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph: one car, three engines

By Simon Hucknall

| 16 Oct 2023

Classic & Sports Car – How Rolls-Royce and Bentley built one car with three engines

Sometimes the key to the future lies in the past.

But in the new car industry, that doesn’t normally equate, especially when it comes to powertrains: engines need to be progressively cleaner, more potent, quieter and smoother, while mated to transmissions that are ever more efficient and responsive.

The 1998 Bentley Arnage promised all of this, yet in less than two years its sales had bombed and they were only saved by the installation of a 30-year-old engine for which the car was never designed, and that had very nearly been consigned to its maker’s scrapheap.

For Bentley, retro engineering saved its bacon.

The Bentley Arnage (closest), Bentley Arnage T (middle) and Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph are closely linked models from Crewe

To illustrate the sea-change that brought about Bentley’s reversal of fortune – and also a radically new direction for its Crewe sibling, Rolls-Royce – we have gathered three near-identically bodied cars from the two historic manufacturers.

They are propelled by three completely different engines: a Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph powered by a 5.4-litre, naturally aspirated V12; a Bentley Arnage equipped with a 4.4-litre, twin-turbocharged V8; and a Bentley Arnage T using a 6.75-litre, twin-turbocharged V8.

Few cars built on a common platform are as defined by their mechanical DNA as these three.

The Silver Seraph’s venerated badge highlights its position among this trio

The reason there were three engines is partly thanks to an unseemly tale of corporate high dudgeon that unfolded in the late 1990s, and which threatened to undermine the good names of both of Crewe’s brands.

The Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit and Bentley Mulsanne ranges, predecessors of our test trio, were long overdue replacement by the 1990s, having already inherited the basic underpinnings from the 1965 Silver Shadow and T-series models.

Vickers, which owned Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motors, as well as the Crewe factory in which all the cars were produced, had canned earlier proposals for new models due to cost.

But with the venerable 6.75-litre V8, which had powered both marques for decades, looking increasingly dirty in light of more stringent emissions regulations, a decision was made to develop an all-new platform that would be able to accommodate an outside supplier’s powertrains – a high-risk strategy for their badge-faithful buyers.

This Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph feels fresh despite its 67,000 miles

Various manufacturers were mooted as potential engine suppliers, but in the end BMW won the day.

To create clear space between each brand’s models, and re-emphasise their unique characters, two very different BMW engines were employed.

Fittingly, the Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph was equipped with a 5379cc atmospheric V12 (the first V12 in a Rolls since the Phantom III of 1939), allied to a five-speed ZF automatic gearbox.

Previously seen in BMW’s 750i, the 322bhp M73 overhead-cam motor, while higher-revving than the old Spirit’s mighty 6.75-litre V8, ticked all the right boxes for waftability while meeting the upcoming Euro 3 emissions regulations.

Unlike the Bentley, the Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph retained a column-mounted shifter

As you’d expect, Bentley went down a more sporting route for its Arnage model.

Using BMW’s 32-valve, quad-overhead-cam M62 engine, as seen in BMW’s 540i, 740i and 840Ci models, and the same ZF five-speed, Crewe – or rather Vickers-owned Cosworth (see below) – gave the unit its own twist with the addition of twin turbochargers, which boosted output to 350bhp.

Displacing 4398cc, it was also the smallest-capacity engine to power a Bentley since the last of the 4¼-litre ‘six’ models of 1951.

On paper, at least, both engines looked promisingly fit for purpose.

The BMW-sourced buttons look out of place in the Silver Seraph’s cabin

The body and platform being developed to house the two new BMW powertrains, meanwhile, marked a seismic departure from what had gone before.

With a structure said to be 65% stiffer than that of the Spirit and Mulsanne, the new models rode on all-round independent suspension, with coil springs and wishbones front and rear, plus adaptive pneumatic spheres at the back that also provided a self-levelling function.

Naturally, Bentley’s set-up was more driver-orientated, with firmer springing and damping, but both cars used rack-and-pinion steering that, again, was tuned differently for each model.

The Silver Seraph was one of the last Rolls-Royces manufactured in Crewe before production shifted to Goodwood

Steve Harper, working under Crewe’s chief stylist Graham Hull, designed a body that, while being five inches longer and with an extra two inches in its wheelbase versus the outgoing cars, contrived to look lower and more compact.

Taking some influence from the 1950s Silver Cloud, Harper created a bold waistline for the new cars, leading to a gently tapering bootline and softer treatment of the body panels compared to those of the rather angular Spirit/Mulsanne twins.

The forthright front grilles of both the Rolls and Bentley were likewise made less dominant and more proportionate to their subtle new identities.

An engine deal with BMW provided the Silver Seraph with its motive power

Their respective cabins remained unashamedly traditional, with the kinds of rich veneers, Wilton carpets and swathes of Connolly hide that only Crewe could muster.

But, despite the Seraph and Arnage sharing the same basic dashboard architecture, each car’s layout was quite different, with the Bentley gaining more dials while the Royce retained its quadrant gear selector on the column.

By early spring of 1998, the scene was set for two of the most important launches in Crewe’s history.

The Silver Seraph, priced at £155,000, was revealed first at that year’s Geneva motor show, its priority intended to redress the balance that had left Rolls-Royce in Bentley’s shadow in recent years.

The Rolls-Royce’s ride is quite firm, but its body control is excellent

Bentley’s event ran two months later at Le Mans (appropriately, given the Arnage name) and leaned heavily on its history, with 50 ‘heritage’ cars present along with 50 new Arnages, available for customers and the press to drive on the inner circuit.

But all the hoopla could not disguise the uncertainty around Crewe’s future.

Prior to the launches, there had been rumours about a sale by Vickers, the assumption being that a BMW purchase was inevitable given the companies’ powertrain agreement.

Sure enough, BMW made a bid, which was promptly gazumped by the Volkswagen Group with an offer of £456m for the Crewe factory and both Rolls-Royce and Bentley brands.

The Bentley Arnage matches the Silver Seraph for composure, but adds more fluency to the ride

Vickers accepted, only for the VW Group to find that Rolls-Royce PLC, not Crewe, still owned the rights to the Rolls-Royce name and wanted it to be sold to BMW.

In the end, BMW acquired the rights to Rolls-Royce for one-tenth of what the VW Group paid for Bentley and the Crewe estate.

A second deal was struck between the VW Group and BMW, whereby Seraphs would continue to be built at Crewe until the end of 2002, after which time BMW’s revamped Rolls-Royce would be up and running in a new facility at Goodwood.

The familiar winged badge on the Bentley

Sadly, Bentley paid the heaviest price for these shenanigans.

There had already been unfavourable customer feedback about the Arnage, despite its lighter weight and improved chassis dynamics, due to an un-Bentley-like deficit of torque.

An early price rise, plus the underlying double negative of it being built by one German company and powered by the engine from another, did little to soften the blow.

Fortunately, however, Volkswagen boss Ferdinand Piëch had seen the light.

There’s a sportier, thick-rimmed steering wheel in the Bentley Arnage

In a remarkable about-turn, he conceded that, for the Arnage to have a future, Bentley needed to once again install its aged 6.75-litre V8.

The engine had to be comprehensively redesigned to comply with the latest emissions regulations – a massive task in itself – while the Arnage’s platform needed to be completely re-engineered to accept the ‘new’ engine.

Remarkably, all of this was achieved in less than two years.

The new installation was no compromise, either: boosted by a single Garrett turbocharger, the revised pushrod, two-valves-per-cylinder unit made 400bhp, with a rip-roaring – and crucial – 619lb ft of torque at 2150rpm (against the BMW unit’s 413lb ft at 2500rpm).

The Bentley’s 4.4-litre BMW V8 has been breathed on by Cosworth to make 350bhp

Better still, for what was to be called the Red Label Arnage, Bentley charged a mere £4000 extra over the cost of the renamed Green Label model, which eventually died with minimal fanfare in 2001.

Meanwhile, although there was a predictable lack of enthusiasm at VW-owned Crewe to promote Rolls-Royce’s Silver Seraph, it fared somewhat better, being built until the marque exited the Cheshire works in 2002, selling 1570 cars compared with 1173 BMW-engined Arnages.

And it’s the Silver Seraph that leads the charge in our Crewe-built convoy today.

There are rich veneers in the Arnage’s cabin

I’m actually quite taken by the Rolls from the start, despite its more ritzy chrome flourishes and what remains a slightly ostentatious grille.

Overall it looks more prestigious than either Bentley and is a far rarer sight, so no surprise that it’s the one which elicits the most second glances along our route.

Even with 67,000 miles showing, this Seraph feels near factory-fresh.

You enter the sumptuous cabin through a reassuringly heavy door and find yourself perched, looking towards the Spirit of Ecstasy at the end of the long bonnet.

The Bentley Arnage’s mesh grille is more reserved than the Rolls-Royce’s

Two dials face you – one for speed, the other incorporating multiple read-outs – set into a beautiful veneer-trimmed dash punctuated with organ-stop controls for the chrome vents, and two smaller dials for time and outside temperature.

The only spoiler is the incongruous selection of BMW-sourced plastic buttons spread across the lower centre console.

Pull the column shifter down to Drive, dab the throttle and the engine responds in near-silence, with such a silken delivery and near-imperceptible flow of gearchanges that you often underestimate your road speed.

This classic Bentley is handsome and well resolved

When you do extend your right foot, the engine feels flexible and strangely revvy for a Rolls, although it clearly lacks the torque-laden grunt of its predecessor’s V8.

The ride quality is disappointingly firm – especially at the rear – but Nigel Sandell, who maintains this car, puts that down to the air spheres being overdue a service.

On the upside, for such a large car the Silver Seraph’s body movements are kept well in check, while the steering is nicely weighted, tactile and, as it turns out, is actually more engaging than in either of the two Bentleys.

The Bentley Arnage T has a stiffened body and electronic aids, which help retain dynamic composure

So how far did Crewe go to define Arnage from Seraph?

Subjectively, the BMW-engined Bentley is the best-looking car of the three.

With its mesh grille, chunky 17in five-spoke alloys and minimal body addenda (compared with the T) it’s a bit of a Q-car, and not one in which you’d expect to hit 60mph from rest in 6.3 secs on your way to a 150mph top speed.

Inside, there are five dials grouped in the main binnacle, and the four-spoke steering wheel has a thicker rim, befitting its more sporting remit.

The flying ‘B’ on the Bentley Arnage T

The Arnage’s console-mounted auto shifter is easier to use and better placed than the Royce’s column control.

Fire up the engine, and… is there really a twin-turbocharged, Cosworth-fettled V8 in there?

So untemperamental is BMW’s M72 in this application that, even when extended, it’s the very essence of sobriety: slightly more vocal than the Seraph’s V12, more punchy in its mid-range (although quite tepid from lower revs) and technically an efficient, well-rounded package.

Dynamically, the Arnage matches the Seraph’s composure but adds a fluency to its ride without being too pillowy.

The Arnage T’s slightly revised cabin is opulent

That cars as good as this example can now be bought for as little as a new, mid-spec Vauxhall Corsa somewhat beggars belief.

But nothing, and certainly none of the above, prepares you for the Arnage T.

This is the ultimate iteration of a car that Bentley owners in effect voted for by refusing to buy the BMW-powered Arnage.

It’s a 444bhp, 645lb ft single-finger up to Teutonic efficiency, and a glorious riposte to an ever more politically correct motoring environment.

The old-tech, 6.75-litre, twin-turbo V8 brings shattering pace to the Arnage T

The T was introduced in 2002, and at the time Bentley claimed that 50% of the 6.75-litre V8’s components were new, while 80% of them had been either modified or improved.

A pair of Garrett T3 turbochargers replaced the single blower in the earlier Red Label, and they were allied to the very latest Bosch Motronic ME7 engine management system.

The T’s bodyshell was stiffened even further and its aerodynamics were enhanced to cater for a near-170mph top-speed capability.

The electronic handling package that kept its 5557lb kerbweight in check was also upgraded to be both more subtle and more effective.

The Bentley Arnage T has a smooth four-speed transmission

Visually, two pairs of tailpipes and polished 19in wheels shod with 45-profile Pirelli P-Zeros hint at the T iteration being no ordinary Arnage.

And that’s borne out when you thumb the starter button: there’s a muted woofle at idle and a hint of vibration that would have been anathema to those on Crewe’s BMW programme.

Press down on the heavy throttle and even coaxing the T along at urban speeds takes immense reserve.

Then the road empties: push the pedal deep into the Wilton and there’s a pause before the fireworks erupt, as if the T is gathering itself – after which, all hell breaks loose.

The straight-line performance dominates the Bentley Arnage T driving experience

I’ve driven faster-accelerating cars, but none that mix this much thrust with this much mass.

You don’t hear the turbochargers, only the bellow of that ancient V8 as it propels you to the horizon, barely breaking 4000rpm as it does so.

It’s spellbinding, and feels ever so slightly out of control.

But what a blast, and proof – if ever it were needed – that imperfection can sometimes win the day.

Images: John Bradshaw

Thanks to: Nigel Sandell; Will Bates

The Cosworth connection

Crewe’s links with Cosworth go back to the late 1980s, when the Wellingborough-based tuning company designed a four-valve, twin-cam cylinder-head conversion for the Rolls-Royce 6.75-litre V8 engine.

In 1990, Vickers, which then owned both Crewe brands, purchased Cosworth, making it a natural choice for any future engine-development work required by Bentley and Rolls-Royce.

Four years later, when BMW was selected as the chosen engine supplier for the upcoming Arnage, Cosworth was commissioned to engineer a turbocharged conversion for its 4.4-litre V8.

Cosworth fitted twin Garrett turbos and raised the engine’s outputs from 282bhp and 310lb ft to a more suitable 350bhp and 413lb ft, although the latter figure was right at the edge of what the car’s ZF automatic ’box would accept.

In 1998, Cosworth was sold by Vickers to the Volkswagen Group as part of the Bentley deal.

The company was divided into Cosworth Technology, retained by Audi, and Cosworth Racing, which was hived off to Ford.

Audi sold Cosworth Technology to Mahle GmbH in 2004.

Factfiles

Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph

Sold/number built 1998-2002/1570
Construction steel monocoque
Engine all-alloy, sohc-per-bank 5379cc V12, with two valves per cylinder and electronic fuel injection
Max power 322bhp @ 5000rpm
Max torque 361lb ft @ 3900rpm
Transmission five-speed ZF automatic, RWD
Suspension independent, by double wishbones, coil springs, telescopic dampers; front anti-roll bar; adaptive, self-levelling pneumatic spheres at the rear
Steering power-assisted rack and pinion
Brakes discs, with servo and anti-lock
Length 17ft 8¼in (5390mm)
Width 7ft ½in (2149mm)
Height 4ft 11½in (1514mm)
Wheelbase 10ft 2½in (3114mm)
Weight 5181lb (2350kg)
Mpg 16
0-60mph 7.5 secs
Top speed 140mph
Price new £155,000
Price now £25-55,000*

Bentley Arnage

Sold/number built 1998-2001/1173
Construction steel monocoque
Engine all-alloy, dohc-per-bank 4398cc V8 with four valves per cylinder, two Garrett turbochargers and fuel injection
Max power 350bhp @ 5500rpm
Max torque 413lb ft @ 2500rpm
Transmission five-speed ZF automatic, RWD
Suspension independent, by double wishbones, coil springs, telescopic dampers; front anti-roll bar; adaptive, self-levelling pneumatic spheres at the rear
Steering power-assisted rack and pinion
Brakes discs, with servo and anti-lock
Length 17ft 8¼in (5390mm)
Width 7ft ½in (2149mm)
Height 4ft 11½in (1514mm)
Wheelbase 10ft 2½in (3114mm)
Weight 5138lb (2330kg)
Mpg 13-17
0-60mph 6.3 secs
Top speed 150mph
Price new £145,000
Price now £20-35,000*

Bentley Arnage T

Sold/number built 2002-’09/n/a
Construction steel monocoque
Engine all-alloy, ohv, 6750cc V8 with two valves per cylinder, two Garrett T3 turbochargers and fuel injection
Max power 444bhp @ 4100rpm
Max torque 645lb ft @ 3250rpm
Transmission four-speed automatic, RWD
Suspension independent, by double wishbones, coil springs, telescopic dampers, anti-roll bar f/r; adaptive, self-levelling pneumatic spheres at the rear
Steering power-assisted rack and pinion
Brakes discs, with servo and anti-lock
Length 17ft 8¼in (5390mm)
Width 7ft ½in (2149mm)
Height 4ft 11½in (1514mm)
Wheelbase 10ft 2½in (3114mm)
Weight 5557lb (2520kg)
Mpg 13-17
0-60mph 5.5 secs
Top speed 168mph
Price new £166,500
Price now £25-45,000*