The Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph was introduced in 1998. Rolls-Royce and its closely related Bentley Arnage were publicly launched at the Geneva Motor Show on 3 March that year.
The Silver Seraph replaced the long-running Silver Spirit and Silver Spur line, which had been produced from 1980 through 1997. It represented a major technical change for Rolls-Royce: the car used BMW’s 5.4-litre M73 V12 engine and a five-speed ZF automatic transmission. It was also the first twelve-cylinder Rolls-Royce since the Phantom III of the late 1930s.
Although the Silver Seraph and Bentley Arnage shared their platform and body shell, their suspension tuning and identities differed. The Seraph emphasized traditional Rolls-Royce comfort, while the Arnage offered a sportier character. Production ended in 2002 after 1,570 Silver Seraphs were built. The 2000 date sometimes associated with the model refers instead to the debut of the extended-wheelbase Park Ward version, not the original Silver Seraph.