STRIVE FOR PERFECTION - A celebration of Design & Luxury

ROARING BACK FROM THE BRINK

When Bentley separated from Rolls-Royce, some believed that the Bentley brand was doomed. They were to be proved wrong in emphatic style

WORDS DAVID TOWERS

There was an optimistic mood at the Pyms Lane factory in Crewe in spring 1998. However, in reality, the situation was dire and about to get worse. The new Bentley Arnage and Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph were announced, replacing the ageing Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit and the Bentley Brooklands and Turbo R and RT, all of which had been launched in 1980. These new cars were superior to their predecessors, with better suspension, ride and roadholding, and a more elegant body, with styling features from the famous Silver Cloud (1955–65). However, their engines were not designed at Crewe but by BMW, and these longer cars had less interior room than their predecessors. The 5.4 litre V12 in the Silver Seraph was

a good choice – smoother than the previous V8, harking back to the V12 in the 1930s Phantom III and the Merlin aero engine. The “Best Car in the World” needed a “best” engine, which was a V12, not a “second rate” V8. However, the new V12 engine was not quite large enough, which meant higher revs, rather than the “wafting” gate of the late four-speed Silver Spirit and Turbo R with the high torque at low revs 6 ¾ litre V8. Nevertheless, it was a good compromise and more economical than the old V8 engine. The 4.4 litre twin turbo V8 in the Bentley Arnage was more of a problem. Being even

smaller than the Seraph’s V12, it suffered from poor torque at low revs and the feeling of poor acceleration. It required high revs to achieve good acceleration. This took time – changing down the gearbox to get higher revs, followed by spooling up the turbos to get power. This could take as long as three seconds – not the response required when you wanted the power to pass another vehicle. Furthermore, the higher revs destroyed the relaxed feel of traditional Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars. It’s possibly why initial sales strongly favoured the Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph, while the Arnage sold in disappointing numbers. Almost immediately after the launch

of these new models, Vickers, the owner of Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars at Crewe, announced the company’s sale. Rolls-Royce (aero engines) at Derby favoured and were expecting BMW to purchase Crewe. The BMW engines in the new cars were a reflection of Rolls-Royce Derby’s intentions. However, Volkswagen was keen to purchase Crewe for its exclusive brands. Its bid for the Crewe factory was higher than BMW’s, so Vickers accepted the VW bid. Rolls-Royce Derby was unhappy. It told

VW that it could not produce cars under the Rolls-Royce name, as this, and some other trademarks, were owned by Rolls-Royce

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Derby and licenced to Crewe. This could have meant VW being allowed only to produce Bentleys and no Rolls-Royce motor cars being made until BMW could develop a new model. The earliest this could happen was 2003. As a result, a compromise was reached that allowed Crewe to produce Rolls-Royce cars until 2002.

VW TAKES CONTROL On acquiring Bentley in 1998, VW’s first major task was to replace BMW’s 4.4 litre V8 engine. The obvious choice was the 400 bhp 6 ¾ litre turbo V8 from the 1998 Bentley Turbo RT. With a few modifications, this was achieved by autumn 1999 with the Arnage Red Label. The 4.4 litre Arnage became the Green Label, but it didn’t last long. Rear-seat legroom on both the Arnage

and Silver Seraph was increased by moving the rear seat back a few inches into the boot and increasing foot space by modifying the floorpan. As a result, from autumn 1999, the Arnage Red Label became the most popular car from Crewe, and sales of the Silver Seraph declined. The last Silver Seraphs were produced in summer 2002, with production of the

Opposite: The Continental GT has proved to be a hugely successful model for Bentley

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