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Cars of 1998
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Car of the Month - January
2012 |
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Motor cars from that model-series which had been launched in 1980 with the Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit as mainstream-model were listed at the factory as 'SZ-series'. The final production cycle of cars from SZ-series began in 1996 and there was an impression that the manufacturer had decided on a 'split' as regards the basic model. The Silver Spirit in its latest version was available to order only whereas the base model of the range was now the Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn. Thus a model designation was recalled from a period some 4 decades ago. The first complete Rolls-Royce motor car to emerge from the Crewe factory had been Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn; those were complete cars ready to be driven from the showroom whereas the sister model Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith was delivered as running chassis to be bodied to a client’s specification by a coachbuilder. Aficionados within a fairly short time found to the solution of speaking about the cars from the 90ies as 'New' Rolls-Royce Dawn for clear separation from its ancestor (similar the other models were 'New' Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit and 'New' Rolls-Royce Silver Spur). The 'New' Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn was available as a long-wheelbase car, powered by the well-known 6.75-litre V8-engine. However no turbo-charger was fitted and thus this remained – beside the special-order only standard wheelbase new Silver Spirit – the only non-turbo motor car from the Rolls-Royce and Bentley range. There was a distinct difference as regards acceleration and top speed when 'New' Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn and 'New' Rolls-Royce Silver Spur were compared. The Silver Dawn with its naturally aspirated engine did 0-60 mph in 9.5 seconds and had a V max of 133mph, whereas the boosted Silver Spur was capable to do 0-60mph in 8.1 seconds and reach 140mph. |
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The relatively small segment of the market for high-price motor cars offered only a limited niche for the 'New' Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn – over the two years until the successor's, i.e. the Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph’s debut a mere 237 cars left the factory. They all have a distinct feature in showing the model’s designation written on the bootlid-mounted emblem in blue colour instead of the standard black.
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