‘Oh, a Seraph? You'll enjoy that. They drive better than Arnages.' The voice on the other end of the phone is a friend of mine, a Rolls-Royce and Bentley specialist. Naturally I'd told him what I'd been looking forward to – a photoshoot with an immaculate, 26,000-mile Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph. It would be the first time I'd driven one. Nonetheless, I was a bit taken aback by that assertion of his. After all, a good Arnage is a wonderful thing, either in sophisticated 4.4-litre, 32-valve form, or with the immense low-down grunt from the L-series 6.75-litre V8. How would a Silver Seraph be any better?
‘It's hard to describe,' he says, ‘but it's something to do with balance. You'll find out.'
I arrived the next day to collect the car from Derek Mowat, a man who often has interesting cars on his hands, as he specialises in finding and supplying classic Rolls-Royce and Bentley models, as well as other highend marques. As soon as I mentioned the phone call, he was agreeing – yes, they're really underrated. Cherish it, and it's a wonderful car. There are good reasons why they're leaving the values of equivalent Arnages a long way behind. By now I was thoroughly intrigued, so I took the keys, thanked Derek and slid into the driver's seat.
Straight away, it's a bit more subdued than an Arnage. Of course, individual cars vary a gooda pop-up satellite navigation screen, in a car from the year 2000? It may be less accurate than your smartphone these days, but it's mighty impressive.
