1989 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit

The Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit was in production for nearly two decades, from 1980 to 1997, and was the first model in the SZ series ad the first to feature a retractable, spring-loaded Spirit of Ecstasy mascot. It was the first of a new generation of models that spawned the Flying Spur, Silver Dawn, Touring Limousine and Park Ward for Rolls-Royce, and the Mulsanne and Eight Series cars of its sister company Bentley.

The design was styled in-house by Austrian-born Fritz Feller with rounded bodyside panels and slightly wider, and lower dimensions than its predecessors. The 6.75 liter L410 V8 engine was paired with a GM-sourced THM400 3-speed automatic gearbox which was later upgraded to a four-speed unit. It had notably greater road presence than its Silver Shadow predecessor, a thirty percent larger glass area, and offered considerable improvements in both ride and handling thanks to its new Girling automatic ride-height control and gas shock absorbers. Throughout its extensive production lifespan, much of the improvements were in fine-tuning the suspension to offer the highest level of comfort and ride quality possible.

The first generation, known as the Mark I, was produced from 1980 to 1988 and was followed by the Silver Spirit II and Silver Spur II. The Silver Spur was the longer-wheelbase version of the Silver Spirit and was in production from 1980 to 2000. The Mark II versions were introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1989 with most of the improvements arriving in the form of the 'Automatic Ride Control' system which automatically adjusted dampers at all four wheels in real-time. ABS disc brakes were now standard and a fuel injection replaced the previous carbureted setup. Bosch's MK-Motronic fuel injection system was paired with the 412 cubic-inch overhead-valve 'vee' type eight-cylinder engine which had five main bearings and hydraulic valve lifters. Initially, it used the Turbo Hydrmatic GM400 three-speed transmission but near the close of 1991, it was replaced by a four-speed GM 4L80E unit.

Engine refinements and minor cosmetic updates brought about the arrival of the Silver Spirit III and Silver Spur III in 1993. Again, suspension updates arrived in the form of improved parameters of the semi-active suspension so that shock absorbers would default into 'soft' ride mode when they wore out. The previous Mark II had defaulted to 'hard' which noticeably impacted rid quality. Engine output increased thanks to a new design of the cylinder heads and intake manifold, and safety was improved with the introduction of dual airbags.

The final revision to the Silver Spirit and Silver Spur arrived late in 1995 as a 1996-year model, having been in development since the autumn of 1992. Although the Mark IV was the next logical iteration in the naming sequence, this was not the case as the number four is a homonym for death in some Far Eastern languages. Instead, they were known as the New Silver Spirit and New Silver Spur.

The previous Bosch engine management system was replaced with one by Zytec, and all models were now outfitted with a Garrett turbocharger. Up to this point, the Silver Spirit had rested on a 120.5-inch wheelbase while the Silver Spur measured 124.5-inches. The New Spirit/Spur now had a 124.5- and 148.5-inch wheelbase respectively. The 'short' 120.5-inch wheelbase was no longer offered on the Silver Spirit. Exterior updates included sixteen-inch wheels, and integrated front and rear bumpers. The interior gained a wooden column traversing down the center of the dashboard.

by Daniel Vaughan | May 2022