One of the first carmakers ever established, Rolls Royce introduced the Silver Seraph for 1999, becoming the first all-new model in almost 20 years. However, troubled times meant it was also the last true Rolls, before the company was bought out by BMW, making this model's lifecycle all too short. All Seraph models were hand-built at the Rolls-Royce factory in England, which stopped making Rolls-Royce models in 2002. Before the BMW years, the Seraph was already powered by a BMW-sourced 5.4-litre V12 engine, mated to a 5-speed automatic transmission and rear-wheel-drive, making it the first 12-cylinder Rolls since 1939. Standard features included digital engine management, power windows and mirrors, adaptive ride control, monotone or two-tone paint, leather upholstery, real wood trim, ABS brakes, picnic-trays for rear passengers and more. Aside from the front grille, engine and wheels, the Rolls-Royce was almost identical to the Bentley Arnage, although the Rolls version was tuned more for comfort and chauffeuring, as evidenced by the column-mounted shifter and non-turbo engine. A total of 1,570 Silver Seraph examples were produced, each custom-built to individual specs, before the car ceased production. It was indirectly replaced by the BMW-designed Phantom in 2003, although the Bentley variant remained in production for much longer, under VW management.