The Silver Spirit is a British saloon automobile made by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, in England. It was launched in 1980.The Silver Spur was a long wheelbase version of the Silver Spirit, produced at the same time. The Spirit was the first car to feature the retractable Spirit of Ecstasy. The spring loaded Mascot sank into the radiator shell if dislodged from its position.
The Silver Spirit, introduced by Rolls-Royce in 1980, was the first of a new generation of models for the company. It formed the basis for the Flying Spur, Silver Dawn, Touring Limousine, and Park Ward. The same chassis was also used by sister company, Bentley for their new Mulsanne/Eight series. The entire line was replaced with the BMW-powered Silver Seraph and the Bentley Arnage in 1998.
The new car was not entirely new — it shared the basic floor pan of the Silver Shadow as well as that car's 6.75 L (6750 cc/411 in³) V8 engine. The Spur continued with the high degree of ride quality and self-leveling suspension from the Shadow, this time using a Girling automatic hydraulic ride height control system and gas-charged shock absorbers.
The Silver Spirit II and Silver Spur II were introduced at the 1989 Frankfurt Motor Show. Again, the suspension was the main innovation, with a fully automatic system adjusting dampers at all four wheels in real time. Other main innovations were the adoption of ABS and fuel injection as standard for all models, and two additional bull's eyes ventilation outlets on the dashboard.
The Silver Spirit III and Silver Spur III, introduced in 1993, relied on improvements to the traditional V8 engine as their differentiator. A new intake manifold and cylinder heads upped power output, which was still stated simply as "adequate" in company literature. Dual airbags were another new feature, and the rear seats now adjusted independently.
