The Rolls-Royce Phantom is a full-sized luxury saloon car made by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. Launched in 2003, it was the first Rolls-Royce developed and introduced after BMW purchased the right to use the Rolls-Royce name and logo in 1998. It was the seventh Rolls-Royce design to use the Phantom nameplate.
It is credited with successfully reviving the Rolls-Royce brand and restoring Rolls-Royce's reputation as a maker of luxury cars.[7][8][9][10]
The Phantom Drophead Coupé and Phantom Coupé are two-door derivatives of the Phantom launched in 2007 and 2008, respectively.
From 2003 until the launch of the smaller Ghost in 2009, the Phantom was the only car produced by Rolls-Royce. The Phantom acted as the company's flagship model but was less exclusive than all previous Phantoms (none of which surpassed 600 per year).
Production of the car ceased in January 2017, with the Rolls-Royce Phantom VIII launching later that year.
Initial release (2003–2012)
Construction
The Phantom uses a unique chassis platform, body, interior and retains traditional Rolls-Royce design cues. The body is mostly aluminium.
Final assembly, including all body, paint, wood, and leather work, is completed to each customer's individual specification at the Rolls-Royce plant in Goodwood, West Sussex. The plant is close to the historic Goodwood Motor Racing Circuit.
The plant contains a paint shop, body shop, leather shop, woodworking shop, assembly line, and executive offices under one roof. There are only three robots in the factory. The robots paint the body; the paint is polished by hand after the robots spray each coat. The coach lines, which are exactly 3 mm wide, are done, as well as all other work, by hand, in keeping with the Rolls-Royce tradition.
The aluminium extrusions that are used to construct the aluminium spaceframe are produced in Norway using hydroelectric power, shaped and machined in Denmark and finally hand-welded in Germany.
The Phantom is 1.63 m tall, 1.99 m wide, 5.83 m long, weighs, 2485 kg and can accelerate to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.9 seconds.
Rolls-Royce Phantom Series II (2012–2017)
In May 2012, Rolls-Royce announced the Series II car, to be available from the 2013 model year. Series II, exterior design updates by Andreas Thurner and interior design updates by Alan Sheppard, has a number of updated and improved features, including:[25]
The vehicle was unveiled at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show,[26][27] Kuala Lumpur,[28] Hong Kong,[29][30] Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Bangkok (Millionaire Auto).[31]
Specifications and performance
Series I
Engines
BMW originally intended to use a 9-litre V16 engine in the Phantom but switched to a more economical V12 engine after the Rolls-Royce owners who were invited to the clinic evaluation opined that V16 was much too powerful for their need. The V16 engine was fitted to the concept Rolls-Royce 100EX. A Phantom Coupé with V16 engine was used in the film Johnny English Reborn at a specific request of Rowan Atkinson.[35][36]
BMW increased the displacement of its 6-litre V12 used in its E65 7-Series to 6,749 cc (6.75 litres), matching the same displacement of Rolls-Royce‘s own classical L-Series V8 engine in production from 1959 to 2002. [37]
Special editions
Series I (2003–2012)
Centenary Edition (2004)
In 2004, to celebrate the company's one-hundredth anniversary, Rolls-Royce introduced the "Phantom Centenary Edition". This model was limited to only 35 units worldwide and was specifically commissioned by Rolls-Royce. Most special edition cars are not commissioned by the factory, or are brought out to boost sales. This is not the case with the Centenary Edition. The car was debuted on 4 May 2004 at the Midland Hotel in Manchester. It was the meeting place of Charles Stewart Rolls and Frederick Henry Royce.
The Centenary Phantom can be distinguished from the standard car by several key features. All of the cars' "RR" emblems are red instead of black. This is reminiscent of the original Rolls-Royce cars that bore red badges for the first twenty-five years of the company until it was later changed due to customer requests. Each car is painted in a special "Dark Curzon" colour used only for the thirty-five Centenary cars and the 100 EX prototype, which was also debuted for the company's centenary celebration.
- Exterior
- Solid sterling silver "Spirit of Ecstasy" bonnet mascot.
Production and sales
Manufacture figures from 2009 include other models and from 2014 no longer separate the different versions of the Phantom VII.
At the end of January 2017 production of the Phantom ended.[119]
- Total production of all variants of the Phantom VII, extended wheelbase (EWB), Coupe, and Drophead Coupe between 2003 and 2017 was 10,327 units.
- The introductory base price was £250,000 in the United Kingdom and $300,000 in the United States.
- After selling 805 units in 2006, Rolls-Royce first met its annual sales target of 1,000 vehicles in 2007 (1,010 Phantoms sold, including 253 (25%) Drophead Coupé sales).[101]
- 2008 production of the Phantom peaked at 1212 units, including 137 (11%) Coupe and 431 (35%) Drophead Coupe. 2009 showed 198 (23%) coupe and 261 (31%) Drophead Coupe.
- In 2004, Rolls-Royce was selling twice as many cars as its closest rival Maybach.
- The 2,000th car rolled out of the Goodwood factory in December 2005.
External links
References
- Richard Johnson. DETROIT AUTO SHOW: Rolls-Royce team drew on past to create Phantom Automotive News, Crain Communications Inc., 14 December 2005, retrieved 22 September 2019^
- Richard Johnson. Phantom was immersed in Rolls lore Automotive News, 13 January 2003, retrieved 26 November 2017^
- The Rolls-Royce Phantom