View allAll Photos Tagged rollsroycephantom
The Rolls Royce Phantom, a car that divides pretty much everyone. The first product of the new Rolls Royce company following the brand's acquisition by BMW in 2003, the Phantom was the company's flagship from its launch the same year to 2016, but its reputation among fans and customers have kept it somewhat in limbo, be it the styling, the size, the features of its internal design, or even its background origin.
The Rolls Royce Phantom, unofficially known as the Phantom VII, was first considered in around 2000 by BMW prior to the handover of the Rolls Royce brand to them in 2003. At the time, BMW and Volkswagen jointly owned Rolls Royce and Bentley, under the agreement that while BMW provided engines, such as the BMW V12 found in the Rolls Royce Silver Seraph, Volkswagen would build the cars. In 2003, the contract came to an end, and Rolls Royce was split from Bentley for the first time since 1931, Bentley to Volkswagen, Rolls Royce to BMW. As part of the contract split, Bentley would retain the Rolls Royce factory in Crewe, whilst Rolls Royce itself would move to a new factory in Goodwood on the south coast of England. The last Rolls Royce's to leave their home factory in Crewe, the Silver Seraph and the Corniche V, departed in 2002.
As mentioned, BMW had prepared, and were planning to make their company flagship based largely of the BMW 7-Series, though not exactly. The car is built on its own unique platform, with the body constructed predominantly from aluminium. The dimensions of the Phantom are 5.35ft tall, 19ft long and 6.5ft wide, and weighs 2.4 Tons. The car is fitted with a 6.75L BMW V12 producing 453hp, accelerating this behemoth of a car to 60mph in 5.9 seconds, which is pretty impressive.
The acquisition of Rolls Royce by BMW also meant the company could be flung into the 21st Century in terms of luxury amenities, the kind of which the later years of the previous Rolls Royce Company had been lacking. While the Silver Seraph was a beautiful car and a capable machine, the car was very much traditional old England, and in the 1990's this was no longer impressive to the potential market. As such, it lost out heavily to contemporary Mercedes S-Class and BMW 7-Series that cost less and gave more than the Seraph.
The Phantom on the other hand would give you more for your money so that its contemporaries could never compete. The car was available in 44,000 colours, came with rear-hinged 'coach doors' for easier access to the back, inside of which were located umbrellas, navigation system with voice recognition, power sunroof, upgraded leather upholstery, rear-view camera, rear-seat DVD entertainment system, 26-speaker premium sound system, 8-disc CD changer, 18-way power front seats, 16-way power rear seats, heated and cooled cup holders, rear-seat tables, outside-temperature indicator, universal garage door opener, power tilt/telescopic heated wood and leather-wrapped steering wheel with radio, climate, and navigation controls, power open/close boot lid, power closing doors, wireless headphones, iPod adapter, refrigerator, and air conditioning with 5-zone climate controls.
After a year of no sales, Rolls Royce burst back onto the motoring scene upon the car's launch in 2003, with a price tag of £250,000. Immediately, the car was lauded by the motoring press for being the best Rolls Royce ever built, and a clear sign that BMW's influence had brought the company into the 21st Century whilst still retaining some of its old world charm. It would later win Top Gear's Car of the Year Award for 2003, and would be featured consistently on the show over the following years.
However, while the Phantom was lauded by critics, the traditional customer base were overwhelmed with disbelief, and it, and its derivatives, have almost been unanimously shunned. The first point of contention was the external styling, being seen as bland, boxy and boring. The next was its size, being far bigger than any previous Rolls Royce, even the bombastic designs of the 1940's and 50's.
The third was its image. While in the 1970's, 80's and 90's, Rolls Royce attempted to make themselves more subtle by toning down their designs to look more mundane and therefore less conceited, the Phantom screamed that it was a Rolls Royce, being as subtle as a brick through a stained glass window! The Phantom gave an aura of deluded wealth and snobbery that was being enjoyed by the new money, something in the vibe of "Hello world! Look at me!"
For the crime of being considered bland, oversized and dripping with vanity and narcissism, the Phantom was punished by disassociating itself with regular Rolls Royce customers, who preferred Bentley's more subtle designs such as the Continental and the Arnage. However, it was still very popular with the aforementioned new money, who created a maddening variety of unique designs to fit their somewhat tacky needs. You could get a Phantom gold-plated, in chrome, in velvet, in ultra-reflective red or matte black! The choices were almost limitless, and the new customer base were more than happy to exploit it.
The Phantom gave rise to a huge number of derivatives throughout its construction life, including; the Phantom Drophead Coupe, the Phantom Coupe, the Phantom Extended Wheelbase, the Armoured Rolls Royce Phantom, the Centenary Edition, the Naples Winter Wine Festival car, the 80th Anniversary Edition, the Rolls Royce Phantom Black, the Rolls Royce Phantom Silver, Rolls Royce Phantom Tungsten, the Grey Goose Extended Wheelbase Phantom, the Pininfarina Hyperion, the 100EX Concept, the 101EX Concept, the 102EX Concept, the Peony edition, the Phantom Sapphire, the Middle East Phantom Bespoke Collection, the Yas Eagle edition, the 60th Anniversary Special Edition Phantom Drophead Coupé, the 2010 Paris Motor Show Phantom, the Spirit of Ecstasy Centenary Collection, the Masterpiece London 2011 Drophead Coupé, the Year of the Dragon Collection, the Phantom Coupé Aviator Collection, Phantom Series II Coupé, 2012 London Olympic Games Phantom Drophead Coupé, Phantom Art Deco cars, Home of Rolls Royce Collection Phantom, Celestial Phantom, Chicane Phantom Coupé, Pinnacle Travel Phantom, Phantom Drophead Coupé Waterspeed Collection, Phantom Limelight and the Phantom Metropolitan Collection.
Construction of the Phantom ended after 13 years on February 24th, 2016, with 4,915 examples produced. The Phantom Coupe and Drophead Coupe are to remain in production until a successor car is launched in 2018.
Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe at the beginning of the Gumball 3000 on Lombard Street in San Francisco
During the 1980's, the global money had changed once again, and now investments on the stock market were the way to get your millions rather than fighting through the ranks at Pinewood or Abbey Road Studios. For the executive market, you needed an executive looking car, and to keep in style with the 1980's, where angles were in and not a curve was in sight, Rolls Royce waded in with the Silver Spirit and Silver Spur, a pair of audacious luxury cars that while endearing for their time, with all the luxuries of previous models in evidence, have gone down as amongst the blandest Rolls Royces ever made. But does that mean that they need to be continually maligned?
Although the Silver Spirit/Spur range made its début in 1980, these cars had been in planning and development for what seemed like an eternity. Original plans for a range to replace the Silver Shadow dated back to the mid-1970's, but due to the company going bankrupt in 1973 after the expensive RB211 Project, the company had not the money to continue development, and thus was forced to continue slow construction of these machines throughout the rest of the decade. The result, nothing too stellar in terms of design.
The bland angular design was a response to the fact that large, flamboyant cars were no longer admired by the public, but seen more as symbols of vanity and conceit. A major problem that helped kill off the Silver Shadow and earlier Silver Cloud was that the regal design was by no stretch of the imagination subtle, dripping with chrome and built to a size of such bizarre proportions that the car would need a house of its own just to live in. Another key feature of the Spirit's design was that it was built primarily to grapple back the American market, with its poly bumpers and angled design hoping to be reminiscent of the Lincoln Towncars and Cadillacs of the day. So technically, the car was very much a Silver Shadow with a different body, sharing nearly the same platform and being powered by the same 6.75L V8 engine. But what it lacked in looks it made up for in ride quality, with the hydraulic self-levelling suspension resulting in one of the smoothest in a motorcar, complimented by a newly developed automatic height control system. The car also had the distinction of being the first Rolls Royce to have a retractable Spirit of Ecstasy, which meant that if dislodged by a vindictive passer-by, the figure and its base would fall into the grille mounting rather than breaking off, allowing the owner to simply realign it later on.
Entering the market in 1980, the Silver Spirit and long-wheelbase Silver Spur, where the first new developments for the company since 1965's Silver Shadow and 1975's Camargue. Throughout its 19 year construction period the car went through a variety of designs and brands, probably the most in Rolls Royce history since the days of customer preference body-types. The first change came with the Silver Spirit II in 1989, which modified the Self-Levelling suspension using automatically adjustable dampers, had an updated dashboard and included Anti-Lock Brakes and fuel injection as standard.
This was updated again in 1993 with the Silver Spirit III, which increased the power output with modified cylinder heads, included airbags, adjustable rear seats, and yet more modifications to the suspension system to iron out earlier reliability problems. It was in this period that two other variants were built. In 1994 - 1995, a limited edition of 134 cars known as the Flying Spur was created, which for all intents and purposes was a Silver Spur powered by a Tubrocharged V8 engine from a Bentley Turbo R. Also built was the Silver Dawn, a revival of the famous brand of the 1950's used on top of the range models that included Electronic Traction Assistance and redesigned grille and Spirit.
Finally there was the IV, which although designed in 1992, didn't make its appearance on the market until 1995. Although the car was marketed as the New Silver Spirit/Silver Spur, the New part was omitted from the name on the back of the car. Changes to the vehicle included another modification to the dashboard, Bosch engine management was updated to a Zytec, bumpers were integrated into the body to make them look less distinct, and all cars came with a longer wheelbase, as well as a standard Garrett Turbocharger.
Eventually though, the angular design of the 1980's Spirit/Spur range was really starting to look its age and thus a replacement had to be made. In 1997 the Spirit was discontinued and in 1999 the Spur was too following the introduction of the more curved Silver Seraph, which had been in development for the best part of 10 years.
Spirits and Spurs are probably the easiest Rolls Royces to come by due to the fact that they sold massively, but not as many as the Silver Shadow despite its longer production run. In all, about 12,000 Spirits and Spurs rolled off the production line and became the car of choice for the 1980's stock broker and business executive, but did also show that even though the design had changed to something of a more subtle nature, internally, Rolls Royce were still on top.
In terms of hindsight reviews by both Rolls Royce and car enthusiasts in general, they're seen as mediocre. Although not ravaged in the same way as the Camargue, the Spirits and Spurs have just been known for their dullness, their underplayed and angular design being a main point of contention. I will agree that the Spirit and Spur are quite bland in their appearance, especially when you take earlier models into account, but as practical everyday cars they are very good.
The best thing I feel about the Silver Spirit and Silver Spur is that they are fantastic entry-level Rolls Royces for those wishing to get into the luxury car market. Today you can pick one up for as little as £3,000, with a mint condition model going for as little as £7,000. Indeed Shadows go for about the same money due to their high numbers, they are more troublesome for their age, and low cost ones are probably very crooked indeed. So if you're in the market for a luxury car but haven't the cash in pocket for a Cloud or Shadow, a Spirit or Spur is a very good place to start!
I've mentioned the Rolls Royce Silver Cloud many times before as the iconic design was derived into many different Bentley types such as the S1 and the Hooper bodied Continental dropheads, as well as mentioning it in pictures of its replacement the Silver Shadow, but finally I find an immaculate example of one of these magnificent machines out on the streets of Belgravia, the last of the Silver Rolls to be built in the conventional and iconic style of long on front, short on back.
Entering production in 1955, the Rolls Royce Silver Cloud was built to replace a collection of earlier models, including the Silver Wraith and the Silver Dawn, whilst also being built alongside the Phantom series. A cross between the Flying Scotsman and a Stately Home, the Silver Cloud was built originally for a market that revolved around hereditary money, Royals, Soldiers, Mine and Factory owners, and other families that had made their money in the great Victorian era of Industry.
But unbeknownst to Rolls Royce, as the 50's were packed away, the world changed abruptly. Money was easier to come by, and the margins that had once separated the class system became blurred and distorted. People of lower class backgrounds found their way up the social ladder by way of music and television, and one of the first things they hankered for was a Rolls Royce, the ultimate symbol of success.
And it's not hard to see why, with a price tag of £5,000 the Cloud was the equivalent cost of 10 Morris Minors or a 7 bedroom house. To own a Silver Cloud in the early 1960's meant you had to be someone very very special.
However, the Silver Cloud's old world design kept it very much in the past. Unlike modern Rollers where the body and chassis are built together, the Cloud was built as a chassis first, and then it was up to the owner to decide who constructed the coachwork, be they Hoopers, H.J. Muliner Park Ward or James Young.
This antiquated system meant that Rolls were losing their market, and thus they had to adapt in order to survive. In 1965 the highly advanced and radically designed Silver Shadow entered production, and a year later the last Silver Cloud rolled off the production line, bringing an end to the era of the classic Rolls.
Today they're a real rarity, the 1970's showed that rust was no respecter of pedigree and many redundant rollers simply whittled away under the rain. But even so, immaculate examples such as this continue to be found.
This was my first instance of sitting in the drivers seat of a Silver Cloud, and it was magnificent. Looking on from the lavish steering wheel placed before me, there was just feet of bonnet that resembled the bow of a mighty ocean going liner, with the beautiful Spirit of Ecstasy forming the bowspirit, cutting through the air like a ship through the sea.
I really should stop being so poetic about these cars... hehe
With explicit BMW Motorsports identity and a wider track, the 2nd Gen BMW M2 was recently unveiled to automotive media during the 2022 BMW Group Test Fest in Palm Springs, CA. The German coupe is small, but its physicality is immense. The high-performance sports car kicks out 453-horsepower and 406 lb-ft of torque from its M TwinPower Turbo inline 6-cylinder engine and pairs with a standard 6-speed manual gearbox. The featured wheels are 19" front and 20" rear M light alloy Jet Black double-spoke 930Ms with mixed Michelin Pilot Sport 4S performance rubber.
Full details = AutomotiveRhythms.com
This is a photograph that I took at a small car show in Aston-under Lyne in March 1987. It's a 1925 Rolls Royce Phantom I Sedanca de Ville which has a 6-cylinder inline 7,668cc engine. The Phantom I replaced the Rolls Royce Silver Ghost in 1925 and was itself replaced by the Phantom II in 1931.
With explicit BMW Motorsports identity and a wider track, the 2nd Gen BMW M2 was recently unveiled to automotive media during the 2022 BMW Group Test Fest in Palm Springs, CA. The German coupe is small, but its physicality is immense. The high-performance sports car kicks out 453-horsepower and 406 lb-ft of torque from its M TwinPower Turbo inline 6-cylinder engine and pairs with a standard 6-speed manual gearbox. The featured wheels are 19" front and 20" rear M light alloy Jet Black double-spoke 930Ms with mixed Michelin Pilot Sport 4S performance rubber.
Full details = AutomotiveRhythms.com
2013 Marzo / March
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dep%C3%B3sito_del_Autom%C3%B3vil
I learnt of this little museum on "Stuck in Time", an special episode of Autoline with John McElroy.
If you're loaded and enjoy a place in the sun, the Corniche was the car of choice in the 1970's, 80's and even into the 1990's, as the car had the longest production run of any Rolls Royce car.
Production spiritually began on the Corniche in 1966, in the form of the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow Mulliner Park Ward, a two door Coupé version of the popular Silver Shadow. However, unlike the Shadow, the car came with both a drop head (convertible) and fixed head version. Seeing that the name was a bit of a mouthful, Rolls Royce changed the name to Corniche in 1971, a name that had previously been used on a prototype car back in the 1930's which was based on a Bentley Mark V. However, after an exhaustive 15,000 mile endurance test across Europe, World War II was declared and prior to being shipped back to Britain, the car was destroyed by a bomb on the dockside in Dieppe.
This version of the Corniche however was much more successful, being built without any major changes to the design from its conception back in 1971 to when production ended in 1995, a run of 24 years. The only changes that came were in 1977, where rack-and-pinion steering was added, alloy, rubber and composite bumpers were constructed to comply with new American safety legislation, the radiator was changed from steel to aluminium, an oil cooler was installed, and bi-level air conditioning that was pioneered on the Camargue was added.
The next major change came in 1986 with the development of the Corniche II, which was very much the same design and construction, but with technical changes such as the addition of anti-lock brakes and new reverse/warning light clusters being added to the rear. In 1989 the Corniche III was developed which included new alloy wheels, colour-coded bumpers, advanced suspension, MK-Motronic fuel injection and, for the first time, the installation of air bags. Then in 1992, the final variant, the Corniche IV, entered production, with construction of the cars being carried out at Crewe following the closure of Mulliner Park Ward's factory in London. Main changes were once again to the suspension, as well as the inclusion of a four speed gearbox. Eventually the end came for the Corniche in the summer of 1995, with the last 25 cars being built with turbochargers and being dubbed the Corniche S.
After a production run of 24 years and keeping the original Silver Shadow coachwork design alive 15 years after the Silver Shadow went out of production, the last Corniche rolled off the production line with 5,146 convertibles, 1,108 Coupés, and 140 Bentley Corniches being being built. The name however was revived briefly in 2000 with the construction of the Rolls Royce Corniche 2000 or Corniche V, a drop head coupé variant of the Rolls Royce Silver Seraph that was until 2001 with only 374 examples produced.
Today Corniche's are very hard to come by in the UK as the vast majority of examples were built for the foreign market, however if you live in the sunny state of California, or reside in the south of France, chances are you'll bump into a fair few of these magnificent little cars. :)
This was one of the entrants in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1993 starting at the Village Hotel in Cheadle, Stockport. I couldn't get a programme at this event, but this is a 1929 Rolls Royce Phantom Sedanca de Ville with bodywork by Hooper & Co coachbuilders. The registration number is GJ 7791 and it should have a 7,668cc 6-cylinder inline engine. The Phantom (or Phantom 1 as it is sometimes called to distinguish it from the later Phantom models) was produced between 1925 and 1931 at the Rolls Royce factories in Derby, England, and in Springfield Massachusetts in the USA. The wheels and tyres would lead one to imagine that this is one of the American models.
With explicit BMW Motorsports identity and a wider track, the 2nd Gen BMW M2 was recently unveiled to automotive media during the 2022 BMW Group Test Fest in Palm Springs, CA. The German coupe is small, but its physicality is immense. The high-performance sports car kicks out 453-horsepower and 406 lb-ft of torque from its M TwinPower Turbo inline 6-cylinder engine and pairs with a standard 6-speed manual gearbox. The featured wheels are 19" front and 20" rear M light alloy Jet Black double-spoke 930Ms with mixed Michelin Pilot Sport 4S performance rubber.
Full details = AutomotiveRhythms.com
One of only 1,700 produced, the Bentley Eight was the cheapest model of the Bentley range, with many of the trim pieces that made up the higher end Mulsanne not being available. These cars are usually distinguishable from the Mulsanne by the wire mesh grille rather than the vertical columns found on the Mulsanne.
The result of lacking these extra furnishings resulted in the Eight being £6,000 less than the Mulsanne, but did result in the car gaining a large popularity that it even got itself an American release.
The Eight eventually ended production in 1992, being replaced spiritually by the Brooklands, a sportier version of the Mulsanne and Turbo R range.
With explicit BMW Motorsports identity and a wider track, the 2nd Gen BMW M2 was recently unveiled to automotive media during the 2022 BMW Group Test Fest in Palm Springs, CA. The German coupe is small, but its physicality is immense. The high-performance sports car kicks out 453-horsepower and 406 lb-ft of torque from its M TwinPower Turbo inline 6-cylinder engine and pairs with a standard 6-speed manual gearbox. The featured wheels are 19" front and 20" rear M light alloy Jet Black double-spoke 930Ms with mixed Michelin Pilot Sport 4S performance rubber.
Full details = AutomotiveRhythms.com
The 2005 Rolls Royce Phantom & the 2011 Bentley Muslanne, both the modern flagships of the classic British luxury car brands, both sat either side of a street in Belgravia, a fine sentiment to the number of luxury vehicles that roam this part of London.
VietNam SuperCar Club by SondAuto.blogspot.com @ Style Motors (vietnam) Co., Ltd @ sales hotline 0912522215
With explicit BMW Motorsports identity and a wider track, the 2nd Gen BMW M2 was recently unveiled to automotive media during the 2022 BMW Group Test Fest in Palm Springs, CA. The German coupe is small, but its physicality is immense. The high-performance sports car kicks out 453-horsepower and 406 lb-ft of torque from its M TwinPower Turbo inline 6-cylinder engine and pairs with a standard 6-speed manual gearbox. The featured wheels are 19" front and 20" rear M light alloy Jet Black double-spoke 930Ms with mixed Michelin Pilot Sport 4S performance rubber.
Full details = AutomotiveRhythms.com
The 2024 BMW i7 M70 xDrive marks another milestone for BMW M GmbH in its transformation to electric mobility. With two electric motors generating 650 hp and an M-tuned chassis, the new i7 M70 xDrive delivers a captivating blend of e-mobility and performance. The range-topping model of the new BMW 7 Series line-up will accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in an estimated 3.5 seconds, making it the quickest fully electric Bavarian model.
• iDrive with BMW Operating System 8.5 featuring M-design content
• 650 hp and up to 811 lb-ft of torque translates to 0-60 in 3.5 seconds
• Preliminary estimated EPA range up to 295 miles
Following the launch of the iX M60 and the i4 M50, BMW M GmbH’s best-selling model worldwide in 2022, the i7 M70 xDrive is the company’s third performance model to have an all-electric drive system.
Full Details = AutomotiveRhythms.com
Shot for RM Sotheby's 2017 Monterey Auction and sold for $825,000 USD.
- “The Gilded Riviera,” an extraordinarily unique and special Phantom I
- Two-time Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance 1st in Class winner
With explicit BMW Motorsports identity and a wider track, the 2nd Gen BMW M2 was recently unveiled to automotive media during the 2022 BMW Group Test Fest in Palm Springs, CA. The German coupe is small, but its physicality is immense. The high-performance sports car kicks out 453-horsepower and 406 lb-ft of torque from its M TwinPower Turbo inline 6-cylinder engine and pairs with a standard 6-speed manual gearbox. The featured wheels are 19" front and 20" rear M light alloy Jet Black double-spoke 930Ms with mixed Michelin Pilot Sport 4S performance rubber.
Full details = AutomotiveRhythms.com
With explicit BMW Motorsports identity and a wider track, the 2nd Gen BMW M2 was recently unveiled to automotive media during the 2022 BMW Group Test Fest in Palm Springs, CA. The German coupe is small, but its physicality is immense. The high-performance sports car kicks out 453-horsepower and 406 lb-ft of torque from its M TwinPower Turbo inline 6-cylinder engine and pairs with a standard 6-speed manual gearbox. The featured wheels are 19" front and 20" rear M light alloy Jet Black double-spoke 930Ms with mixed Michelin Pilot Sport 4S performance rubber.
Full details = AutomotiveRhythms.com