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Well, the good life is about to get better for five people scattered around the globe. We refer to the customers who will be taking delivery of the first five Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupes, which rolled out of Goodwood this week. Each of the initial five cars shown above is fitted with the optional brushed steel bonnet trim and teak decking, making an already impressive car even more opulent. Meticulously hand-built, boasting a powerful 12-cylinder, mildly softer lines than the Phantom saloon, and rearward-swinging doors, the Drophead Coupe might well be the ultimate arrival vehicle -- big, bold and laden with panache. One thing's all but certain: when owners pull up to the valet in their new open-topped Rollers, chances are they'll be left right in front. This isn't one you hide in the back lot with the Toyotas, you see.

[Source: Rolls-Royce]

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The Detroit Auto Show traditionally belongs to the domestic automakers, who pull out all the stops as they unveil some of their best and brightest new products and concepts. This year, however, the ultimate showstopper may well be located at the Rolls-Royce display. The fabled British marque (now owned by BMW, of course) has chosen Detroit to reveal the 2008 Phantom Drophead Coupé, a jaw-droppingly spectacular 4-seat convertible aimed squarely at Bentley's Azure.

The Drophead Coupé is, for all intents and purposes, a perfect production interpretation of RR's 100EX concept car, which made its debut at 2004's Geneva show. The key elements of the 100EX remain -- the thin LED headlamps, rear-opening "suicide" doors, brushed steel hood and A-pillar, and teak decking aft of the passenger compartment are all here. The V16 that powered the 100EX is replaced in the Drophead Coupé by the Phantom sedan's proven 6.75L V12., which generates 453 horsepower and 513 lb-ft of torque at 3500 rpm. That's enough to propel the 5775-pound droptop to 60 mph in approximately 5.7 seconds.



Follow the jump for more of our take, an animation of the roof mechanism, plus the official (and very long) press release and tech specs from Rolls-Royce. If you'd like to have the Drophead Coupe grace your desktop, check out our mega-gallery of over 60 hi-res photos.

[Source: Rolls-Royce]