click above for a high-res gallery of the EDAG Rolls-Royce Phantom
Despite Mr. Nunez' thorough review of the Rolls-Royce Phantom, he might have missed one chink in the Roller's armor. According to EDAG, the firm that's created everything from the Solstice wagon to the LUV, Rolls-Royce's overtly wealthy clientele have a problem with ingress and egress when entering the luxurious confines of the back seats. Rolls' engineers purposely made the C-pillar extra-thick to give passengers more privacy and security, but that means passengers have to duck down (guffaw!) to get in. EDAG has come up with a solution that involves fitting an articulating carbon fiber roof that rises up at the push of a button so occupants can walk right in and sit down. EDAG will be displaying their modified Phantom in Geneva next month and we'll be sure to score some seat time in the back if the tuner allows.
The Rolls-Royce Phantom makes people stop what they're doing and wonder A.) what celebrity you are, B.) why you look so different in person than you do on television, and C.) what the hell you're doing at the local Dairy Queen. We got a taste of this last Summer. It's fun. If the standard Phantom is not enough of an attention-getter for you, Mutec will take your car, add a divider behind the front seats, and stretch it an additional 1100mm (43 inches) to make it a proper limousine. This also makes it the approximate length of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, but what do you care? You won't be driving anyway. You'll be in back with three friends (or celebrities, or world leaders, or captains of industry), enjoying the revamped, face-to-face 4-seat configuration while you sip bubbly, broker multimillion-dollar handshake deals and gossip about how Jay-Z's Maybach is so completely pedestrian.
Wait a second, doesn't this spy shot look a lot like the Phantom Drophead Coupe that's already out on the market? That's what Rolls Royce would have you believe, but EVO is certain this is the Spirit of Ecstasy's upcoming hard-top two-door, previewed by the 101EX concept and recently confirmed for production. These shots follow similar ones from last month, indicating that BMW's best engineers are hard at work.
What's the big difference, you ask? Word on the street is that, while the DHC is built for leisurely cruising from the yacht club to the golf course, the new model will be more driver-focused. A driver's Rolls? Interesting...We'll just have to sit tight until March when the new mega-coupe is scheduled to debut at the Geneva show, two years after the concept's unveiling at the same event, to find out more. In the meantime, follow the link to check out the shots in depth.
click above image for more truly awesome shots of the 2007 Rolls-Royce Phantom
A quick snapshot of the world's richest people shows that the wealthy are padding their pockets at a blistering pace. With all that extra cash at the top of the food chain, cars with big price tags are flying off the shelves. Aston Martin has gone from making only a handfull of cars to producing over 7,000 per year, and Bentley has been riding the wave with its Continental and Flying Spur. The once financially challenged Rolls-Royce is also getting in on the game, enjoying a 22% increase in sales that's driving its Goodwood factory to the brink. Extra shifts and longer work hours are the result for rank and file, but we're sure most of them don't mind the extra coin. With the introduction of a Phantom coupe based off of the 110EX concept from Geneva coming in the next few weeks, the chaps from south England may need to break new ground just to fulfill demand.
It seems the ultra-luxury automaker isn't concerned with overpopulating the world with Rolls Royce luxury, either. The company is preparing a new lineup for 2010 that will expand Goodwood's offerings while also increasing the number workers employed. We may yet get a Rolls for more than a week, but then again, maybe not.
Picture this – you're screaming around the Nurburgring in a not-insubstantial Rolls Royce Phantom, hammer down, stereo on, trying to complete a circuit of the 14-mile course before the woofers go still. Driving on the 'Ring certainly requires concentration, but for a drummer, sometimes you've just got to find the beat. So, when the drums come in, you're going to be compelled to tap along on the rim of the steering wheel, no matter what. Nick Mason impressed his passenger, a reporter from the Times of London, with his ability to multitask like this. Mason, the man on traps for Pink Floyd and noted car nut, had taken to the German racetrack to test himself. The challenge was to complete a single lap of the Nurburgring in the time it takes for half of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" to play. While he didn't quite make it, a good time was likely had by all. We would like to know, however, if the accelerator pedal in his V12 Phantom has been replaced with a Speed King.
The Rolls-Royce Phantom is one of those things that breathes air so rarefied, one's imagination runs wild. It's not hard to envision a factory perched atop Mount Olympus that's staffed by gods turning solid blocks of unobtanium into these individualized rolling spectacles. Remarkably, the Phantom is actually the work of mere mortals. Some are in Germany, the rest in England at Rolls-Royce's Goodwood factory where these cars are hand-assembled with an incomprehensible attention to detail. Massive in form, decadently appointed, stratospherically priced and absolutely, positively unmistakable, each Rolls-Royce exiting this facility is an event in and of itself. The experience is reserved for the select few who can cover the significant cost of entry, but sometimes there are exceptions. Like me, for example. The Car Gods (and the good people at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars North America) saw fit to place a two-tone silver Phantom in my care for a weekend. When it pulled into my driveway, I couldn't help thinking my life had turned into a rap video.
Click image for a photo gallery of the Rolls-Royce 101EX
In his speech on BMW's future plans, CEO Norbert Reithofer mentioned that a Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe is on the way. Today, Rolls-Royce made its official announcement confirming this new addition to the Phantom lineup. If the eye-popping Phantom Drophead Coupe is any indication, the new, enclosed Phantom Coupe should be a dead ringer for the 101EX concept car that previewed it back during the 2006 Geneva show. Power will be identical to the other Phantom models, with 450 horses and 531 lb-ft of torque coming from the car's 6.75L V12. According to Rolls-Royce, the Phantom Coupe will be more driver-oriented than the sedan, with a shorter body and suspension/power tuning that places a slight emphasis on sport compared to its siblings. The Phantom Coupe will complete the Phantom lineup for Rolls-Royce, giving its customers a car for every occasion. It will be priced somewhere between the Phantom and Phantom Drophead Coupe.
This also seems like as good a time as any to inform you that we recently had the 2007 Rolls-Royce Phantom in the Autoblog Garage (that's it at right). Check back on Monday for the full review and photo gallery, and if you need to catch up on the recent vehicles we've had come through, click here to see what you might have missed.
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.
Click image for gallery of the Phantom Silver and centenary gathering
Rolls-Royce recently celebrated the centenary of the Silver Ghost with a gathering of over five dozen of the cars at the automaker's Goodwood HQ. Some 6,000 Silver Ghosts were produced from 1907 to 1925 , and as you can see in the photo at right (click it to enlarge), they varied greatly in style. We're completely smitten with the wood-bodied boattail behind the group of owners in the middle of the photo (we zoomed in on it in the photo gallery below).
To celebrate the Silver Ghost's 100th anniversary, Rolls-Royce is producing a highly-limited run of commemorative Phantoms. Dubbed the Phantom Silver, the car carries a £22,000 premium over the standard Phantom and features a custom Ghost Silver finish. Its list of other specific features (follow the jump for full details) includes 21" wheels with chrome center caps, a solid silver Spirit of Ecstasy, a solid silver keyfob, white-faced gauges, a matching clock, and more.
By the time you've read this, they'll probably all be spoken for.
Think a Rolls-Royce Phantom is expensive? Well, yeah...it is. One of the most expensive on the market, as a matter of fact. (Hey, it's a Rolls-Royce. What did you expect?) But if you think the Phantom is expensive on the American market, you should take a look at what it costs elsewhere in the world.
Our new friends over at Automobiles De Luxe have compiled what they're calling "the Phantom Index", taking the example of "the Big Mac Index" from The Economist and carrying the formula through to the most bling-tastic of motor saloons.
You might be surprised that the Phantom is cheapest to buy in the United States, undercutting the equivalent price of the same automobile in the United Kingdom and in the European Union by over a hundred thousand dollars. Not that such concerns would factor into the equation for most buyers of a new Rolls-Royce, mind you... perish the thought.
This also seems like as good a time as any to inform you that we recently had the 2007 Rolls-Royce Phantom in the Autoblog Garage (that's it at right). Check back on Monday for the full review and photo gallery, and if you need to catch up on the recent vehicles we've had come through, 
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