The Rolls-Royce Phantom can’t be treated like a “normal” car, because whatever “normal” is, this isn’t.  The term “extraordinary” jumps to mind.  Or bounds.  And there can be no disputing that in any way.  Not a quibble.  Not a jot.  For example, among the bits of information that the people at Rolls provided about their vehicle is the fact that it requires 260 hours to build one.  While owner BMW certainly must work to make the Goodwood facility more productive, chances are The Harbour Report and hours per vehicle aren’t overriding concerns there.  While one might think that the owner of the Phantom would be ensconced in the rear of the vehicle with some variant of Jeeves behind the wheel, it seems that more than 95% of the owners drive the car—when they aren’t driving one of the other four or five cars that they typically own.  Given that they tend to own three or four homes, it just may be that what they drive depends on what they have garaged at which manse.

A few other touches require mention.  There is the not-always pleasant descriptor of vehicle headliners: “rat’s fur.”  Not even close.  Know that the headliner of the Phantom is a wool and cashmere blend.  Speaking of wool, there are lamb’s wool floor mats.  And there is leather abounding on the interior: 17 hides’ worth of leather.  This is not a car to pick up your friends from PETA.

The vehicle is simply astonishing.  While driving it I had women come up to me in a parking lot to flirt.  (Not that they wouldn’t ordinarily, but the fact that I was standing next to a $352K car didn’t hurt.)  A neighbor came over and asked if he could take pictures of the car.  While driving I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw a passenger in a Lexus LX 470 take a picture of the car with a cell phone.  This isn’t merely a car.  It’s a phenomenon.

There is even a word that the people from Rolls use that you won’t find anywhere else, a word that was coined after a review of a Rolls written nearly 100 years ago: “waftability.”  You’d think that after BMW acquired the company such a light word would give way to something more Teutonic, but there it is: Waftability.  You don’t simply drive in a Rolls, you are wafted.  And you really do feel as though you are as you roll along on 21-in. wheels and cosseted within an aluminum space-frame that consists of some 200 extrusions and 300 pieces formed from sheet, all combined by workmen who apply some 150 m of welds.  Wafting.

One thing that is hard to conceive of is the essential thereness of the vehicle (hey, if they can say “waftability”. . .).  Consider: curb weight—5,577 lb.; length—229.7 in.; width—78.3 in.; height—64.3 in.; wheelbase—140.6 in.  The turning circle is 45.3 ft.  You’re happy that there are parking sensors when you’re driving this vehicle.  Indeed.  Under the hood—or bonnet, in this case—the long, long bonnet, as that is part of the waftable heritage, is a V12 engine that produces 453 hp @ 5,350 rpm fitted to a six-speed ZF transmission.  What’s interesting is that although the Phantom is no sylph, the needle on the speedometer promptly marches upward so one need watch things lest a municipally uniformed official provide one with a summons of some unappealing sort.

Oddly, the steering wheel for such a vehicle, while significantly sized vis-à-vis overall diameter, is remarkably narrow in gauge.  One would expect something with more heft.*  And almost harkening back to the days when cars were cars and electrics were from Lucas, the gauges are decidedly non-high technology, with a preponderance of an analog interfaces, even with knurled dials to adjust the temperature, not some newfangled digital device.  (Evidently the BMW iDrive engineers were kept out of the development facility.)

The Rolls-Royce Phantom isn’t simply a car.  It is an experience.  Presumably so is meeting the Queen.  It’s something that is quite dear.  Indeed.

A Second Opinion

By Kevin Kelly, Senior Editor

“That’s a stupid car,” one of my colleagues said after taking delivery of the 2006 Rolls-Royce Phantom for a few days, perhaps betraying something of a socialist bent.  “Ridiculous” may be a better term to use, since everything in this $352,000 car is over-the-top, from the full-size umbrellas housed in the rear doors, to the rear power door closing system (so as not to strain your arm by having to close it).

Still, there’s nothing like tooling around town in a car that is limited to only 1,000 units per year.  The Phantom screams to the world that you have arrived.  Its 229-in. length was almost too much for my garage to handle—I had to raise the suspension to its highest setting to provide enough of a gap for the front end to make it over the concrete step in the garage, and even then the door just missed hitting the Phantom’s rear bumper by millimeters.

With a cockpit as opulent as the Phantom’s you have to wonder why anyone would want to be relegated to the back.  The meticulous wood trim and heavy gauge chrome vents add just the right touch to boost the luxury quotient, while the supple leather seats are enough to keep the driver comfortable for hours while waiting for the owner to finish her shopping spree.  The Phantom shows its true luxury credentials in the rear cabin, where a mini leather couch has been set, and it’s not one of those couches you’re likely to find at Crazy Al’s furniture store.  The leather was among the nicest I have ever placed my derriere on.  It’s all about the details in the Phantom and the chrome covers over the rear floor vents were a classy touch, as were the plush floor mats, which seemed to have longer fur than my cocker spaniels. 

There were a few things that bothered me about the Phantom, including the annoying iDrive system borrowed from parent BMW.  The system seems out of place in this classic luxury car.  The color screen used for the system is inset in the middle of the opulent wood that populates the instrument panel and it looks awkward, to say the least.  It is also needlessly complicated.  Trying to find the map on the navigation system is a chore and at one point I pushed on the knob and the hood released.

It is surprising how agile the Phantom handles when you consider the length and the fact that it weighs more than 5,400 lbs. Entering the freeway was an easy task as a stomp on the accelerator would lift the front end and move the Phantom along the way at a brisk pace as the 6.8-liter V12 engine put all of its 453 horses into action.  This display would cause onlookers to occasionally ogle in awe at the power under the hood.

During my brief time with the Phantom I found myself spending more time acting as Bitterman in the “Arthur” movies.  Family and friends—including one nervous Democratic Michigan State Representative who did not want to be caught cavorting in the excess opulence—all piled in the back and took turns barking orders as to where to take them.  Several times, folks would stop and gawk to see just who was back there.  One of my friends found it pretty gauche that people would honk, point and stare.  After all, what self-respecting Phantom owner would want to talk to those commoners? 

That’s what the Phantom is all about. Exclusivity and being a part of a club that all but guarantees you’ll be the only one in the region with the “Spirit of Ecstasy” perched upon the bonnet of your car.  My visions of this exclusive club were shattered when I emerged one evening from the Capitol Grille in the tony suburb of Troy, MI, only to find that alongside my Phantom was another one, nearly identical.  I now need to find somewhere else to eat.

VERDICT: The Phantom is a visual stunner that will attract enormous amounts of attention, as it should, for $352,000.

A Third Opinion

By Christopher A. Sawyer, Executive Editor

I am reminded of a Russell Brockbank cartoon from the 1970s. In it, the very proper Major Upsett is driving his little convertible up a hill when a Rolls-Royce appears over the brow, the young driver leaned hard over as he attempts to herd the oversized vehicle to the Major’s right (they were in England, after all). As dust and stones fly off the front tires of the Roller, the very proper Major says to his passenger: “Just another example of too much money in the wrong hands.”

If only the Major could see today’s Rolls-Royce Phantom. For the price of a nice four-bedroom house in Detroit’s northern suburbs you get a car. Well, maybe “car” is not the correct word, since the Phantom is a car with that word writ quite large – and tastefully – for all to see. And, despite the “Phantom” name, see it they do. One gentleman in particular – a 30-ish man in a Jeep Wrangler – saw it well enough to swerve out of his lane and partly into mine in an amateurish attempt to show his disgust at so brazen a show of the type of wealth he may never achieve. In another time and place, Major Upsett might have shot him for his bad manners and socialist leanings. I, on the other hand, steered around him and continued down the road while bemoaning the lack of manners. Fortunately, that was the only adverse reaction I received during my time with the car. Others were more than willing to give a smiling “thumbs up” or snap a photo on their cell phone while driving near the Phantom. Even the patrons of Wendy’s circled around it in awe whilst I supped on their finest combo meal.

But enough of this frippery. The Phantom is an extremely large car – it made my brother’s 1959 Cadillac Series 62 coupe look like a sports car in comparison – that handles its size well. Forget all of the talk about needing docking tugs or Dramamine, for this car shows none of the queasy unease you’d expect from so “softly, softly” a motorcar. Yes, the large thin steering wheel does bring up images of piloting a steamship – an image underscored by the long hood and a mild delay in changing direction – but this luxury liner is made for traversing choppy roads, not choppy seas. It does so with surprising composure and confidence, though in nautical terms 5,577 lb and 229.7 in make the Phantom positively sylph-like compared to most ships.

The Phantom also is much, much faster. Far be it from me to engage in something so gauche as clocking this car’s acceleration, but the 6.75-liter BMW-derived V12’s ability to glide away from traffic lights with dispatch did pique my curiosity. Rolls Royce claims the Phantom can traverse (a car like this does not sprint) from 0 to 60 mph in 5.7 seconds, and reach a top speed of 149 mph. Quite, though I think RR’s stopwatch may need cleaning. Pressing the accelerator deeply into the thick carpeting produced a reaction that was akin to an electric motor: Quick acceleration that is replaced almost immediately by the scenery hurling itself at the Rolls at an alarming rate, and braking that pulls the car nearer to the earth in an attempt to stop the latter’s rotation.

Unfortunately, I never did get a chance to sample the ride in the rear seat for an extended period, though I’m sure I would have had the same reaction as a friend. After no more than five minutes ensconced in the sumptuous rear cabin he blurted out: “This just feels weird. Can I sit up front?” Undoubtedly that would have upset old Major Upsett’s sensibilities, but there’s a simple reason he wouldn’t be able to bemoan the money being in the wrong hands were this selfsame friend to get his hands on $352K. He’d buy a house.

*Note: We have since learned that the steering wheel is as it is in order to indicate that steering can be a finger-tip exercise.  Think of it as additional evidence of waftability.