THE ALL-NEW ROLLS-ROYCE PHANTOM
THIS ARTICLE WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN T.Times in 2006
So - what does £250.000 buy these days?
A cosy chalet bungalow in a quiet suburban street, with three bedrooms, maybe one with an en-suite bathroom - a secluded but manageable garden facing south to catch the sun for most of the day. Or if you have a sweet tooth, you could buy around three-quarters of a million Mars bars, although you might get a discount on that quantity; the local barbers could provide a haircut every couple of months for the next 2778 years - how about seventeen Volkswagen Golfs - they would probably last a whole driving career.
Or you could blow the whole £250.000 on a brand new Rolls Royce Phantom!
The new Rolls-Royce Phantom is created at the company's recently opened 'state of the art' manufacturing plant along the coast at Goodwood near Chichester. Okay, manufacturing might be a little of an overstatement. Assembly plant might be a more accurate description - most of the components are shipped in from Germany, but the cars are painted at Goodwood, and much of the interior is painstakingly pieced together by hand there too.
The Phantom, though, looks like a thoroughly British car - in fact, it was designed here by our designers - but with money provided by its new custodians, BMW. Some extraordinary people have obviously thought very deeply about the design of this car and produced a confident revival of a grand old name.
I'm not going to pretend to have driven this car - at the time of writing, very few have had the opportunity outside of Rolls-Royce, but I've savoured the sofa-like seating - there's heaps of room in the back; I've twiddled with the knobs, and from behind the beautifully hand-stitched leather steering wheel, could imagine the V12 engine wafting us to outrageous speeds, whilst pedestrians momentarily glance our way thinking we're someone rather special.
Rolls-Royce has always done a fine job of cosseting their occupants, and inside this 'all aluminium bodied', air-suspended, super luxury saloon, all is perfect. Finished in the finest leather - albeit from Germany, there are cashmere trimmings and beautifully veneered capping everywhere you look. When it gets hot, or the car in front is creating fumes that drift around your nostrils, you can switch to the air conditioning system, which provides six separate temperature zones around the interior, so each of the four passengers can have their own fan setting.
Most of the technology, though, is hidden, which keeps things looking simple and uncluttered; and on the outside, this Phantom is huge - it almost blots out the sky; even whilst parked, she displays a clarity of purpose that is the hallmark of this great car - her balanced proportions giving a spectacular presence. At nearly nineteen feet, she's almost the size of a Mac truck, but with far more style and 'street cred' - especially in the ritzy parts of London where the Phantom will undoubtedly be two a penny.
Beneath that long bonnet is a 6750 cc V12 engine, which will hasten you to 60 mph in under 6 seconds and on to its electronically limited top speed of 150 mph.
Rolls-Royce has combined a timeless hand-built car with state-of-the-moment technology and materials where appropriate and assembled this Phantom to the highest possible standards.
Specifications
Length: 583.4 cm
Width: 199.0 cm
Height: 163.2 cm
Engine: 6750 cc DOHC, 48 valve V12. Output 453 bhp
Gearbox: Six-speed automatic - rear-wheel drive
Performance: 5.7 seconds 0-60mph. Max speed 150 mph. Fuel consumption 17.8 mpg
So - what does £250.000 buy these days?
A cosy chalet bungalow in a quiet suburban street, with three bedrooms, maybe one with an en-suite bathroom - a secluded but manageable garden facing south to catch the sun for most of the day. Or if you have a sweet tooth, you could buy around three-quarters of a million Mars bars, although you might get a discount on that quantity; the local barbers could provide a haircut every couple of months for the next 2778 years - how about seventeen Volkswagen Golfs - they would probably last a whole driving career.
Or you could blow the whole £250.000 on a brand new Rolls Royce Phantom!
The new Rolls-Royce Phantom is created at the company's recently opened 'state of the art' manufacturing plant along the coast at Goodwood near Chichester. Okay, manufacturing might be a little of an overstatement. Assembly plant might be a more accurate description - most of the components are shipped in from Germany, but the cars are painted at Goodwood, and much of the interior is painstakingly pieced together by hand there too.
The Phantom, though, looks like a thoroughly British car - in fact, it was designed here by our designers - but with money provided by its new custodians, BMW. Some extraordinary people have obviously thought very deeply about the design of this car and produced a confident revival of a grand old name.
I'm not going to pretend to have driven this car - at the time of writing, very few have had the opportunity outside of Rolls-Royce, but I've savoured the sofa-like seating - there's heaps of room in the back; I've twiddled with the knobs, and from behind the beautifully hand-stitched leather steering wheel, could imagine the V12 engine wafting us to outrageous speeds, whilst pedestrians momentarily glance our way thinking we're someone rather special.
Rolls-Royce has always done a fine job of cosseting their occupants, and inside this 'all aluminium bodied', air-suspended, super luxury saloon, all is perfect. Finished in the finest leather - albeit from Germany, there are cashmere trimmings and beautifully veneered capping everywhere you look. When it gets hot, or the car in front is creating fumes that drift around your nostrils, you can switch to the air conditioning system, which provides six separate temperature zones around the interior, so each of the four passengers can have their own fan setting.
Most of the technology, though, is hidden, which keeps things looking simple and uncluttered; and on the outside, this Phantom is huge - it almost blots out the sky; even whilst parked, she displays a clarity of purpose that is the hallmark of this great car - her balanced proportions giving a spectacular presence. At nearly nineteen feet, she's almost the size of a Mac truck, but with far more style and 'street cred' - especially in the ritzy parts of London where the Phantom will undoubtedly be two a penny.
Beneath that long bonnet is a 6750 cc V12 engine, which will hasten you to 60 mph in under 6 seconds and on to its electronically limited top speed of 150 mph.
Rolls-Royce has combined a timeless hand-built car with state-of-the-moment technology and materials where appropriate and assembled this Phantom to the highest possible standards.
Specifications
Length: 583.4 cm
Width: 199.0 cm
Height: 163.2 cm
Engine: 6750 cc DOHC, 48 valve V12. Output 453 bhp
Gearbox: Six-speed automatic - rear-wheel drive
Performance: 5.7 seconds 0-60mph. Max speed 150 mph. Fuel consumption 17.8 mpg
