Rolls-Royce Phantom Centenary celebrates 100 years of luxury
To mark the 100th anniversary of the Phantom, Rolls-Royce has revealed a very special version of its flagship luxury car.
The Phantom Centenary Private Collection will be limited to just 25 examples, and features astounding levels of craftsmanship both inside and out.
Designers and engineers from Rolls-Royce describe the Centenary Private Collection as their “magnum opus”, which captures 77 key moments from the Phantom’s 100-year history.
The crowning glory is a Spirit of Ecstasy bonnet mascot made from 18-carat solid gold, and based on an original casting from 1925.
Spirit of Hollywood for Phantom Centenary
Rolls-Royce’s Bespoke division took inspiration from the golden age of Hollywood to create the Phantom Centenary Private Collection.
Super Champagne Crystal over Arctic White two-tone paint covers the sides of the car, with the upper body in Super Champagne Crystal over Black.
The new finish uses a high proportion of iridescent glass particles in the paint’s clear coat, creating a deep and lustrous finish.
Gold beneath the bonnet
Along with the hallmarked gold Spirit of Ecstasy, the Rolls-Royce badges on the sides and rear of the Phantom are made from 24-carat gold.
Even the engine cover for the 6.75-litre V12 hasn’t escaped attention, being finished in Alpine White with more 24-carat gold detailing.
Each of the Phantom’s disc wheels is engraved with 25 lines, in honour of the limited number of cars being made. Combining all four wheels together adds up to 100 lines for a centenary celebration.
Laser-etched art and intricate woodwork
The inside of the Rolls-Royce Phantom Centenary Private Collection is even more elaborate, with the front seats featuring laser-etched artwork based on original hand drawings.
Among these are nods to Phantom history, including a seagull to represent the codename for the original Phantom I prototype.
Stained Blackwood trim is used throughout the cabin. Rolls-Royce says that the Private Collection has the most elaborate woodwork ever created in its history.
Surrounding throughout the woodworking compositions of famous Phantom journeys are 3D multi-directional marquetry, laser etching, 3D ink layering and 24-carat gold leaf.
History among the stars
The high-resolution printed fabric used for the rear seats required 12 months of work with a fashion atelier to design, plus no less than 160,000 stitches.
A fibre-optic Starlight Headliner captures even more moments from Phantom history, using more than 440,000 individual stitches.
It initially creates images of the mulberry tree under which Henry Royce was photographed in his garden at West Wittering. This develops to show the distinctive square-crowned trees outside the Goodwood factory, along with honey bees from Rolls-Royce’s own apiary.
A stunning car-based composition
Further details include gold dust in the Piano Black veneer for the centre console, plus a dashboard ‘gallery’ with 50 aluminium fins arranged like the pages of a book. It all makes for a truly remarkable way to mark 100 years of the Phantom.
Phil Fabre de la Grange, head of Bespoke at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said: “Phantom Centenary is the most intricate and technologically ambitious Private Collection ever undertaken by the designers, engineers, production specialists and craftspeople of our Bespoke Collective.
“Developed over three years and more than 40,000 hours of collaborative effort, this project uses new techniques to blend metal, wood, paint, fabric, leather and embroidery into a single, stunning composition.”
• John Redfern writes for Motoring Research