It’s limousine season here in Thailand – more so than usual. I’ve had cause to write the occasional post about the stretchers I found here, there and elsewhere, and I find the “summer” months (June, July and August, which are monsoon months here) are usually more limo-prone. And I think I know why.
The Rolls-Royce Phantom VII (Series II) Extended Wheelbase Saloon, to give it its proper (and rather dry) moniker, was something I had neither seen before nor really known about, so seeing it parked outside one of Bangkok’s swankiest private hospitals was a definite head-turner. Plus, this was my third Rolls sighting that day: I had just gawked at a late-model Wraith coupé and a black Phantom standard saloon. Why so many ladies flying around?
The other end of the spectrum…
Some parts of the world are abominably hot during the summer – especially the Middle-East and North Africa. People there usually like to leave their country for a few weeks; not a few of them end up in Thailand, whose many attractions include excellent healthcare facilities. Not all these medical tourists are necessarily super-rich – most take tuk-tuks or taxis to move about town. But there are a few mega-rich individuals who opted to skip Singapore or London this year and sample some Thai hospitality instead.
No snow on the Jura mountains + Saudi 747 = Geneva mid-summer. (Source: planespotters.net)
So renting whatever limos can be had locally is usually what happens. These rich Levantines tend to move around with a whole retinue / court in tow, so the local luxury rental fleet is usually out and about the streets. The same phenomenon could be observed in Geneva, where I spent a lot of the ‘90s and noughties. Sometime in late July or early August, a Saudi jumbo or two would usually land at Cointrin airport and park for a couple weeks. Qatari or Kuwaiti jets might also be seen, parked near the private aircraft area. All of the sudden, there were chic Sheikhs in Swiss-registered Maybachs, Bentleys and Rolls-Royces, plus the odd supercar flown in for the occasion, clogging the streets. Hotels were rented by the floor, and you’d have been floored by the rent. Additional fleets of S-Class saloons had to be called in from other Swiss cities to shuttle the servants and entourage.
Is this what we have here? This gargantuan Phantom has Thai plates and the Thai importer’s monogram. There aren’t more than a literal handful of these in the country and this one looks remarkably similar to the 2013 Bangkok Motor Show car, the first EWB ever imported here. I don’t know who owns it (perhaps the importer keeps it for hire?), but this hospital is not usually frequented by establishment Thais. It’s very foreigner-oriented and is especially popular with Middle-Easterners at this time of the year. I could be entirely wrong about this particular car, of course. But this was my third Rolls that day – one unicorn too many. I never warmed to the 21st Century bigger / boxier Bavarian Rollers. This wheelbase stretch improves the car’s proportions and balance, but the element of grace is sorely lacking in Rolls-Royce’s present-day range, in my personal opinion. The two-door cars look sleeker, but that massive square-eyed mug they all share seems a mite brutal. Is it a Phantom? Yes, but not as we know it.
Pre-war Phantoms: staid ’26 Barker P1 limo, ’33 “Eye of Jaipur” P2 by Hooper, ’37 Freestone & Webb P3
I mean, we’re talking about the car world’s most ancient and illustrious nameplate – the almighty Phantom. This is the second time a V-12 made it under a Phantom’s hood. Big engines are a firmly established trait of the breed: replacing the Silver Ghost, Phantoms I (1925-31) and II (1929-36) had a 7.6 litre straight-6 and were, at the time, probably the best cars ever made. The Phantom I was manufactured on both sides of the Atlantic and sold very well (over 3500); about half as many Phantom IIs were made. The Phantom III (1936-40) was the last model Henry Royce personally had a hand in. Its 7.3 litre V-12 was the stuff of legend, but its career was cut short by the war: only 727 built.
Post-war Phantoms: the Aga Khan’s ’52 Hooper P4, ’61 James Young P5 sedanca, eternal Mulliner-ParkWard P6
The ultra-rare Phantom IV (1952-56) had a 5.7 litre straight-8 – but with only 18 made, non-heads of State needed not apply. The completely new Phantom V (1959-68, 516 chassis) had a 6.2 litre V8 mated to a GM-sourced automatic gearbox, which the Phantom VI (a.k.a the last Rolls with a separate chassis, 374 built in 1968-92) inherited and augmented to 6.75 litre in 1979. Post-war Phantoms were usually (but not exclusively) long closed four-door cars. Is the Phantom VII in that league? In the ways that matter, yes. It has a 6.75 litre V-12 producing 454 hp. It’s huge and probably just as well put together by the most talented craftsmen using the best materials as past Phantom generations. It has presence, but it lacks a sense of occasion. I’m unsure of the Phantom VII’s exact production numbers, but judging by RR’s overall sales numbers, the P7 might be the most common of the bunch, well ahead of the Phantom I’s sales record of the Roaring Twenties. The Phantom VII is singular in other ways, too.
Unphantomable – above: 1992-98 Silver Spur Touring Limo; below: the Sultan’s 1998 “Phantom Royale”
The Phantom VII’s entire production process is now done in-house. Zombiefied since the ‘60s, traditional English coachbuilding finally died with the end if Rolls and Daimler limo production in the early ‘90s. Of course, there were a few Silver Spur-based limos. “Hooper” or “Park Ward” specials or State cars made after that. The standard Touring Limousine wasn’t good enough for the Sultan of Brunei, for instance. But it is hardly comparable to the prestige and variety of body styles available on Phantoms I through V. None of those ’90s specials were true Phantoms. There was a desire for a seventh generation within Rolls-Royce, but the carmaker was in a troubled period, culminating in the 1998-2002 BMW buy-out and Bentley “divorce.” But lo and behold, a new Phantom beckoned in 2003.
“He blew his mind out in a car”
In a major break with tradition, the Phantom VII saloon became the sole Rolls coming out of the new Goodwood works from 2003 until the introduction of the two-door coupé (2007), convertible (2008) and the smaller Ghost range (2009). This explains the seventh Phantom being the most numerous of the breed: none of the other six were ever the only car in the range. And if a Phantom is anything, it is first and foremost a massive super-luxurious bespoke limousine – like John Lennon’s psychdelicious Phantom V, bubble-top British Royal cars, or some Nabob’s outlandish pre-war plaything. The standard Phantom VII saloon just didn’t cut it, lengthwise.
Rolls-Royce Phantom VIII EWB at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show (Source: Wikipedia)
Finally, after a twenty year hiatus, the long Phantom officially returned. The Series II Phantom VII (2012-17) introduced the EWB, the longest (and heaviest?) production model Rolls-Royce ever made in-house. Production stopped in December 2016, but have no fear, it’s already returning to a R-R showroom near you as the mildly restyled (but heavily re-engineered) Phantom VIII EWB Saloon. In terms of quantity and exclusivity, the EWB Phantom is the real successor to the Phantom VI.
Also, in terms of price. You pay dearly for those extra eight inches of legroom. Undaunted by a £373,824 minimum pricetag, the typical Phantom VII EWB customer orders extra £100,000’s worth of gadgets and bespoke features on average. Add Thailand’s 200% imported luxury good tax to that amount and you have a very expensive piece of rolling real estate indeed. Future classic? For that price, it had better be. At least it’s possible to still catch a glimpse of these beasts before the electric self-driving SUVs completely take over.
Related posts:
Carshow Outtake: 1928 Rolls-Royce Phantom 1 – Despite The Evidence, This Is Not A Taxi, by Roger Carr
Future Classic Outtake: 2017 Rolls-Royce Dawn – A Grand Floridian, by Brendan Saur
There is a well known old commentary, likely applicable here: “There is taste”…….and then there is Rolls Royce.” ” So son, buy a Bentley.”
This was the first Rolls Royce that started my long infatuation with the brand, so of course, I do have a soft spot for these vehicles. These cars still remain my proverbial “Lottery/pipe dream” cars. I did see these up close, and gargantuan doesn’t cut it. While they lack the length of some older American vehicles, they are rather large by the standards of most cars toady, so they do have some presence to them. Of course, the older Phantoms do have a certain charm and quality that can’t be replicated in the new ones, but I think to compare any mass produced car to the old coach-built ones of yesteryear is just asking for disappointment.
I understand these Rollers are not everyone’s taste, there’s plenty of cars that can do the same thing at a tenth of a price, and that’s true. But, driving a Rolls is still high up on my dreams list with regards to automotive related stuff. They’re still pretty special to me, and in some ways, they always will be.
All Rolls-Royces are special – even these mastodons churn out nowadays. I fault the styling, but the execution remains in the best RR tradition.
The only Rolls I might be tempted by would be the Silver Shadow 1. Realistically, though, it’ll probably never happen. Too much bling for me, for a start. But there are other considerations.
I only ever rode in one once, when I was about 12. It was quite memorable, but in many ways a Citroen SM, CX or XM provides even better comfort. The Rolls wins in terms of silence and overall quality, but a big hydro Citroen handles better and has much lower running costs. Same for most big American sedans built from 1940-70 (minus the handling bit).
To paraphrase WC. Fields, Rolls-Royces are like elephants. I like to look at them, but I wouldn’t want to own one.
I always half-seriously thought Rolls missed a golden opportunity with the Silver Shadow; rather than just TH400s they should’ve bought a complete C-10 chassis from GM and simply bodied it as a luxury car which would then be cheap and easy to maintain.
You may not think these modern RRs have taste, but they still scream Rolls-Royce, and that’s the whole point.
Lincoln, please take note.
Cool. With the Ghost and Phantom looking so similar, I would have reverted to twinset roundie headlights for the Phantom. It’s a slightly more ungainly shape than the pretty-much-perfect Ghost, but no sedan on the road matches either four-door Rolls-Royce at the moment. Curious to see that amber reflector on the rocker panel under the doors, I’m not sure its factory.
Curious to see that amber reflector on the rocker panel under the doors, I’m not sure it’s factory.
It is.
ECE regulations require the amber reflex reflectors in the middle for the vehicles, including passenger cars, in excess of six metres in length.
In addition to Phantom VII EWB, Maybach 62 has same feature, too.
Thanks Oliver
Twin-round headlights became a trademark of Bentley by the 80s, especially as it and Rolls-Royce were selling cars with the same body shells, since they were sister brands. At this point, round headlights would definitely dilute the Rolls-Royce brand.
Given how poorly the Bentley face uses the roundies, I wouldn’t see a problem with R-R reappropriating them. And don’t get me started on the Bentley’s craptastic elliptical taillights.
I think both Rolls Royce and Bentley switched to quad headlights with the series 2 Silver Cloud & Bentley S2 in the late 50s. The Phantom VI was around for a long time with quad headlights.
At least the profile now looks at least somewhat majestic (the extended wheelbase helps a great deal there), but for me that front end still induces nausea. I guess I’ll have to go spend my extra $500,000 elsewhere.
In my opinion, the Sultan of Brunei’s car is better looking.
Amazing how many of these cars I see running around Vancouver, usually with teenagers driving them.
I used to say there were two types of Rolls Royce owners
The new money who knew nothing about the history of the company but wanted to let the world know they’ve arrived
And
The old money who WERE the history of Rolls Royce and didn’t give a damn what anybody thought.
A local long-time radio personality here in Jacksonville, who is from England, once stated, for the benefit of us American savages, the difference between a Rolls and a Bentley: A Rolls is to be chauffeured, while a Bentley is to be driven by the owner. I’ll buy that…
Yes:
Bentley “Drivers” Club
v.
Rolls-Royce “Owners’ ” Club
/NB: no RR has ever won LeMans; Bentley has six times…
Driver’s car:
“The fastest trucks in the world,” according to Ettore Bugatti…
Did the Bentley S or T Series morph into a “driver’s car” thanks to that ‘B’ on their bonnet? As was pointed out in another comment, starting in the ’50s, Bentleys became 100% badge-engineered RRs.
I guess the distinction of “class” has gone by the boards. Too bad….
Regardless of your opinion of privilege and its place in a fair society, I think the Royce is the only current car in production that genuinely harks back to the truly great luxury marques of the 20s and 30s and I am glad things are still produced with the objective of being the ultimate in quality. I know of the Maybach but I just don’t like them.
I am only interested in owner driver motor cars so that rules out this plutocrats barge for me but the Phantom Coupe, Silver Dawn and Wraith are stunning pieces of work when you see them close up, a different league from any other luxury make regarding quality, that is their raison d etre
The comment that “a Rolls is to be chauffeured , while a Bentley is to be driven” is an anachronism of the 50s, as after the Mk 6 and Continental they differed from Rolls in grills and badging only, and they were really Royces anyway as W O Bentley had nothing to do with the design.
It was not until VW bought Bentley did they have their own identity and the Continental is a stunning motor car, the best of German and British, a great combination
The ultimate pointless vehicles for me are the Bentley and Rolls SUVs and frankly I would be embarrassed to be seen in one
I cannot make up my mind about the styling on these. I like the basic shape quite a lot. But that front end looks like a movie car created for the villain from a Marvel comic book.
My feelings are also mixed, and for the same reason. I still can’t get used to that brutish square mug RRs have had since the P7.
Back in about ’63, friends of my parents drove down from Carmel to pick up their SCIII that had been shipped back from Europe. Nine year old me thought it was incredibly “old fashioned” at the time. What did I know- that was the last RR John and Lucretia ever bought. “Too modern, looks too much like a Volvo.”
*They had a cute story to tell. She owned the Coca Cola Bottling facility in San Francisco, he was the Service Manager at the Cadillac Dealership where she traded every year. Both married (first time) very late in life- maybe a couple years before the RR arrived on the scene. They wound up buying a house in Garmisch and staying there happily ever after.
I think something like this Rolls would be the future of the Chrysler brand. Built on a Jeep chassis but looking like a classic sedan. Oh, and priced under 50K.
I cannot like these bully machines.
Yes, I know that the designers sat in a high-windowed basement in central London looking out at the street to gain inspiration (or some such self-pleasing nonsense) and I know it supposedly has the profile of a thirties body, in short, I know that they tried (or the marketing machine did in telling a tall one), but they failed. It just looks overfed. It is graceless, not to mention a bit boring.
And good taste was misplaced entirely when they came to that face. It’s as if some powerful but aesthetically inept higher-up swanned in when the designers were far from finished and pronounced, “Ach so! Zis!” and swanned off again and no-one ever since has been game to tell the naked Emperor and his inheritors that it was only the brutalist outline.
This is not refined, or graceful, or stunning, or beautiful, it is not utterly desireable as such an expensive piece of exclusivity should be. I’m afraid it looks…well, I have to say it, ill-bred. I mean, the cheek: did they really think putting a Bavarian of lesser lineage in an enormous Queen Victoria outfit would somehow pass as the real thing?
Must say, I wasn’t aware they came in this longer form. Just a more noticeable size of the same issues, I’m afraid.
Most interesting post about the likely occupants, Mr 87.