Phantastic!

It’s not every day that Rolls-Royce launches a new car, and when it does, it’s a momentous occasion. Hormazd Sorabjee gets a taste of luxury motoring at its pinnacle in the all-new Phantom.

Meet the eighth generation of the Rolls-Royce Phantom which comes 14 years after the previous one to once again stake claim to the ‘world’s best car’ title. That it has come after so long makes the arrival of the RollsRoyce flagship an even more momentous occasion, like the coronation of a new king and with it, the continuity of a royal bloodline.

If there is any car that can claim to be the king of the car world, it’s the Phantom. It has been around since 1925 and is the longest running nameplate on a car ever. But what has really distinguished this Rolls-Royce model over eight generations and 92 years is that it has stood to represent the pinnacle of automotive luxury. “A Phantom is a Phantom is a Phantom,” said Rolls-Royce CEO, Torsten Müller-Ötvös, to drive home the point that it’s the ultimate benchmark and there’s nothing quite like it. In fact, RollsRoyce likes to refer to the Phantom as a ‘luxury good’ that many of its super-rich owners would buy, just like a yacht or a private jet, to indulge their lifestyles.

To make the world’s best car even better was never an easy task for the engineers, but with the new Phantom, they were given a great starting point – an all-new aluminium space frame that makes its debut in the latest Rolls. In fact, this new platform will underpin future Rolls-Royce models, including Project Cullinan, which is the internal name for first-ever Rolls-Royce SUV.

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