PHANTOM VII MARKS THE END OF AN ERA
AS ROLLS-ROYCE ENTERS ITS NEXT PHASE
“ From its introduction a little over 90 years ago, every motor
car that has borne the title ‘Phantom’ has reset the standard by
which all other luxury goods are judged,” said Torsten Müller-
Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. This very last seventh generation Phantom signals the end of
the first successful chapter in the renaissance of Rolls-Royce
under new custodianship and the establishment of a true
global centre of luxury excellence in West Sussex, England.
“As Phantom VII gracefully leaves the stage, having defined
the first chapter in the renaissance of Rolls-Royce, we look
forward to building on its remarkable success with the
imminent arrival of its successor. A bold, new statement built
on an all-new architecture promises to light the future of the
world’s most celebrated name in luxury.” Phantom – at the pinnacle of luxury for over 90 years
From the creation of ‘New Phantom’ in 1925, every generation
of this most fabled name in luxury has served to define its
moment, not only in Rolls-Royce’s history, but in world
history. Quite simply, it has been the choice of the people who
have defined our world and made it turn for the last 90 years.
Phantom I (or ‘New Phantom’ as it was then known)
carried the weight of expectation of living up to its eminent
predecessor’s billing as ‘The Best Car in the World’. Needless
to say it emphatically succeeded. In doing so, elevating Rolls-
Royce to a place beyond a maker of superlative motor cars, to
the very standard by which all luxury endeavours are judged.
78 years later, Phantom VII, the first Goodwood Phantom
heralded the renaissance of Rolls-Royce and established its
own legend, returning the marque to its rightful place as the
only conceivable mode of conveyance for the world’s most
famous, wealthy and influential individuals.
Today, after 13 years defining luxury, Phantom VII leaves
the stage with a fittingly artful tribute to the skills of the
craftspeople at the Home of Rolls-Royce.
34 | The Gentleman Magazine
Like its modern successor, that first generation Phantom
was developed in an environment of fevered secrecy, borne
of the weight of expectation surrounding such an important
car. Lead engineer Ernest Hives even went as far as to scatter
armoured plating around the factory to substantiate the
project’s codename Eastern Armoured Car (EAC).
This kind of fervour and global scrutiny surrounding its
development was perhaps not seen again for over seven
decades, when a small team of engineers and designers
ensconced themselves in total secrecy in a disused bank in
central London. Their task was to create a Phantom, worthy of
the name and reverential to its history, whilst making a truly
bold statement on Rolls-Royce’s pinnacle position in a new
luxury landscape.
The mission would have been familiar to Hives, who himself
was tasked with creating a modern Rolls-Royce for an era of
profound change. Both Phantoms I and VII had to plot the
marque’s course amidst a backdrop of the shifting tastes and
sensibilities of its wealthy patrons.
In designing Phantom VII, the task set before Ian Cameron
and his team of designers cannot be overstated. Rolls-Royce,
under new custodianship, had just five years to successfully
design, develop, engineer and test a motor car worthy