The Great Eight – 100 Years of the Rolls-Royce Phantom

It’s 1925. You’re a particularly well to do individual, perhaps having made your money revolutionising certain industrial production methods, or maybe you’ve prospered by speculating on the stock exchange. Whatever the reason for your abundance of wealth you feel like flaunting it a little. It’s about time people saw you as the muckamuck about town, so you decide to buy a car – a status symbol if you will – to make them sit up and take notice. You won’t simply pick any car though. Oh no. You want the best of the best. Something bespoke, something hand-built. Something exclusive and with real presence. Well, you’re in luck because as it happens, British luxury car manufacturer Roll-Royce (already revered for its Silver Ghost – a model lauded at the time as “the best car in the world”) has just announced its new flagship – the evocatively named Phantom. Your search is over. THIS is the car you need. THIS is the car that will effortlessly announce your arrival as a VIP of the roaring twenties!

Fast forward a century and while times have changed drastically, the Phantom remains a mainstay of the Rolls-Royce line-up that can still to this day be customised to your heart’s desire, a blank canvas for you to bring your own wildest visions to vivid life. The sheer scale and adaptability means the Phantom can be whatever you want it to be, just as it was 100 years ago as you commissioned your favourite coachbuilder to produce a made to measure body atop Rolls-Royce’s proven chassis and mechanicals. Whether it be Park Ward, Mulliner, Zagato or myriad other choices, you were guaranteed a certain level of excellence and having endured, and indeed flourished over ten entire decades, the Phantom has certainly earned its reputation as Rolls-Royce’s pinnacle product.

The company’s current Chief Executive, Chris Brownridge told us: “In many respects, the history of Phantom is the history of Rolls-Royce: always moving with the times and its clients’ needs and requirements, transcending fleeting trends and providing the setting for the most remarkable executions of craft and artistry, all while resolutely refusing to compromise its core engineering and design principles”. And that really does sum up the Phantom and what it represents.

But back to the beginning. Phantom Genesis. Retaining the esteemed characteristics of its predecessor while also building upon its legacy, the original Phantom may have carried over the Silver Ghost’s chassis but it featured numerous improvements as Henry Royce realised that he’d done all he could with that particular model. Four-wheel servo-assisted brakes were now standard and a new 7.7-litre pushrod-OHV straight-six engine provided the car’s power.

Known upon release as the “New Phantom” and offered in either long-wheelbase form as a formal saloon and limousine, or as a shorter wheelbase for those with more sporty aspirations, Rolls-Royce’s latest flagship really could be customised to the nth degree. Due to its sheer size customers could furnish their Phantoms with anything from swivel seats to diamond safes and almost everything in between. Nowadays if you buy a brand new car you could perhaps tick the boxes for air conditioning and satellite navigation but back then the only real limitation was your imagination.

Such was Henry Royce’s philosophy of continuous improvement, however, it didn’t take long for the Phantom to be superseded by the Phantom II in 1929, only this time Royce wanted something a little smaller, a little more nimble. Something capable of ferrying him across France to his winter home on the Côte d’Azur. With a shorter wheelbase, stiffer springs and a refined version of the aforementioned 7.7-litre six-cylinder, the Phantom II proved to be popular with punters who clamoured for cars capable of high-speed touring over long distances while still enjoying all of the bells and whistles offered by a Rolls.

This marked a turning point for the Phantom. As luxury car buyers were demanding more and more out right performance to go with their opulence, as well as increased pressure from American manufacturers who were dropping larger and larger engines into their respective models, the decision was made to instil the next generation of Phantoms with a whopping great V12. Rolls-Royce was no stranger to behemoth motors due to its vast experience with aero engines and so when the Phantom III broke cover in ’36 – three years after the passing of Henry Royce – it was with a 165bhp, twelve-cylinder that, believe it or not, was actually smaller than the original Phantom’s six-pot.

Field Marshal Montgomery’s Phantom III

Improvements were rife across the board; from independent front suspension to more comfort and interior space for passengers, as well as increased manoeuvrability thanks to a further shortened chassis (something that was facilitated by that smaller V12 engine – something we wouldn’t see again until the Silver Seraph in ’98), the third gen further proliferated the Phantom’s notoriety as a technical masterpiece, all the while retaining its reputation as the very best that money could buy.

The company was on a roll (ahem…) but a spanner was about to be introduced in the form of a global conflict and car production would cease during the war years as the company concentrated its manufacturing prowess on said war effort, playing a pivotal role in proceedings as a result (we’re looking at you Rolls-Royce Merlin engine). Subsequently, Phantom fans would have to wait over a decade for the next generation of Rolls-Royce’s luxury bellwether, but even then only 18 Phantom IVs were ever built, beginning with Prince Phillip’s in 1950.

Originally intended as a one-off build, the first Phantom IV was commissioned by the royal family and subsequently built as a straight-eight limo, bodied by Mulliner. Rolls-Royce went on to make an additional 17 Phantom IVs for various Royal figures and Heads of State, further bolstering the company’s prominence for delivering top-tier and highly desirable motorcars, all the while making it one of the most exclusive models in the firm’s history. And yes, that original Phantom IV remains in use by the British Monarchy to this day.

The Rolls-Royce L-Series V8 powered its final car – the Bentley Mulsanne – in 2020. A good innings!

As surely as tock follows tick follow tock Rolls-Royce would introduce the Phantom V in ’59. Lines were far more sweeping this time around and the car also featured Rolls-Royce’s new V8 power plant. An out and out limousine, the Phantom V featured a shallow gear which allowed it to travel at walking pace, making it perfect for ceremonies. And that should tell you all you need to know about the car’s intended purpose, and indeed market, but the V was also a favourite among the celebrity set with John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Elton John and Liberace all famously owning one.

John Lennon’s iconic Phantom V

By this point in time, RR had acquired coachbuilders Park Ward and James Young (and later Mulliner), absorbing them into the books, and as such the Phantom V could be ordered as a complete build or, as before, with just the chassis and mechanicals, allowing customers to seek out other independently sculpted bodies.

As was tradition, the Phantom V received numerous updates over its almost decade long production run and much like the transition from Silver Ghost to the the original Phantom, the V smoothly segued into the VI, with both cars being practically identical at this point. Rolls-Royce would cease production of the Phantom VI in 1990 and we would have to wait 13 years for the next Phantom to appear.

With BMW now at the helm and working out of its new premises at Goodwood, Rolls-Royce – after over a decade without a Phantom on its roster – thought it was about time to resurrect the name in a bid to re-establish the company as purveyors of absolute luxury, and boy did they deliver. Retaining the characteristics of previous Phantom models but dragging the car well and truly into the 21st Century, RR, now using an all-aluminium spaceframe design, hand-built to one single specification in-house, unveiled the new Phantom VII in 2003, this time going back to a V12 engine to provide the forward motion. Built in much higher numbers than any previous Phantom, and with about a million special, limited editions being produced over the course of its 13 year run, the Phantom VII would give way to (yep, you guessed it) the Phantom VIII in 2016.

The eighth and current generation of the Phantom, debuting in 2017, continues to fly the flag for Rolls-Royce and remains the epitome of luxurious opulence. From its star-studded interior headlining to the ‘Gallery’ – a flowing glass canvas across the entire fascia that can be customised to display anything your heart desires, the Phantom VIII echoes those original models that were individually hand-built for their commissioning owners. Incorporating features, materials and engineering innovations never before seen in a Rolls-Royce, or any other car for that matter, each example is truly unique.

But what if us mere mortals fancy a Phantom? Well, with such a rich history and indeed an abounding pool from which to choose, picking a classic Phantom today is a piece of cake. No longer do you have to be a property magnate, oil tycoon or a member of the royal family to enjoy the spoils of one of these magnificent cars for yourself. The cheapest pair of the almost 100 examples currently for sale right here on Car & Classic is a 1928 Phantom I and a 1971 Phantom VI, both up for less than £60K. Granted, the most expensive is a 1933 Phantom II for almost half a million quid but the point is there’s a whole lot of choice across a lot of different budgets. We even have a 1938 Phantom III currently available via our auctions platform if you feel like chucking in a cheeky bid.

What a legacy! For 100 years, the name Phantom has been associated with the lap of luxury, the most effortlessly waftable, the best of the best – not just in Rolls-Royce circles but as part of the wider automotive landscape. Phantom has consistently exemplified the highest standards of quality, engineering and design, offering both drivers and passengers the most comfortable, satisfying experience available, so if you’re after a bit of the VIP life in these roaring two thousand and twenties, then your search begins right here at Car & Classic. Now home please Jeeves, we need to tend to the hounds…