Adaptations to the eighth-generation Phantom include ‘light-touch’ visual and aesthetic enhancements in line with client requests and feedback.

Rolls-Royce products enjoy an expansive lifetime, ultimately becoming timeless expressions of good taste, beauty, and luxurious perfection. Phantom occupies a unique, pinnacle position in this regard, being revered for its timeless elegance.

The eighth generation of Phantom was presented in 2017. In creating the new expression, Rolls-Royce designers and engineers have been guided by the requests of clients, who have implored Rolls-Royce not to make any major changes to an already iconic motor car. In answer to these client demands, only the lightest of design touches, embellishments, and adaptations have been incorporated. Indeed, it is not about what should be changed, but in fact, what should be preserved and protected.

A NEW EXPRESSION

The most obvious and important feature to be retained is Phantom’s commanding presence. This has been further enhanced by a new polished horizontal line between the daytime running lights above the Pantheon Grille. This gives Phantom new and assertive modernity, reflecting its driver-focused character.

A subtle geometric change to the Pantheon Grille makes the ‘RR’ Badge of Honour and Spirit of Ecstasy mascot more prominent when viewed from the front. The grille itself is now illuminated, a feature debuted and popularised in Ghost. The headlights are graced with intricate laser-cut bezel starlights, creating a visual connection with the Starlight Headliner inside, and adding further surprise and delight to Phantom’s night-time presence.

Phantom’s side profile retains Rolls-Royce’s signature short front and long rear overhang, long wheelbase, and broad c-pillar, the latter giving greater privacy for occupants. The silhouette preserves the elegant key lines running from the Spirit of Ecstasy to the tapering rear tail. The ‘split-belt’ line begins at the front fender and curves gently towards the rear door, emphasizing the car’s long dash-to-axle proportions, before falling gently towards the lantern-like rear lamps. The heavily undercut ‘waft line’ creates a strong shadow, visually signaling the marque’s unequaled ‘Magic Carpet Ride’.

The side profile is further enhanced with a suite of new wheels. A 3D, milled, stainless steel wheel with triangular facets is available to commission in a fully or part-polished finish. Alternatively, Phantom may be graced with a truly elegant disc wheel, recalling the romance of 1920’s Rolls-Royce motor cars. This disc wheel is produced in both polished stainless steel and black lacquer, perfectly encapsulating the sense of flight on land.

Responding to Phantom clients who have previously requested a darkened chrome grille surround, black bonnet reins, windscreen surround, and side frame finishers, these may now be commissioned. This aesthetic now enables Rolls-Royce to transform Phantom into the lightest of light or the darkest of dark appearances.

Phantom’s sumptuous interior remains almost unaltered: the steering wheel has been made slightly thicker, providing a more connected and immediate point of contact for the owner-driver.

Phantom and Phantom Extended have distinct characters of their own, representing two different seats of power. Phantom is now predominantly favored by the ever-increasing number of clients wishing to be in the driving seat themselves. For those preferring to command the road from the rear seat, Phantom Extended offers the definitive super-luxurious chauffeur-driven experience.

ROLLS-ROYCE CONNECTED

Now, Phantom includes the debut of ‘Rolls-Royce Connected’. This enables the owner to send an address directly to the motor car from Whispers, the Rolls-Royce private member’s Application, providing seamless navigation to an event, restaurant, dealership, or even the Home of Rolls-Royce itself.

‘Rolls-Royce Connected’ also displays the motor car’s location, security status, and current ‘health’ condition on Whispers; at the touch of a button, the owner can contact a preferred dealership for any servicing requirements or information about the car.

THE ‘POLES OF LUXURY’

As the marque’s pinnacle product, Phantom attracts an elite stratum of Rolls-Royce clients. Established and successful, at the top of their field and often in the public eye, these are determined and demanding people. It is no coincidence that Phantom attracts the most ambitious and challenging Bespoke commissions ever undertaken by Rolls-Royce.

The resulting creations − each an artistic masterpiece in its own right − illustrate a broader truth: since its inception, Phantom has always been whatever the client wants it to be; not only the ‘best car in the world’, but the best car for them and their world.

Self-evidently, there is no such thing as a ‘typical’ Phantom client. Spanning the ‘poles of luxury’, they may be ever-younger or older, modern or traditional, self-made or from long-established wealth. Their commissions reflect a full spectrum of interests and influences. At one extreme, Phantom takes on a subversive, almost rebellious character – youthful, dynamic and daring. At the other, Phantom transforms into an ode to luxury grandeur, and timelessness.

The challenge of the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective is to accommodate this vast expanse of client characteristics and desires in one pinnacle product. The eighth-generation Phantom has thus been deliberately designed to offer a ‘blank canvas’ for Bespoke personalization, capable of becoming whatever the client wishes it to be, and a true reflection of their individual style and character.

Phantom’s great strength and appeal are that it allows clients to position themselves anywhere between these ‘poles of luxury’, defining luxury on their own terms. And wherever that point happens to lie, they have the assurance that Phantom itself is − technically, materially, aesthetically, and dynamically − still the ‘best car in the world’.

PHANTOM PLATINO: THE RETURN OF FINE TEXTILES

To mark the introduction of Phantom Series II and to illustrate Rolls-Royce’s Bespoke capability, the marque has created a new Bespoke masterpiece, Phantom Platino, named after the silver-white finish of the coveted and precious metal, platinum.

Phantom Platino continues Rolls-Royce’s exploration into fabric interiors, a story that began in 2015 with the launch of Serenity, a truly Bespoke Phantom with a hand-painted, hand-embroidered silk interior. Heralding the next step in this significant journey, Phantom Platino introduces materials other than leather, an area of exploration for Rolls-Royce and a move that demonstrates a greater acceptance of alternative interior upholsteries.

Echoing the marque’s formative days, the front seats of Phantom Platino are finished in fine Rolls-Royce leather, while those in the rear are upholstered in fabric.

The beautiful tone-on-tone of Platino’s interior is achieved by combining two different fabrics; one created in an Italian mill for its durable yet luxurious appearance, the other derived from bamboo fibers, selected for its lustrous finish.

Both materials share an original repeating pattern based on an abstract interpretation of the Spirit of Ecstasy. In the silken textile, the design is smaller and woven into the fabric to create a more visually stimulating finish. It also appears in Phantom’s Gallery, right in the occupant’s line of sight, and on key touchpoints such as the armrest and centre console. The bamboo fabric is embroidered with larger icons, presenting a tufted appearance commonly found in interior design. This more resilient material is placed on the lower elements of the interior where they will need to withstand most contact.

The same design also appears on Phantom’s dashboard timepiece. The surround is made from a 3D-printed ceramic, a truly contemporary execution of traditional material. Set into an iced finish wood set, the tonal properties of the interior take Phantom to a beautiful and unsurpassed level of opulence.

The largest canvas in Phantom is the Starlight Headliner. In a unique design created especially for Rolls-Royce Platino, the ‘stars’ are placed to draw the eye rearwards, with whimsical shooting stars following the sweeping arc of the pattern.

Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, says, “We are acutely conscious of our clients’ esteem for and love of their Phantoms. They felt it could not be improved; but while naturally respecting that view, we believe it is always possible, indeed necessary, to gently go further in our pursuit of absolute perfection.

“The subtle changes we have made for the new Phantom Series II have all been minutely considered and meticulously executed. As Sir Henry Royce himself said: ‘Small things make perfection, but perfection is no small thing’.”

To commission your very own Rolls-Royce Phantom Series II, please contact our Concierge to schedule an appointment.

A new Rolls-Royce motor car always begins its life in winter. Temperatures at the Bespoke facility used by the marque, located in Arjeplog, Sweden, just 55km from the arctic circle, drop to -26 degrees centigrade and are further cooled to -40 degrees centigrade.

There are several reasons for subjecting the marque’s products to such extremes. When the first prototypes are built, engineers perform very basic tests in extreme conditions to ensure that each system is operational and functions at a basic level in a cold weather environment. This test is combined with the beginnings of the refinement process – the first ‘lessons’ in a finishing school that will form the foundations of a motor car worthy of the marque.

This begins with processes that are common to the automotive industry such as noise, vibration and harshness tests. The variables that affect this are manifold, spanning from the materials selected for major hardware components to the density of the door rubbers, bushing compounds, fastening materials and even properties of bonding agents. The performance of these variables can change considerably when subjected to extreme temperatures – likewise the efficiency of the motor car’s heating, ventilation, air conditioning and cooling systems.

As a true luxury brand, there is an additional component of winter testing that is of great importance to Rolls-Royce. This is defined by the marque’s engineers as ‘de-escalated time’, which enables incredible accuracy and control in creating the Rolls-Royce experience using Spectre’s chassis control systems, powertrain management and electronics control.

By driving on low traction surfaces such as snow and ice and wilfully destabilising Spectre, the engineers can create dynamic circumstances at low speeds that would ordinarily occur at high speeds. This can be reviewed and guided in situ and in slow motion, in doing so parametrising and finessing cold-weather vehicle performance in areas such as handling, controllability, stability, predictability and the ‘waftability’ that defines the Rolls-Royce experience.

De-escalated time enables engineers to create unparalleled detail in the motor car’s response, in doing so schooling Spectre to think, behave and communicate like a Rolls-Royce worthy of the marque. Following more than half a million kilometres of testing, 25% of this process has now been completed.

ROLLS-ROYCE SPECTRE: ROLLS-ROYCE 3.0

Rolls-Royce 3.0 represents the beginning of the marque’s bold electric future. The term ‘Rolls-Royce 3.0’ is a reference to the brand’s progress during its renaissance, which began in Goodwood, West Sussex on 1^st January 2003. The first Goodwood Rolls-Royce was Phantom, and it was underpinned by its own Bespoke architecture. This was Rolls-Royce 1.0. Following this, a new, highly flexible all-aluminium spaceframe architecture was conceived that could be adapted for multiple applications, including the current Phantom, Cullinan, Ghost and Coachbuild projects. This was Rolls-Royce 2.0. Rolls-Royce 3.0 is the integration of a fully electric power train and Decentralised Intelligence into the marque’s architecture.

In component terms, the simplicity of the car has increased significantly. However, the requirement for engineering Spectre – of sending this uneducated car to Rolls-Royce finishing school – is unparalleled. The definition of engineering has changed. Historically, engineering a Rolls-Royce has taken place in workshops. Spectre sees this pivot into the digital space.

Spectre is the most connected Rolls-Royce ever and each component within it is more intelligent than in any previous Rolls-Royce. It features 141,200 sender-receiver relations and has more than 1,000 functions with more than 25,000 sub functions. By comparison, Phantom has 51,000 sender-receiver relations, 456 functions and 647 sub functions.

The dramatically increased intelligence of Spectre’s electronic and electric powertrain architecture enables a free and direct exchange of detailed information between these 1,000+ functions with no centralised processing. While this has required engineers to increase the length of cabling from around 2 kilometres in existing Rolls-Royce products to 7 kilometres in Spectre, and to write more than 25 times more algorithms, it offers a significant step forward for the brand. A dedicated control can be created for each set of functions which enables unprecedented levels of detail and refinement, allowing for what Rolls-Royce chassis specialists are already calling “Rolls-Royce in high definition”.

ROLLS-ROYCE SPECTRE: ARCHITECTURE

In creating a design for Spectre, a generously proportioned, highly emotional body style was selected. This could only be enabled with the marque’s all-aluminium spaceframe architecture. Indeed, the scale is so far beyond other contemporary coupés that it has been designated an Electric Super Coupé. It is the brand’s belief that there is only one other contemporary product that occupies this space – Phantom Coupé. The marque’s designers consider Spectre to be Phantom Coupé’s spiritual successor. 

Indeed, when it came to styling Spectre, the marque’s designers considered the dimensions and emotionality of Phantom Coupé, and other grand coupés from Rolls-Royce’s past. Not only did they create this emotion with Spectre’s fastback silhouette and size, but they also carried forward a key design feature of Phantom Coupé: the iconic split headlights, a design tenet that Rolls-Royce has owned for many decades.

This design typology was selected in consultation with the marque’s clients, who found the idea of a Phantom-scale Electric Super Coupé highly appealing. However, the decision to pursue this aesthetic was also strategic. Leaders within the brand wanted the first fully electric Rolls-Royce to be highly emotional, something that shows that electric powertrain technology can deliver on the promise of such grand, seductive and compelling styling. While Spectre represents an historical moment for Rolls-Royce, it is also an historic moment for electrification – the technology is now able to contain the Rolls-Royce experience.

The flexibility of Rolls-Royce’s proprietary architecture, which is reserved for the marque’s exclusive use and does not underpin mass market cars, enables the exterior design to carry the scale required to create the presence of an authentic Rolls-Royce. This is plain to see in Spectre’s wheel size – it will be the first coupé equipped with 23-inch wheels since 1926.

The flexibility of the marque’s architecture also enabled designers to dramatize the coupé experience. By placing the floor halfway between the sill structures rather than on top or underneath the sills, there is a highly aerodynamic channel for the battery, providing a perfectly smooth underfloor profile. Likewise, this creates a low seating position and enveloping cabin experience.

By moving the bulkhead location, designers and engineers have also been able to deepen the dashboard location to truly cocoon passengers. This is amplified with a dramatically low windscreen rake and incredibly efficient airflow profile. This, along with other intelligent design solutions such as an aerodynamically tuned Spirit of Ecstasy mascot, contributes to a drag coefficient (cd) of just 0.26 in early prototypes.

The battery location, which is enabled by the marque’s architecture, unlocks another benefit that is commensurate with the Rolls-Royce experience. By creating wiring and piping channels between the floor of the car and roof of the battery, engineers have created a secondary function for the battery – 700kg of sound deadening.


ROLLS-ROYCE SPECTRE: THE EXTRAORDINARY UNDERTAKING CONTINUES

With the winter testing phase completed, Spectre will continue its global testing program. The Electric Super Coupé still has to complete nearly two million kilometres before the marque’s engineers will consider this undertaking complete prior to first customer deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2023. 

For questions or pre-ordering details, please contact our sales specialist at concierge@postoakmotors.com

In a historic announcement, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars announced today, that on-road testing of its first fully electric motor car is imminent. In announcing this seminal moment for the marque, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Chief Executive Officer, Torsten Müller-Ötvös, said:

“Today is the most significant day in the history of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars since 4^th May, 1904. On that date, our founding fathers, Charles Rolls and Sir Henry Royce, first met and agreed that they were going to create ‘the best motor car in the world’. 

“Using the most advanced technology available to them at the time and by applying their remarkable engineering minds, these two pioneers elevated early internal combustion engine cars, from noisy, uncomfortable and rudimentary means of transportation, by setting a completely new benchmark of distinction. 

“The cars they created, introduced to the world a true luxury experience and secured for Rolls-Royce the ultimate pinnacle position that it continues to occupy, unchallenged, to this day.  The marque has continued to define the very best in internal combustion motoring for more than a century.

“Today, 117 years later, I am proud to announce that Rolls-Royce is to begin the on-road testing program for an extraordinary new product that will elevate the global all-electric car revolution and create the first – and finest – super-luxury product of its type. This is not a prototype. It’s the real thing, it will be tested in plain sight and our clients will take first deliveries of the car in the fourth quarter of 2023.”


A PROPHECY FULFILLED

“The use of electric motors is not a new concept for Rolls-Royce. Sir Henry Royce was fascinated by all things electrified, and his first venture, named F. H. Royce and Company, created dynamos, electric crane motors and patented the bayonet-style light bulb fitting.

“However, it was Charles Rolls who truly prophesied an electrified future for automobiles. In April 1900 he experienced an early electric motor car named the Columbia and declared its electric drive to be ideal.

“Rolls said, ‘The electric car is perfectly noiseless and clean. There is no smell or vibration, and they should become very useful when fixed charging stations can be arranged. But for now, I do not anticipate that they will be very serviceable – at least for many years to come.’

“Charles Rolls’ prophecy has been the subject of constant consideration during the marque’s Goodwood era. But we have not been satisfied that available technology could support the Rolls-Royce experience. Until now.

“Now is the time to change the course of the future of luxury.

“We embark on this bold new future with a huge advantage. Electric drive is uniquely and perfectly suited to Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, more so than any other automotive brand. It is silent, refined and creates torque almost instantly, going on to generate tremendous power.  This is what we at Rolls-Royce call ‘waftability’.

“At Rolls-Royce, we have been experimenting with an electric powertrain for some time. In 2011 we revealed 102EX, a fully operational all-electric Phantom. We followed this in 2016 with our fully electric 103EX, which represented our vision for the marque several decades into the future.”


A PROMISE KEPT

“These extraordinary products prompted a huge amount of interest in electric powertrain technology amongst our clients. They considered it as the perfect fit for Rolls-Royce. And, over the past decade, I have been repeatedly asked, ‘When will Rolls-Royce go electric?’ and ‘When will you produce your first electric car?’

“I answered with an unambiguous promise: ‘Rolls-Royce will go electric, starting this decade.’ Today, I’m keeping my word.”


A REMARKABLE UNDERTAKING

“Charles Rolls’ prophecy and my promise have led us to a seminal moment for the marque. Rolls-Royce has embarked on a historic and unique undertaking, which today becomes a reality. Our designers and engineers have worked relentlessly to bring us here: we are now ready to commence road-testing of the first all-electric Rolls-Royce in history.

“This fundamental change in our powertrain technology requires that we challenge every single aspect of the product before we offer it to the most discerning and demanding individuals in the world – our Rolls-Royce clients.

“To do this, we have conceived the most demanding testing program in Rolls-Royce’s history. We will cover 2.5 million kilometers – a simulation of more than 400 years of use for a Rolls-Royce, on average – and we will travel to all four corners of the world to push this new motor car to the limit. 

“You will see these test cars on roads, around the world. Look out for them – they will be in plain sight. They will be tested in all conditions and overall terrains on their multi-million-mile journey – that will literally accelerate Rolls-Royce into the future.” 


TRULY FLEXIBLE ARCHITECTURE OF OUR OWN

“In 2017, we debuted Phantom, and with it the marque’s proprietary aluminum architecture: a scalable and flexible spaceframe that would underpin all forthcoming Rolls-Royce motor cars. This unique technology – developed for Rolls-Royce by Rolls-Royce and reserved for the marque’s exclusive use – was created to form the foundation of not just different internal combustion engine models, as it now does with Cullinan and Ghost, but models with completely different powertrains.

“To this end, our forthcoming electric car benefits from the Rolls-Royce architecture and therefore the extraordinary experience of a Rolls-Royce on the road. Free of any group platform sharing strategy, we were able to integrate our plans for an electric powertrain into the architecture’s initial design and ensure that this extraordinary new product meets the extremely high expectations of our clients.”


A NEW NAME: A NEW LEGACY

“This Rolls-Royce is the fulfillment of a prophecy and it represents a promise kept as we embark upon a unique undertaking. It is the beginning of a new legacy for our brand. In that spirit, we have decided on a completely new name for this car. A name that is as powerful and evocative as the nameplates that have served us so perfectly for the past century – names like Phantom, Ghost and Wraith. It’s a name that perfectly fits the ethereal and other-worldly environment within which our products exist – a name that we have reserved especially for this moment: Spectre.

“Spectre is a name given to otherworldly beings synonymous with great power and apparition; creatures of an alternative realm that make their presence felt through fleeting manifestation. A specter forces the world to pause. It dominates the space it occupies. Then, as quickly as it appears, it dissipates, leaving a wake of exhilaration, energy, and intrigue.

“This name perfectly matches the extraordinary Rolls-Royce that we are announcing today – a motor car that makes its presence felt before disappearing into a world inaccessible to all but the very few. As a quintessentially British brand, we have selected the British spelling, however, the meaning is universal.


AN EXTRAORDINARY FUTURE

“With this new product, we set out our credentials for the full electrification of our entire product portfolio by 2030. By then, Rolls-Royce will no longer be in the business of producing or selling any internal combustion engine products.

“Spectre is the living fulfillment of Charles Rolls’ Prophecy. My Promise, made on behalf of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, is kept. Now we begin a remarkable undertaking. I am proud that we will continue to propel the world’s most progressive and influential women and men into a brilliant, electrified future.”