Rolls-Royce’s Phantom has always been the marque’s magnum opus. And for its 100th anniversary, the folks at Goodwood stepped up their game and unveiled the Phantom Centenary Private Collection, a special edition model brimming with gold accents, limited to just 25 units.
The exterior gold accents are numerous, but the most striking is the gilded Spirit of Ecstasy. It’s based on its original 1925 mould, and cast in solid 18-carat gold for durability, then plated in 24-carat gold for a ‘flawless finish’, according to Rolls-Royce. The ‘RR’ Badges of Honour, located on the front, rear, and sides of the Phantom, are also presented in 24-carat gold and white enamel—a first for the marque.
Even the 6.75-litre V12 engine with 563 hp and 900 Nm gets the gold treatment, with the engine cover specially designed and finished in Arctic White and detailed with 24-carat gold accents.
Rolls-Royce says the Phantom Centenary Private Collection’s exterior is designed to evoke the timeless elegance of a black-and-white film star and the glamour of the Golden Age of Hollywood. The bespoke two-tone paint job, called Super Champagne Crystal over Arctic White and Black, is a callback to the silhouettes of 1930s Phantoms. This metallic shimmer is achieved by infusing the clear coat with iridescent particles of crushed glass.
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Completing the exterior is a set of Phantom disc wheels that are deeply symbolic according to Goodwood, with each wheel engraved with 25 lines to honour the 25 cars in the collection, for a total of 100 lines to celebrate the centenary year.
Stepping inside the Rolls-Royce Phantom Centenary Private Collection, you are greeted by seats inspired by the 1926 Phantom of Love commission. The rear seat artwork unfolds across a complex design that Rolls-Royce describes as “three layers of storytelling”. Perhaps these are meant to be admired rather than be seated in? We digress.
This multi-layered artwork begins with a background print showing places and artefacts from the Phantom’s history. The design then moves to the second layer, which features previous Phantoms of the past in ‘finely drawn detail’. Finally, the third and uppermost layer features embroideries that abstractly represent seven “significant owners” from every generation of the Phantom.
The story is rendered on a bespoke fabric that took Rolls-Royce and a fashion atelier over 12 months to develop. The embroidery is crafted using Golden Sands and Seashell thread, which likely refers to colours in simpler terms.
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Anyway, these threads combine to form more than 160,000 stitches, a total that is likely more than the that of your living room sofa, and spans across 45 individual panels, with each aligned precisely and fitted around the curvatures of the seats, making these seats the most complicated ones from Rolls-Royce to date.
Up front, the driver and front passenger seats feature laser-etched artwork based on hand drawings from a designer. These artworks feature motifs that reference the Phantom’s history, such as a rabbit design, a throwback to the codename for the 2003 Rolls-Royce relaunch called Roger Rabbit, and a seagull, which recalls the codename for the 1923 Phantom I prototype.
According to Rolls-Royce, the pièce de résistance of the Phantom Centenary Private Collection is the Anthology Gallery. It features 50 3D-printed, vertically brushed aluminium fins interlaced like pages of a book. These fins even have letters sculpted into them that are readable from both sides, containing press quotes.
This fin sculpture is then lit with shifting illuminations, which Rolls-Royce says is akin to the shimmer of falling fireworks, with the brushed edges of the fin creating reflections that change as you move around.
Even the wood trimmings on the Phantom Centenary Private Collection have what Rolls-Royce says is the most “intricate woodwork ever created”, taking a year of development. The pieces depict geographical maps, winding routes, sweeping landscapes, floral elements, and depictions of experimental models.
Unsurprisingly, every single piece features gold-leafing to create dimension and texture, combining 3D multi-directional marquetry, laser etching, and 3D ink layering. There are even roads crafted from 24-carat gold, with each single piece painstakingly cut and paired. Contributing to the 40,000 hours Rolls-Royce took to build the Phantom Centenary Private Collection.
For the signature Starlight Headliner, it has 440,000 stitches and features a design referencing the mulberry tree under which Henry Royce was photographed.
So, how much will the Rolls-Royce Phantom Centenary Private Collection cost? A cool GBP2.5 million (approx. RM14 million), Autocar reports. Unlike most cars, though, this here will most likely increase in value… just too bad all 25 units have already been spoken for.
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