[fm]: Introducing The New Rolls-Royce Phantom, A Pinnacle In Luxury Motoring

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has taken the wraps off the much-anticipated new Phantom. This eight-generation motor car has
been given a bespoke new architecture, seen a complete redesign replete with a personalized gallery and promises to be the most technologically advanced car in the British luxury maker’s portfolio.

There has been a great deal of hype leading up to this unveil, for the Phantom represents the very height of motoring luxury. Its custodian is aware of the pressures in presenting a product that performs this task for the modern patron. Yes, there are more expensive, flashier cars on the market, yet since its introduction by Sir Henry Royce in 1925, the Phantom has been the ultimate choice of transport for the world’s most influential, powerful and glamorous.

“We started this project five years ago,” Giles Taylor tells me as I meet him for a preview ahead of the global reveal. To set the mood, the creative director for Rolls-Royce took his designers to Westbourne Grove in my neighborhood of Notting Hill, the pretty west London street lined with pastel colored Victorian homes, independent shops and boutiques. 

He removed the team from the safety-net of the automotive world to engage in a dialogue with the broader creative community. Here they met with architects, designers, craftsmen - people who represent the world of modern British luxury. They looked at buildings, visited exhibitions, sat in local cafés and mulled over creative ideas. Then they returned to Goodwood and began sketching.

Designing the new car required an acute understanding of the complex world of modern luxury for the Rolls-Royce’s highly discerning customers.“It had to have an effortless elegance, be the epitome of style, have great poise, a gentlemanly sense of fair play,” offers Taylor. He pictures the sort of sophisticated guest who, long after they have departed a party, leaves a distinct impression.

By: Nargess Banks (Forbes). 

Photo 1: Business Standard. 

Photo 2: Forbes. 

Review: Emerging Market Formulations & Research Unit, Flagship Records.