I have never owned a Rolls-Royce, and
unless things change dramatically in the newspaper
business, I doubt if I ever will. However, I have sat in
the odd one or two and even been chauffeured in one. But
to be quite honest about it all, does anyone buy such a
vehicle, other than for the ‘pose’ value?
However, there has always been a market
for such grandiose vehicles, the original Maybach (and the
new Maybach), the Bugatti Royale or the Bucciali TAV all
spring to mind immediately. These were not ‘sporting’
vehicles in the mould of the Bentley’s for example, but
imposing chariots that said one thing above everything -
“I’ve got the money. I sit in the back. The chap up
the front is just the chauffeur.”
However,
RR became synonymous with all things upper class and a
symbol of British aristocracy and the ‘best’. Whether
it deserved all the adulation was another thing
altogether, especially when the RR’s for many years had
General Motors Hydramatic transmissions for example.
It was on July 28, 1998 when the toffs
in the UK choked on their morning tea and toast, as BMW
took control of RR, that bastion of everything that the
British Raj had ever stood for. With Bentley going to VW
and RR to BMW, the blitzkrieg was totally successful.
To
both the German manufacturers credit, they didn’t take
the radiator badges to Germany and stick them on tarted up
BeeEmms or VeeDubs, but VW returned Bentley to Crewe in
the UK, and BMW built a new manufacturing plant at the
home of Roll-Royce, Goodwood, West Sussex, on the south
coast of England.
The new RR has been given the name
Phantom, which takes its title from a succession of
between wars models and will spawn a series of forthcoming
variants including convertible, long-wheelbase and
armoured versions.
Despite
a somewhat bland and (for me) dated exterior, the result
is a thoroughly modern interpretation of the traditional
Rolls-Royce shape, draped over a full aluminium spaceframe
structure.
According to the factory, it presents
classic Rolls-Royce shape comprising a long, tall bonnet
and radiator grille, an even longer wheelbase, short front
and long rear overhang, solid aluminium A pillar and a
thick C pillar that offers rear-seat passengers the
ultimate in privacy and safety. Riding on a expansive
3570mm wheelbase, the Phantom body measures a huge 5834 mm
long (Maybach is 6200 mm), 1990 mm wide, and an equally
imposing 1632 mm high.
The four-door, five-seat Phantom weighs
2485kg, yet thanks to a purpose-built 6.75 litre, 60
degree 48 valve V12 with 338 kW and 720 Nm of torque and
six-speed ZF automatic transmission will record 0-100 kays
in 5.9 seconds and has a top speed of some 240 km/h
(however, one cannot ignore the Maybach with its 405 kW
and 900 Nm of torque recording 0-100 in 5.4 seconds).
One very distinct difference between
the new Roller and the Maybach is in their handling of the
rear doors. Maybach is conventional, swung from the B
pillar, but RR have gone back to the old ‘suicide
doors’ hinged from the C pillar. Since the chap in the
rear seat is the one who matters, this may be a better
compromise, but reports I have read suggest that the doors
are too long to open fully from the rear. However, as
pointed out earlier, you are not supposed to do this by
yourself - that’s what the chauffeur, footmen, doormen
are there for!
For the ultimate in ‘uselessness’
the RR boasts floating and synchronized wheel centres to
ensure all four RR badges remain upright at all times. Now
that’s really got you lusting after one, hasn’t it!
But if you are in the marketplace to be
looked at while deciding whether to buy a British Football
Club, then from the inside of an RR would probably be the
best place to make that decision.
Price? Does it matter? If you have to ask, you can’t
afford it, but I believe it is somewhere between 50 and 60
million baht in this country.