Still at the heart of luxury, and unashamedly so
Roll-Royce’s Vision Next 100, takes the Silver Lady’s dynamism to a new level
“In my entire career I have never had a brief quite so open, and I probably won’t again,” says Giles Taylor. “It’s really about being serious and credible, while also letting the ideas run wild.
“I can only hope that I’m around long enough to see some of those ideas come to fruition.”
Taylor is director of design for Rolls-Royce, the man who, since joining the BMW-owned historic British carmaker five years ago, has been key in reshaping its image from the slightly stuffy to the excitingly dynamic.
But, as production of the seventh-generation Phantom ends, the company’s latest vehicle — the 103EX, or Vision Next 100 — takes that dynamism to a new level.
The imposing, 5.9m long, 1.6m high car is, from the exterior, identifiably Rolls-Royce: the sweeping lines, the long bonnet, Pantheon grille and Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament.
But much else is ground-breaking, indeed, there are hints of Lady Penelope’s futuristic Rolls-Royce from the Thunderbirds. It has a coach door and one-way, dark glass clamshell canopy, with a step emerging from the running board to allow easier egress.
