Phantom VIII is Rolls-Royce’s largest and grandest car yet
This is Rolls-Royce’s largest and grandest car ever, born from the same line as those used by Elvis and Queen Elizabeth II and 50 Cent
Rolls-Royce has introduced the Phantom VIII. This is Rolls-Royce’s largest and grandest car ever, born from the same line as those used by Elvis and Queen Elizabeth II and 50 Cent, plus myriad tycoons and oligarchs the world over. The revamped saloon will cost US$440,000.
Unveiled to the public in London today, just days after the UK moved to ban combustion vehicles by 2040, the 2018 Rolls-Royce Phantom is only the second modern version of the flagship state car that Rolls first introduced in 1925. BMW Group unveiled the first truly modern Phantom in 2003 and used it until 2011; Phantom VIII is the first time since then that the car has been updated completely. In the years before 2003, Rolls was producing the Phantom VI on an incredible run from 1968 to 1990.
The car’s longevity is a testament to its design, which has withstood the test of time with grace and aplomb. That success is, in turn, a challenge to the Rolls-Royce designers who laboured to birth the new one in Goodwood, England. The half-million-dollar Phantom is Rolls’s biggest money-making series around the world. In this rare air, there is no margin for error.
“Rolls-Royce will start to go electric in the next decade,” Torsten Müller-Ötvös, the brand’s chief, said in an interview. “You need to have then an effortless charging situation,” as its wealthy clientele isn’t in the mood to spend more than “a couple of minutes” topping up batteries.
The Looks
From my first experiences with the car, it looks like the team can rest easy. Everything about the Phantom VIII is smooth, especially how it looks. Giles Taylor, the director of design for Rolls-Royce, deserves much credit here for accomplishing what many have not—creating a new iteration of an old car so that it feels fresh but familiar. His Phantom VIII manages to look both modern and majestic.
