Ninety two years since it was first announced, the Rolls-Royce Phantom is the world’s longest-lived model name in automotive history. Fourteen years since its last edition back in 2003, we finally now get a look at the Phantom VIII that launches in 2018.
“The need to modernize the Phantom was absolutely clear for us,” Rolls-Royce design director Giles Taylor said at the official reveal event. “We wanted to give this car a little more energy.” and energize they have! The grill on the front has been vertically elongated a slight bit, with chrome lines at the ends running upwards and around the hood of the car. The Spirit of Ecstasy even sits half an inch higher than usual. The new headlights exude raw power with the discerning, glaring illuminating outline around the conventional headlights.
The car rests on a new aluminum space-frame that will now become a standard for all Rolls-Royce cars moving forward. Dubbed the Architecture of Luxury (the RR guys never run out of fancy names), the new frame is 30 percent more rigid than the Phantom’s old platform, and helps keep weight down and improve ride comfort.
Usually designed to be more luxurious on the inside than out, the Phantom like every RR car features carriage style doors. The car also features the Starlight Headliner (the longest one yet) which makes you feel at one with the cosmos as the roof lights up like a starry sky. Once your eyes move downwards, you notice the center console which comes complete with whisky glasses and decanter, champagne flutes, and a Coolbox. The designers even created a display on the front above the dashboard, code-named The Gallery, which displays artworks that the owners can commission from famed artists, because anyone who can afford a Rolls-Royce probably has a highly refined taste for art.
There’s no official price tag on the Phantom VIII yet, but considering how it pretty much is the most luxurious car in the world as of its announcement, I’m sure selling a kidney (or even both) won’t even cover the car’s paint-job… which probably contains diamond dust, if it is anything like this 2017 Ghost.
Designer: Rolls-Royce
