Driving a Rolls Royce Phantom
You may have heard of that infamous saying, “He who dies with the most toys wins,” well, my toy list just expanded after driving the Rolls Royce Phantom.
I am making room for a very special toy, a toy that celebrated 2 special events recently, the 100 Year Anniversary of Rolls-Royce and the 1,000th custom built Rolls-Royce Phantom made in Goodwood, England. I had the distinct pleasure to get behind the wheel of a Rolls-Royce Phantom that carries a lineage of the Rolls-Royce “Silver Ghost”, which founder Frederick Henry Royce called “the best car he ever made” and became know as “the best car in the world.” With breeding like this, and 80 years of craftsmanship, the expectations were high.
Two experts on the Phantom, Bob Austin and Terrence Easton of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC, walked me through the many features of this magnificent automobile. The Rolls-Royce Phantom was on display by Miller Motor Cars of Greenwich, along with many other exquisite products at the Robb Report magazine’s “Luxury on Greenwich Harbor” in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States.
The technology in this car is found under the hood and not splattered across the dashboard. The instrumentation is simple and no nonsense. You are not encumbered with dials, and fancy read-outs; though you are surrounded by craftsmanship that is second to none. The interior is one area that the owner can put his or her signature on by selecting from a broad array of colors, materials, such as cashmere and leather, wood and wood inlays, and on and on; in truth, however, the options list is virtually as long as an owner’s imagination.
The Phantom for its size is extraordinary, with a top speed of 130 mph it can accelerate 0-60 mph in 5.7 second, and 0-100 mph in a mere 5.9 seconds. Under the hood it boosts a 6.75-litre V12, with maximum power of 453 hp, so don’t worry about running a bit late to the theatre.
So, do you wonder what it is like behind the wheel of a Rolls-Royce Phantom? I was in a state of euphoria piloting the automobile through some of the back areas of Greenwich; where a sweeping back road turned into a slight bend, where entering a long highway entrance ramp became a short merge, and other highway traffic became oblivious to me. Pressing the accelerator of the Phantom was like pushing your foot through the wind, you expect a forceful push from the engine, but not in the Phantom, where the engine produces all that extraordinary power, but it is smooth, quiet with little to no engine push. The ride was so smooth that I had to keep glancing at the speedometer to make sure I was abiding by the law and driving at the appropriate speed, though the temptation to check out the top speed did cross my mind. Tooling around in a Rolls-Royce Phantom was the highlight of my day at the Robb Report event, which also happened to be my birthday. Being a winner, I am baffled though on how do I get the Phantom off my toy list, and into my hands?