Phantom materializes

BMW's Rolls-Royce Motor Cars unveils its first model, an aluminum-bodied sedan with rear-hinged rear doors and a new V12.

“It is certainly not a BMW,” stated Rolls-Royce Chairman and Chief Executive Tony Gott at January's North American International Auto Show in Detroit. That is the overriding engineering, technology, and design message from the creators of the new Rolls-Royce Phantom. “Although the acquisition of the rights to the name was agreed between Rolls-Royce plc and our parent company, BMW Group, it was clear that ‘Project Rolls-Royce,’ as we were originally called, should be an independent company, said Gott, adding, “At the same time, though, it has had all the engineering resources and technological know-how of the BMW Group at its disposal.”

The result of that acquisition is the aluminum spaceframe-bodied, double wishbone/multi-link suspended, 6.75-L V12-engined Phantom, a UK assembled, Anglo-German top-of-the-market car that is understood to contain less than 10% BMW components, although it certainly does contain an extrapolation of BMW technology.