100 years of the Rolls-Royce Phantom – Reportage
100 years of the Rolls-Royce Phantom
The story of the Phantom spans 100 years and the entire world. Today, Phantom owners can be found in more than 100 countries on six continents, with each individual car crafted to satisfy both its owner’s personal tastes and codes of luxury and the specific circumstances and environments in which it is used.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars looks back at some of the key locations, moments and people that shaped the development and philosophy of the Phantom, from its launch in 1925 to today.
Le Rayol-Canadel-sur-Mer
From 1911 until his death in 1933, Sir Henry Royce spent the winter months in the south of France, in a secluded retreat on the Côte d’Azur. He initially stayed at Claude Johnson’s villa until Villa Mimosa was completed in 1917; Royce used this location to test and refine many Rolls-Royces, including the first car to bear the Phantom name.
The combination of high-speed drives from England to France and the wide, cinematic winding roads of the Riviera provided the ultimate environment for review and improvement. From Villa Mimosa, Royce obsessively refined the Phantom to deliver an experience as unique then as it is today: the effortless mastery of immense power.
The influence of Sir Henry’s winter residence is captured in modern materials used by the brand, including Canadel interior wood panels and Duality Twill bamboo fabric, inspired by the vast bamboo forests in Le Jardin des Méditerranées, which borders Villa Mimosa.
West Wittering
In the warmer months, Sir Henry returned from France to Elmstead, his beloved home in the village of West Wittering on the Sussex coast. Just eight miles from the current home of Rolls-Royce, Elmstead remains a pilgrimage site for enthusiasts, offering a personal and emotional connection to one of the founders that is still felt throughout the company.
As he had done at Villa Mimosa, Royce established a separate studio nearby for his team of designers and engineers. Although the Rolls-Royce factory was halfway across the country in Derby, Royce still insisted on personally approving each new part, so cars arrived almost daily to be inspected, modified and approved before returning. Each trip was a round trip of more than 400 miles, and some of those same roads are still used to this day by the brand’s testing and development specialists.
Next to Elmstead, Royce acquired 60 acres of land, where he devoted himself to farming and horticulture with characteristic zeal and almost obsessive attention to detail; qualities that extended even to his leisure activities. In addition to being a skilled technical draughtsman, Royce also became a highly skilled watercolorist. His stunning studies of scenes in West Wittering and Le Canadel still provide inspiration for Rolls-Royce designers who wish to immerse themselves in his world.
London, home of the Phantom
For all its global reach, London remains the spiritual home of the Phantom. For much of the twentieth century, Rolls-Royce was based at 14-15 Conduit Street, near Savile Row in London’s fashionable Mayfair, where Charles Rolls had established one of Britain’s first car dealerships in 1905. Here Rolls held demonstration rides of early automobiles and met clients from London’s social elite. The building’s role in automotive history was commemorated in 2010 by English Heritage with a Blue Plaque, unveiled by Lord Montagu of Beaulieu.
London also played a crucial role in the Phantom’s rebirth. In the late 1990s, the brand’s designers set up a secret studio in a former bank building on the north side of Hyde Park. In what was known simply as “The Bank,” a carefully assembled team, led by Chief Designer Ian Cameron, worked on a secret project codenamed RR01.
The mission of Cameron and his team was simple, but hugely ambitious: to create a new Rolls-Royce from a blank sheet of paper. They were given only three stipulations: the car had to have very large wheels, the famous Pantheon grille and, of course, the Spirit of Ecstasy ornament.
Chief Exterior Designer Marek Djordjevic turned to past designs for inspiration. A purpose-built Phantom II from the early 1930s would prove to be the most influential, providing the design elements that still characterize every Goodwood-era Rolls-Royce – most notably the famous “waft line,” which rises from the rear to the front along the underside of the bodywork, reminiscent of a motor yacht at speed.
Australia: a new millennium
When the first Goodwood Phantom was delivered on January 1, 2003, the story began all over again. The car didn’t just drive out of the showroom, it immediately began a 4,500-mile journey across Australia. From Perth to the east coast, through a land as vast as it is rugged. It was a symbolic journey: the Phantom had proven itself once again, not as a museum piece, but as a car that set out to conquer the world again.
In 2025, that very car returned to Goodwood, to be taken in hand again by the engineers at the centennial celebration. The circle was completed.
102EX: forward to electric
Tradition and the future sometimes clash, but at Rolls-Royce they belong together. In 2011, the brand presented the 102EX, an electric Phantom that was never intended for production. It was an experiment, a search for how silence, power and agility could go together without a fuel engine. Although the car did not get beyond the concept phase, it was the beginning of an electric road that is visible today in Rolls-Royce’s model range. Just think of the Rolls-Royce Spectre.
A century later
The Phantom is more than a car. It has transported royalty, inspired artists and served businessmen. He was stage, workspace and gallery. Each generation contributed something new, without losing the essence that Sir Henry Royce and Charles Rolls once envisioned.
One hundred years of the Phantom means one hundred years of stories, spanning continents and cultures. From the Riviera to London, from Sussex to Australia: each place left its mark on the car’s character. In 2025, that heritage will be brought together in a new Bespoke model that not only marks a milestone, but also looks forward.
