I seldom feel intimidated when I sit behind the wheel of a new car. That's a good thing, you might say, since I do it over 100 times a year. But this time, I have to admit that I felt like a dwarf. With great care and a ton of precautions I'm not used to take, I slid into the chauffeur's seat of the 2007 Rolls-Royce Phantom.
Before going any further, let me make things perfectly clear: I am not and will never be part of the target audience for the English company. Indeed, the typical Rolls-Royce buyer is a business owner with a multi-million dollar budget and 4-to-8 cars in his/her driveway.
Yet, for a vehicle that's worth nearly $500,000, the biggest surprise comes from the fact that 95 percent of North American Rolls-Royce owners choose to drive their aristocratic saloon themselves instead of having a chauffeur or valet driving them around. How about that!
Beauty and order
Luxury, calm and delight -- words used by poets to describe life inside a castle. Well, that's basically the theme that Rolls-Royce applied to the Phantom. Obviously, there is not much to argue about the design of this car. The outrageous dimensions (229-inch long or almost 6 meters, 78-inch wide or 2 meters) easily allow the Phantom to enforce its will. And since the styling virtually never changes, keeping its royal appearance and oversized grille, we can skip to more important things.
As was expected, the Phantom made heads turn. During our brief road test in Laval, Quebec, it even got the attention of policemen who were driving in the opposite direction; despite having their lightbars on, they slowed down a bit to enjoy the show.
The winged figurine on the hood, nicknamed Spirit of Ecstasy, is still present and still the main symbol of the car. It now benefits from its own anti-theft system. If you try to grab the ornament, it will automatically disappear into the hood and activate a resounding alarm.
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| Luxury and opulence emanate from the Phantom. |
Before going any further, let me make things perfectly clear: I am not and will never be part of the target audience for the English company. Indeed, the typical Rolls-Royce buyer is a business owner with a multi-million dollar budget and 4-to-8 cars in his/her driveway.
Yet, for a vehicle that's worth nearly $500,000, the biggest surprise comes from the fact that 95 percent of North American Rolls-Royce owners choose to drive their aristocratic saloon themselves instead of having a chauffeur or valet driving them around. How about that!
Beauty and order
Luxury, calm and delight -- words used by poets to describe life inside a castle. Well, that's basically the theme that Rolls-Royce applied to the Phantom. Obviously, there is not much to argue about the design of this car. The outrageous dimensions (229-inch long or almost 6 meters, 78-inch wide or 2 meters) easily allow the Phantom to enforce its will. And since the styling virtually never changes, keeping its royal appearance and oversized grille, we can skip to more important things.
As was expected, the Phantom made heads turn. During our brief road test in Laval, Quebec, it even got the attention of policemen who were driving in the opposite direction; despite having their lightbars on, they slowed down a bit to enjoy the show.
The winged figurine on the hood, nicknamed Spirit of Ecstasy, is still present and still the main symbol of the car. It now benefits from its own anti-theft system. If you try to grab the ornament, it will automatically disappear into the hood and activate a resounding alarm.
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| Spirit of Ecstasy is equipped with an antitheft device. |