2025 will witness Rolls-Royce, a brand considered by many as the last word in automotive luxury, celebrate 100 years of its most iconic nameplate – the Phantom. “Through eight generations, Phantom’s fundamental purpose as Rolls-Royce’s pinnacle product has always been the same: to be the most magnificent, desirable and, above all, effortless motor car in the world – the very best of the best” states Chris Brownridge, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.
Throughout its 100-year legacy, Rolls-Royce has reserved the Phantom badge for the grandest and most sophisticated product in the marque’s portfolio. The Phantom has spawned eight generations and we take a look at the best iterations of the Rolls-Royce Phantom and the numerous advancements introduced that helped Rolls-Royce continue to tag the Phantom as the ‘Best Car in the World’.

Phantom I: Origins
Launched in 1906 under the Silver Ghost nomenclature, Rolls-Royce kept on perfecting the 40/50 H.P. chassis year after year. By 1921, the existing Silver Ghost chassis had reached its performance peak, prompting Rolls-Royce to develop an entirely new chassis for the 40/50 H.P. which took four years to develop and came to be known as the New Phantom. Launched in 1925, the new Phantom featured a new chassis, a larger engine than the Silver Ghost with overhead valves instead of the Silver Ghost’s side valves.

Phantom II: One-off becomes highly prized Continental
2029 saw Rolls-Royce announce the arrival of Phantom II, featuring numerous engineering improvements and upgraded components. The only person unimpressed by the company’s recent feat was founder Royce himself, deducing the Phantom II ‘too large’ for his personal use. This led the designers to produce a close-coupled car, 26EX – ‘EX’ standing for ‘Experimental’. It sat on an adapted shorter Phantom II chassis, ideal for high-speed and long-distance touring on Europe’s straight roads. What started as a one-off model for Charles Royce became the now highly prized Phantom II Continental.

Phantom III: Competition breeds V12
The pre-World War II era saw customers demanding cars with comfortable, luxury vehicles without compromising on power. American rivals like Cadillac, Lincoln and Packard were offering straight-8, V12 and even V16-cylinder engines. This prompted Rolls-Royce to discontinue its long-serving straight-six engine and replace it with a new V12 engine on the new Phantom III, launched in 1936. With this, the Phantom III became the first Rolls-Royce to feature a V12 engine, a definitive characteristic found on Rolls-Royce Phantoms of the modern day as well.

Phantom IV: Royal Intervention
The post-war austerity forced Rolls-Royce to make its cars less complex, easier to service and much less expensive to produce, leading them to conjure up the new Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith with a new straight-six engine. That could have marked an end to the Phantom’s story up until a fortuitous intervention by the Royal Family. In 1950, Rolls-Royce was asked to supply a formal limousine for the British Royal Family and produced a ‘one-off’ straight-8 long-chassis limousine with coachwork by H. J. Mulliner. Following that, the marque procured demands from other Royalty and Heads of State for the same car, making them realise the one-off model was worthy of the Phantom nameplate, thereby getting crowned the Phantom IV. Over the next seven years, Rolls-Royce made eighteen examples only and the original car given to the British Royal Family, codename Maharajah, remains in active service at the Royal Mews under that name to this day.

Phantom V and VI: Final Era of Coachbuilding
1959 witnessed the launch of the Rolls-Royce Phantom V. Rolls-Royce produced 832 examples of the Phantom V over 13 years with coachwork by both the marque’s in-house coachbuilder, Park Ward & Co., and other independent companies, including James Young Ltd and H. J. Mulliner & Co.
Rolls-Royce carried out numerous technical upgrades on the Phantom V, leading them to launch the new Phantom VI in 1968. Rolls-Royce prioritised comfort with the new limousine, featuring separate air-conditioning systems for the front and rear occupants. The Phantom VI was also the final Rolls-Royce to be produced with a body-on-frame chassis setup thereby discontinuing the art of coachbuilding. The final Phantom VI, a landaulette, was delivered to the Sultan of Brunei in 1993.

Phantom VII: New Ownership, New Phantom
When BMW took over ownership reigns of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in 2003, the Phantom nameplate became the obvious choice to revive and the first choice to bear the modern-era Rolls-Royce badge. Termed the Phantom VII, the new luxury limousine was built entirely in-house with aluminium space frame bodywork to a single design rather than coachbuilt. Furthermore, the marque’s Bespoke programme allowed customers to realise their visions and desires for the new Phantom.

Phantom VIII: The Best in the World, evolves
In 2017, Rolls-Royce presented the new Phantom VIII. This was the first Rolls-Royce to boast the Architecture of Luxury underpinnings – an advancement of the all-aluminium space frame chassis used in the previous iteration, set to underpin all future motor cars produced at Goodwood. Rolls-Royce has designed the new Phantom as the ultimate canvas for Bespoke commissions. It is also the first Rolls-Royce to feature the Gallery – an uninterrupted glass area that runs the width of the front fascia, allowing owners creative liberty to display a commissioned work of art or design.