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The Rolls Royce Phantom: Interesting Facts 

 

 

The Phantom was launched in 2003 by BMW.

 

It uses an unique aluminium space frame chassis platform, leather interior and retains the traditional Royce-Royce design.  It takes at least two months to build each Phantom.  The final assembly, including all body painting, wood and leather work is completed at their factory in Goodwood.

 

Three robots in the factory carry out the painting, and customers can choose from 44,000 paint colours, but all other aspects of the work involved is carried out by hand,  including the 3mm wide coachlines which is in keeping with Rolls-Royce tradition.

 

The interior requires an average of 75 square meters or 18 hides of natural grain leather and it takes 17 days to complete a full upholstered interior.

 

The vehicle is 1.63m high and 1.99m wide with its single wheel base being 5.83m long  ( 6.09m for long wheel base ).

 

The Phantom has a mammoth V-12 engine capable of hauling its two-and-a-half tons from 0 to 62 miles per hour in just 5.9 seconds.  The Phantom’s low end torque allows it to pull away from a stop in 2nd gear, adding to a feeling of effortless acceleration, or “wafting” as Rolls-Royce calls it. 

The vehicle's unique instrument panel has no tachometer.  Instead it has a power reserve dial that indicates how much of the engine's power is not being used and available to the driver.

 

The rear doors are rear-hinged, a style commonly referred to as suicide doors but called 'coach doors' by Rolls-Royce.  Because of the rear-seating position in relation to the rear inner-door handles, buttons are mounted on both C-pillars which operate hydraulic motors in order to close the rear doors.  An electronic lock prevents the doors from being accidentally opened when moving.

 

The car will automatically brake to a walking speed if a coach door remains open when driving off.

 

When front or rear doors are opened, umbrella compartments built into the rear doors are accessible.  The factory supplied umbrellas are Teflon coated so they, and the compartment they are stored, dry out faster.

 

The iconic hood ornament is called “ The Spirit of Ecstasy” and was commissioned in 1911 and has graced every Rolls-Royce since then.  Today the Spirit of Ecstasy has an automatic electronic retraction mechanism to prevent theft and protect pedestrians in the event of an accident.  It may also be retracted by the driver at the touch of a button, or when the alarm is armed.  The ornament base contains a sensor that detects movement, and will retract it if tampered with.

 

The 'RR' logos on each of the wheel hubs are independent bezels in order to always remain upright while the wheel is rotating.

 

The sound system is simply awesome with a 26 speaker premium sound system which also includes a 6 disc CD/DVD changer.

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