Sense of occasion

Wednesday, 24th September 2008

The first Rolls-Royce I drove was a 1960s Shadow, across the Cairngorms on the glorious A939 to Tomintoul.

And last week I drove another Rolls-Royce: a new Phantom. Not just any Phantom but the Extended Wheelbase, a magisterial, 20-foot leviathan. Launched by BMW from its Goodwood factory in 2003, each Phantom model echoes John Blatchley’s long bonnet, wide C-pillars, upright stance, short overhangs, separated windows and rising profile. With its uncompromisingly upright front end, it was clearly designed to make a statement, to impose and impress. Opinion is mixed: some say it lacks the grace of virtually all earlier Rolls-Royces and it featured in the Telegraph readers’ poll of the 100 ugliest cars ever; others rate it the best car in the world. What I say is, wait till you’ve driven it.

It was more than good to get behind Nellie Thornton again (she who posed naked for the Spirit of Ecstasy, was mistress of Lord Montagu and drowned when the ship she was on was torpedoed during the first world war). The sculpted bonnet view is incomparable, making you want to drive for ever; helpfully, you can also see the wings. The wheel is slim and slightly flattened on the facing edge, which feels right; pedals and footrest are huge and the throttle floor-mounted; the dash (maple veneer in this case) is pleasingly uncluttered, with a few clear white analogue dials which spring to attention rather than drag themselves to usefulness. Instead of a rev counter there’s a power reserve dial (I’d prefer the former). A rough count of cabin controls (including door handles, and so on) yielded 76, which, for a sophisticated car, is reasonably frugal. The push-button electronic parking brake is easy to use, but presumably means you couldn’t take your test in it since you’d be unable to demonstrate a handbrake start.