Goodwood, UK – Rolls-Royce Motor Cars marks a century of its most iconic nameplate with the Phantom Centenary Private Collection, a breathtaking tribute limited to just 25 examples. Celebrating 100 years of history, craftsmanship, and innovation, this collection represents the most intricate and technologically ambitious Private Collection ever conceived.
A Century of Stories, Immortalised
The Phantom nameplate has long symbolised success, refinement, and influence. From its debut in the 1920s to today, Phantom has been the choice of royalty, heads of state, and cultural icons. The Centenary Private Collection is a testament to this legacy, weaving the marque’s past, present, and future into a single, extraordinary expression of automotive artistry.
The Bespoke Collective at Rolls-Royce – a team of designers, engineers, and artisans – spent over a year immersed in Phantom’s rich heritage. Through meticulous research, they identified 77 defining motifs, capturing pivotal figures, notable clients, landmark models, and the journeys, places, and moments that shaped Phantom’s legend. These motifs inform every aspect of the Private Collection, from interior textiles to hand-etched leather, embroidered fabrics, and sculptural woodwork.
Exterior: A Bespoke Statement
Evoking the glamour of classic cinema, the exterior of the Phantom Centenary Private Collection features a striking two-tone finish: Super Champagne Crystal over Arctic White for the side body, and Super Champagne Crystal over Black for the upper body. Crushed glass particles infused into the bespoke paint create an iridescent shimmer, intensified with champagne-coloured particles to deliver unprecedented depth.
Crowning the front grille is a one-of-a-kind Spirit of Ecstasy, cast in solid 18-carat gold, plated with 24-carat gold, and hallmarked to commemorate the centenary. The collection’s ‘RR’ Badges of Honour are similarly plated in gold and enamel, while the disc wheels are engraved with 25 lines each, honouring the collection’s 25 examples and reflecting 100 years of Phantom heritage.
Interior: Immersed in History
Inside, the Phantom Centenary Private Collection offers a century of storytelling across multiple canvases. The rear seats, inspired by the 1926 ‘Phantom of Love’, feature high-resolution printed fabric overlaid with intricate embroidery – a staggering 160,000 stitches in total – developed in collaboration with a haute couture fashion atelier. The embroidery, executed in Golden Sands and Seashell threads, represents Phantom’s most influential owners and historic vehicles, each motif rendered with hand-drawn precision.
Front seats showcase laser-etched leather artwork, translating hand sketches into intricate motifs that reference pivotal moments in Phantom’s history – from prototypes to iconic relaunches. Every stitch, print, and engraving inside the cabin is a dialogue with the past, inviting occupants to uncover the stories that define the marque.
Anthology Gallery and Woodwork: Art in Motion
At the centre of the cabin lies the Anthology Gallery, a sculptural composition of 50 3D-printed aluminium fins forming quotes from a century of press acclaim. The interplay of light on brushed edges creates a dynamic experience, reflecting the shimmer of fireworks as the viewer moves through the cabin.
The woodwork represents the most intricate ever executed by Rolls-Royce, combining 3D marquetry, 3D ink layering, laser etching, and 24-carat gold leafing. Each panel depicts historic journeys, iconic landscapes, and floral motifs, including precise tributes to Henry Royce’s homes and the first Goodwood-era Phantom crossing Australia. The artistry extends onto picnic tables and door panels, where maps and landscapes continue into embroidered leather, uniting metal, wood, fabric, and thread into a cohesive, story-rich interior.
Engineering and Legacy
Under the hood, the 6.75-litre V12 engine is celebrated with a bespoke cover in Arctic White, detailed with 24-carat gold to highlight Phantom’s effortless power. The Starlight Headliner, embroidered with 440,000 stitches, depicts constellations, mulberry trees, bees, and subtle tributes to past Phantoms, inviting passengers to experience inspiration and imagination from the seat of history.
A Once-in-a-Generation Masterpiece
“This collection is our tribute to 100 years of the world’s most revered luxury item,” says Chris Brownridge, Chief Executive of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. “It uses the meticulously engineered Phantom VIII as a canvas to tell the story of Phantom’s remarkable life and the people who shaped it.”
Developed over three years, the Phantom Centenary Private Collection embodies the pinnacle of Rolls-Royce craftsmanship, technological innovation, and artistic ambition. From solid gold emblems to the most intricate woodwork and textiles ever realised, it stands as a monument to Phantom’s past and a bold statement of its future.
For 100 years, Phantom has been a symbol of aspiration. Today, Rolls-Royce immortalises that century of excellence with a collection as rare and remarkable as the nameplate itself.
