Throwback Thursday: Rolls-Royce Phantom first drive, 2003

So, in we stepped. Quite literally, as “no bending down is needed, because the upper door frame is as high as your head.”

“The seats, richly leathered, are mildly enveloping in a traditional armchair sort of way and faced with coarse-grained leather. They’re firm, and have a veneer of softness just below the surface. Long distance seats.

“Everywhere inside the car, the air of hand built quality was successfully delivered. Simplicity, too. The whole tenor of Phantom driving controls is simplicity. You’re supposed to be able to operate this car intuitively, without ever having to search through a computer menu.”

This was evidenced by the six-speed ZF auto gearbox’s lever, which had just three positions – Park, Drive and Reverse; automatic air-con with no confusing buttons; a sat-nav screen hidden behind the clock that only rotated into view should you pull a lever; and a BMW iDrive controller hidden in the centre console. Even the stereo controls were hidden, all because “Rolls research is emphatic that owners like neither complexity nor clutter”.

So far, so good. But now it was time to take it onto the Tarmac. “Press the starter button and there’s a brief, seamless whir before the engine catches smoothly and very, very quietly,” Cropley enthused.

“The car glides forward. The speed-sensitive power steering feels very light, and the rim thin, reminiscent of past Rollers. During development, the Phantom did its share of Nürburgring testing, during which drivers argued vociferously for a thicker rim. The traditionalists won.”

“There’s no tachometer. Rolls-Royces don’t have them,” Cropley continued. “This and the near silence of the engine cause you to lose track, quite soon, of what’s happening up front. It’s enough to know that outputs of 453bhp (at 5350rpm) and 531lb ft of torque (at 3500rpm) are discreetly on tap. The engine is deliberately tuned to be extremely strong at low revs,” and “delivers its most silent, sophisticated performance between 30 and 90mph.”

Although the Phantom looked ridiculously hefty, it didn’t feel it. “When the ‘box cuts down to first gear and hurls you off the mark, it’s as if the whole thing were a tonne lighter. It’s something close to a supercar response.”

Despite the light steering, it was easy to control, too, with BMW 7 Series-derived suspension modified for the Phantom’s weight, giving it beautiful steering and fine handling: “You can hurl it into bends with accuracy, though never quite with abandon because of its sheer mass. It stays neutral for quite a while, then understeers, but there’s never a feeling of instability.”

There was a bit too much body roll, though, and you had to watch your speed, too, because although the brakes were strong and progressive, the car still weighed 2.5 tonnes.

But a Rolls-Royce is about comfort, and the Phantom’s ride was “brilliantly silent, supple and stable on any surface,” thanks largely to its self-levelling air springs. Cropley considered this ride far better than the rival Maybach’s.

However, all was not perfect. “The biggest problem for me was wind noise: not an intrusive roar, but a rush that was always present above 80mph,” he said. And, on some gradients, the electric motor that shut the rear doors couldn’t manage to do so. Other niggles included susceptibility to side-winds, the lack of driver’s seat cushion length adjustability, the lack of rear vanity mirrors, and that the 100-litre fuel tank seemed mismatched with the car’s average fuel economy of 11mpg…

However, in conclusion, Cropley gushed: “In short, the Phantom is a brilliant, inspiring car, even at the price [£250,000, equivalent to around £375,000 today]. It is fun to drive, extremely comfortable, imposing on the eye and capable in all conditions.

“Rolls-Royce’s chief engineer, Tim Leverton, claims the Phantom has unique and difficult-to-achieve combinations of qualities (size with agility, suppleness with steering accuracy, high performance with class-beating refinement, coachbuilt quality with practicality), and he is right about all that. Producing this car, and the factory that builds it, has been a true automotive feat.