Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud Reviews

For the person with everything you cannot go past this $183,000 18-karat white gold Girard-Perregaux because it comes with the perfect accessory - a car. But it's no ordinary car, it's the Pininfarina Hyperion, based on the Rolls-Royce Drophead Coupe. The Italian design house built the one-off two-seater for European Rolls-Royce owner and collector, Roland Hall. The interior was largely unchanged, except for the commissioning of a special watch. The watch sits proud on the dashboard but can be removed and attached to a bracelet to be worn on the wrist. Girard-Perregaux personalised one of its sophisticated watches, a white gold Vintage 1945 Tourbillon with gold bridge, especially for the car. Pininfarina took the regular production Drophead and removed the body, designing and building the sleek Rolls, which is named after Greek mythological Titan, Hyperion. Hall has decided to dedicate the car to the memory of late Andrea Pininfarina, 51, who died in a motorcycle accident in August. Although the car has created quite a sensation, the regional director of Rolls-Royce Asia Pacific, Collin Kelly, says there is no chance it might make it into low volume production. “Our research has not shown there is not enough demand for such a car, Kelly says. He says Pininfarina had a history of designing exclusive cars, which Rolls-Royce applauded. “But there is a big difference between this and bringing a new series mode to market, with the high development costs that this implies as a vehicle manufacturer,” he says. However, Kelly says the company has left the door open to future one-off projects. “Rolls-Royce can't comment on Pininfarina's work but if we were approached on a similar unique project such as this we would certainly consider the possibility.” Pininfarina personally designed the car's custom carbon fibre body. The car made its sensational debut at the recent Pebble Beach Concours in California. The Hyperion is designed to pay homage to the majestic pre-World War II luxury cars like the Hispano Suiza, with long bonnets and lavish interiors. To repeat the proportions Pininfarina extended the roof and shortened the rear end, moving the driving position back 400mm and removing the rear seats. A team of engineers designed a new hood, which folds behind the seats under a wood-lined cover. In front of the windscreen two compartments were built to house sports equipment, including Hall's hunting rifles. The bodywork is made of carbon fibre, while the details are applied using a technology adopted in boat building. The doors are made of solid wood by craftsmen who specialise in luxury boats. The Hyperion follows the debut of the technologically advanced Pininfarina Sintesi concept car at this year's Geneva Motor Show. Next month the Italian styling house will unveil an electric car concept, the Ferrari California and the 2009 Maserati Quattroporte at the Paris Motor Show.  

I always thought the best way to tour Europe was in a first-class seat on the Orient Express.When I spend an all-too brief trip on the classic train from London to the English Channel, I wanted the journey to roll on forever.But forever is a long time and things change. I thought I would always be a Coke man, but now I prefer Pepsi. And my devotion to Allan Moffat and Ford eventually flipped when I became a friend of Peter Brock and drove the best of his hot-rod Commodores.Just this week my passion for the Orient Express was overturned by a car. But not just any car.As I wafted across France in the latest Rolls-Royce, the new $1.1 million Phantom Coupe, I honestly could not think of any better way to travel.And to put that price in perspective, you have to keep remembering that this car’s buyers are not slaves to any of the commitments of the life you and I live. A mortgage? Not likely.A Rolls-Royce owner typically has about $80 million available for a snap purchase, owns at least two houses and has a garage with four or more cars in the Ferrari and Porsche class. So we're talking about Lindsay Fox or Nicole Kidman or John Laws.To them, a Phantom Coupe — even with a seven-figure bottom line before you tickle it with rear cupholders at $8000 or custom paint at who-knows-what price — is just another nice car.To us, the wage slaves of the world, it is an unbelievable extravagance.Why would anyone happily pay $1.1 million for a car that does the same basic job as a $15,000 Hyundai Getz, with about the same cabin space as a $35,000 Holden Commodore and less performance potential than a $70,000 FPV Falcon F6 turbo?That was why I was sitting in the foyer of the Rolls-Royce factory at Goodwood in Britain as an $8 million cavalcade of Phantoms, from six new Coupes to a long-wheelbase limousine to follow with the baggage, was assembled for a small group of lucky journalists. This was an episode torn from the pages of lifestyles of the poor but influential.But do not think for a second that the Phantom Coupe is perfect. Or that life in this world is so far different from suburban Australia.The cupholders in the British beauty are useless and the first roundabout sent two bottles of water skidding under the pedals to give me a nasty fright.And not even the Spirit of Ecstacy on the bonnet can clear the early-morning commuter traffic on the road to the cross-Channel train.And when you drive a Phantom Coupe on to the tunnel train, you have to share space with trucks . . . because the Rolls-Royce is so enormous.Minutes later we were also sharing the new Coupe with a dozen schoolchildren, all excited at the sight of an amazing car. And that was a powerful reminder of the importance of Rolls-Royce and its place in the world. ON THE ROADThe next reminder came at the end of the day. We had been driving for close to 12 hours and had covered more than 600km, yet it felt as if we had been going for about an hour.That's the best thing about the Coupe. It is a little more lively than the four-door Phantom and noticeably crisper any time the road starts to wander, and considerably quieter than the Drophead convertible.But, compared with any ordinary car, it's a serene cocoon that crushes kilometres without any apparent effort. It gives the sort of regal ride the maharajas would have enjoyed on the back of an elephant in the days of colonial India.You can see and feel the serenity in a Phantom Coupe. The seats are armchairs, the car is so quiet you can talk normally to your passenger without strain, there is plush luxury in everything you can see and touch and smell and hear, and yet the car will easily twist the speedometer from 80km/h to naughty-naughty with one firm call on the throttle.As we motored along we struggled for words to describe the tour group. We were wafting almost effortlessly, just as the Titanic would have done before the iceberg. Not that we were thinking that way. Perhaps a cavalcade? Or a parade? Or just a flurry, a flock or a fantasy of Phantoms?But reality returned with a rush when the sky turned grey, then black as the first splatters of rain turned to an incessant torrent and the clouds became thick fog.This final run to Geneva should have been the time to discover if the Phantom Coupe really can be a sporty car and deliver on the brand's impressive promises. But there were too many trucks and turns, and the road was slick and a serious threat to a $1 million machine.So I was forced to look at what I had, and what I had learned. This runs to underdone cupholders and satellite navigation that is well behind the times, and a package of luxury knick-knacks that falls well short of a Lexus LS600h. There's a slightly sharper response, but not of the sporty feel of a Porsche or even a Calais V.The Roller also needs sharper steering, a smaller wheel, some form of manual transmission control and more-supportive seats to sustain its sporty claims. And the view out of the rear window is second worst this year behind the stupidly flawed BMW X6 four-wheel drive.But, as the sun broke through and we turned into another five-star refuge to complete the trip, I was still won over by the Phantom Coupe.You can apply all the logic you like, and ask all the hard questions you like, and be as cynical as I like, and rate the car as an overdone relic with a grand past and no real future.But some things in life exist only because they can. And because we have to have standards. The Phantom Coupe is not perfect, but is one of the world's best cars. I like it.And, at the end of the day, would you? I would, and you would too if you had taken the English express and also won the lottery. 

The world's only metallic white Phantom Pearl Rolls-Royce, one of 11 Rollers delivered to Australia last year, is being auctioned online.It is from the exclusive bespoke collection, with mother-of-pearl inlays adorning the dash and centre console.CEO of graysonline, Cameron Poolman, said it was the company's first world-exclusive sale.The car, which was part of a liquidation, cost about $1.1 million new and is expected to fetch more than $600,000, he said.“This is a business asset and so due to downturn in the financial markets the business is in liquidation,” he said. “It is currently registered in Victoria but will be sold unregistered.”Features include 21-inch chrome-vaned alloy wheels and the Phantom aluminium 6.75L, V12 engine.The vehicle has travelled fewer than 6000km and log books are included.“We are expecting mainly local interest, however, overseas parties are welcome to bid,” Poolman said.The auction closes on Friday.Visit: www.graysonline.com.au 

And, for them, it will be a relative bargain with a price tag of around $500,000A cut-priced Rolls-Royce sounds like a contradiction, but the all-new RR4 - with a final name still to be revealed - will be less than half the price of today's Phantom limousine.The British brand has just revealed the first sketches of its new 'baby', but they reveal very little beyond the basic outline.What is already known is that RR4 will be smaller than a Phantom but larger than a BMW 7-Series, which could be the donor vehicle for at least some of the car's components. After all, BMW Group does own Rolls-Royce.However a company spokesman says the majority of components will be uniquely Roller.“There is a sizeable amount of hand-built components along with a high level of individual skill required to build this new series,” says Rolls-Royce Asia Pacific corporate communications manager Hal Serudin“Also, unlike other brands, a vast majority of the componentry along with all significant parts – engine, chassis, wheels etc, will be unique to Rolls-Royce.“Although this car will be lower in price than a Phantom, it will be still one of the most exclusive cars available.”The car will have a new engine, expected to be a V8, a move confirmed earlier this year by outgoing RR chairman Ian Robertson.The sketches of RR4 come just a month before Rolls-Royce goes public with its third model, the Phantom Coupe. It follows the original four-door limousine and the Drophead Coupe, which has been a sell-out for close to a year despite a $1.2 million pricetag. 

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It's when you find yourself saying things like: “Beauty — a roundabout!” that you know the initial numbing awe of piloting the Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe is passing. Even something so mundane as a circle of concrete assumes landmark significance when its being negotiated in 2.6 tonnes of lovingly handcrafted land yacht — one that just happens to have been sold already for a not altogether negligible $1.25 million.Bevin Clayton of Trivett Classic gave Carsguide an Australian first last week, allowing us access to the only Drophead in the country not already in private hands — although it soon will be.This pristine example with low double figures on the clock is being shipped to Adelaide where a gentleman will become the first in that quaint town to own this model Roller.If membership of the Australian Rolls-Royce owner's club is gradually expanding — Clayton expects to sell eight Phantom sedans, eight Dropheads and three of the new hard-top coupes due in September — it's hardly in danger of becoming less than exclusive. Certainly the sense of occasion on simply approaching the Drophead is unlikely to diminish in a hurry.The sheer blackness of this example, set off by the distinctive burnished silver bonnet, to some extent disguises the Roller's imposing lines. The fabric roof is the longest of any modern auto, a bespoke, five-layered lid that insulates the interior from noise of the madding crowd almost as effectively as the sedan's hard top. Indeed, as Clayton says, it's clear that the Drophead remains “in the Phantom family”.Notwithstanding one client who bought a sedan to complement his new Drophead — as one does — the Drophead's DNA is immediately evident on opening the rear-hinged door.It's a sea of Indian rosewood and the creamiest leather set off with polished, to the point of reflectiveness, stainless steel fittings. A singular ambience almost seduces you as you take hold of the skinny, old-world steering wheel.The Drophead is, of course, hand-crafted using top-drawer materials to Rolls's exacting standards and is modelled on the J-class racing yachts of the 1930s. Indeed, the rear deck is teak.The bonnet is machine-brushed before being hand-finished to ensure a uniform grain.A picnic boot has a split tail compartment that opens in two parts, giving easy access to 315 litres of space. The lower tailgate provides a comfortable seating platform for two adults when folded, revealing a luggage compartment that's more lushly upholstered than the cabins of certain luxury sedans Carsguide has tried.Unlike almost all of them, but very much like its sibling sedan, the Drophead contrasts the immense power of a 6.75-litre V12 with an aural note that's entirely in keeping with the Phantom moniker. Indeed, attempting to start the thing after pausing near Clovelly for pictures proved to be superfluous. The engine was, in fact, running.Roof down in a tunnel, you might be driving a hybrid, so subdued and refined is the note, for all its 338kW and 720Nm. Almost no Dropheads are chauffeur driven, but sitting in the rear pews is easily the most civilised such experience that can be had in a convertible.As we've said of the sedan, the Roller is simply too enjoyable to be left to Jeeves.Such is the alacrity with which it leaves the mark and immediacy of response to steering inputs that it's impossible to believe the thing outweighs all but the heaviest SUVs.Where a lesser luxury car — that would be all of them — might float seasickeningly, the Phantom “wafts” in that legendary, almost patented Rolls-Royce fashion.If the Drophead costs more than a million, driving it is a one in a million experience. 

It may not be a lot by most motor companies' standards, but Rolls-Royce last year sold 1010 cars worldwide which was a 25 per cent increase and the first time the bespoke builder had reached four figures for a year.It was also the fourth successive sales increase since the company was re-launched in 2003.Australia joined in on the record-making with 17 sales, representing 42 per cent growth from 12 in 2006 and more than double the 2004 figures.Australia is the third largest market for Rolls in the region behind China and Japan with Australian dealer Trivett Classic delivering two Phantoms pictured right, to Queensland and two Drophead Coupes to the Gold Coast.Trivett Classic general manager Bevin Clayton said they expected the growth to continue in 2008.“Already, we are beginning to see inquiry rates on the up, compared to last year,” he said.“We have six confirmed orders at the start of the year.“We have every reason to be optimistic, because Rolls-Royce is expanding its model range to add a two-door, four-seat coupe by the end of the year giving our customers more choice.”This model will complete the Phantom family line-up alongside the Phantom, Phantom Extended Wheelbase and Phantom Drophead Coupe.“We view the (economic) situation as positive but understandably with a little uncertainty due to the changeover in government,” he said.“Our clientele is also optimistic about the economy for the year ahead, the only concern being the continuing rise in interest rates.”A new Rolls-Royce model series will be launched in 2010, currently named RR4. 

The powerplant was confirmed in Detroit this week as work on RR4, the code-name for the sub-Phantom newcomer planned for 2010, moves to the next step. Rolls-Royce is tapping its German owner, BMW, for the basic mechanical package for the new engine but says it will be unique to the brand in everything from its tuning and styling to many of the individual mechanical parts. Details are still scarce, even though Rolls-Royce admitted last year that the 'compact' would still be about the size of a 7-Series BMW. But company chief Ian Robertson is finally opening up to build expectation for RR4 following the runaway success of the Phantom Drophead Coupe and the upcoming Phantom Coupe later this year. “To date I haven't been able to tell you much about RR4, but I can announce today that we are developing a brand-new engine for this model series,” the Rolls-Royce managing director says. “Phantom is already the most efficient car in the super luxury segment and the new engine will be a further substantial advance." “The engineering development is now well under way. I recently drove an early test car and can confirm that it is an outstanding product and an authentic Rolls-Royce.” The new motor will be more compact and efficient than the 6.7-litre V12 fitted to the Phantom, and will produce 338kW and 720Nm. No one is saying officially that it is a V8 but neither are they denying it. Rolls-Royce is cashed-up and aggressive on the new-model front, a total contrast to the tough times at its German rival Maybach, following record sales in 2007 and with the RR4 program committed and moving ahead on schedule. “Building work on our manufacturing plant at Goodwood is now under way, expanding operations in readiness for our new model series,” Robertson says. “This is the largest building program since the plant was built in 2002. But, crucially, we are not expanding the footprint of the building.”