112 AUTOMOTIVE
A ROYAL INTERVENTION
The Phantom story might well have ended there , but for two serendipitous events .
As part of the ongoing development process for the Rationalised Range , engineers produced four experimental EX cars on a 229.5- inch chassis with a straight-8 engine . One of these , fitted with a Park Ward & Co . limousine body , was officially named Silver Phantom ( and unofficially known as Big Bertha ). A smaller , lighter saloon version , known as the Scalded Cat , followed .
At the same time , the Royal Household was seeking to replace its ageing fleet of Daimlers – the marque it had favoured since the motor car was invented – but was unhappy with the range then on offer .
In 1950 , Rolls-Royce was asked to supply a formal limousine for Royal duties . The company had long been keen to usurp Daimler in the Royal Mews , and gladly produced a ‘ one-off ’ straight-8 long-chassis limousine with coachwork by H . J . Mulliner . During manufacture , the car was given the codename Maharajah , and remains in active service at the Royal Mews under that name to this day .
When requests for similar motor cars followed from other Royalty and Heads of State , Rolls-Royce was happy to oblige . The company decided it would be fitting that for such prestigious cars to resurrect the Phantom name . Over the next seven years , the marque produced just 18 examples of Phantom IV , including a second motor car for the Royal Mews , a landaulette named Jubilee , delivered in 1954 .
THE LAST HURRAH
The pinnacle Rolls-Royce experience became somewhat more widely available once again in 1959 with the launch of Phantom V – a splendid limousine fitted with coachwork by both the marque ’ s in-house coachbuilder , Park Ward & Co ., and other independent companies , including James Young Ltd and H . J . Mulliner & Co . ( Rolls- Royce would go on to acquire the latter , merging it with their own coachbuilder to form Mulliner Park Ward ). Two motor cars , known as Canberra I and Canberra II , were built for Royal service , featuring transparent Perspex cupolas over the rear compartments and concealed lighting to better view the occupants on formal occasions .
After 13 years and 832 examples , Phantom V had received enough technical upgrades to be designated as Phantom VI . As with all its forebears , this new iteration prioritised comfort , with separate air conditioning systems for the front and rear compartments . Most of the 374 examples were limousines with coachwork by inhouse Mulliner Park Ward Ltd ., or James Young Ltd .: the last Phantom VI , a landaulette , was delivered to the Sultan of Brunei in 1993 .
Phantom VI was the final bodyon-chassis model Rolls-Royce ever produced , and its discontinuation
THE ART OF LUXURY ISSUE 69 2025