With the seventh generation of Phantom, BMW managed the impossible task of successfully summing up all that was great about Rolls-Royces while also dragging a fusty relic into a new era – the previous version of the Phantom was on sale from 1968 to 1990.
The nameplate represents the very best of the luxury that Rolls-Royce has to offer, an idea especially seeded with the fourth generation of the car that was launched in 1950. It was only offered to the likes of buyer who really deserved it, like royalty and other heads of state. Indeed, the car given to Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip in July 1950 is still in use by the British royal family, and Charles III has been seen out in it in recent months.
It wasn’t a guarantee that BMW’s Phantom reboot would be successful, though, with the smouldering wreckage of its Rover ownership still very much in the present memory. The Phantom VII was developed alongside the likes of the new Mini and Range Rover MkIII. The latter car was launched after Jaguar Land Rover were split off and sold to Ford.