FirstDrive/ Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé:Does Sir enjoy the finer things in life? Money no object? The new Phantom coupé may be the car for you, writes Conor Twomey
I have to admit, I never got the whole Rolls-Royce thing.
For as long as I can remember, their cars were badly packaged, technically outdated and hugely overpriced dinosaurs.
Rolls-Royce cars hadn't been the world's best motorcars in more than 30 years but when BMW bought the rights to the Rolls-Royce name in 1998, it sought to restore the brand to its original glory.
It built a state-of-the-art, €100 million factory at Goodwood (less than 10 miles from the home of the company founder Sir Frederick Henry Royce and only a mile from the historic Goodwood racecourse and motor-racing circuit) and set about developing an all-new Rolls on a new all-aluminium spaceframe chassis, powered by a suitably modern and refined 6.75-litre V12 engine.
Although the hand-welded bodies and engines come from Germany and much of the electronics are shared with BMW cars, it's the craftspeople in the Goodwood plant who hand-assemble each car that make Rolls-Royce what it is today.
They sculpt each piece of wood (actually 15 layers thick), stitch each piece of top-grade leather (seven-and-a-half bull hides go into each interior) and meticulously apply each of the nine layers of paint that give each Rolls-Royce its particularly rich finish.
They also cater to each customer's particular desires, whether that be personal paint and interior combinations (assuming one of the 44,000 current combinations isn't quite what you're after), installing bespoke cigar or drink-can holders, extending the Phantom to add an extra row of rear-facing seats, or redesigning the boot to carry more luggage, as the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong asked for when ordering its 14-strong fleet.
But, as impressive, imposing and impossibly luxurious as the Phantom is, the days of old money chauffeurs are gone. The new rich want to drive themselves around but behind the wheel of a Phantom you will always look like the driver, which probably explains why, when Rolls-Royce announced it intended to turn the 101 EX concept car into a roadgoing model, an 18-month waiting list quickly formed.
The car that finally rolled off the production line was surprisingly faithful to the concept, right down to its self-closing "coach doors", brushed steel bonnet, teak decking on the tonneau cover and those unusual LED headlights.
It is a stunning looking thing, particularly with the canvas roof folded away, and incredibly elegant, despite its staggering bulk. It might not look it, but the Drophead Coupé is 5.6 metres long, almost 2m wide, 1.6m tall and it rides on 21-inch alloy wheels. When you drive along in traffic you're almost eye-to-eye with SUV and van drivers and when you alight you slide effortlessly and gracefully off the seat and into a standing position. It really is quite huge.
Unsurprisingly, I was rather cautious about taking this €600,000 car out onto the narrow lanes in the south of England, especially when I grabbed the thin-rimmed steering wheel and stared down the long bonnet at the Spirit of Ecstasy (retractable at the push of a button, incidentally), way off in the distance.
But once I got over the initial trepidation and accustomed to the continuous slack-jawed gawping, I actually really enjoyed the whole experience.
Despite its size and 2,620kg weight the Drophead Coupé proved to be quite agile over West Sussex's more challenging roads - the steering is accurate, the handling is surprisingly responsive and body movement is extraordinarily well contained, while the 460hp V12 and six-speed automatic transmission ensures ample progress can be made in the ragtop Roller, should one find oneself running late.
That's not to suggest this is any kind of a sports car, however. The emphasis here is clearly on luxury and comfort - potholes and road imperfections all but disappear, while the cabin is utterly devoid of noise(save for the wind rush when the five-layer, cashmere-lined roof was down).
There really is no more luxurious or implausibly effortless way of wafting from A to B than in the Drophead Coupé and it's this innate quality that sets it apart from anything else on the road. Having driven and experienced the Drophead Coupé, I think I finally get the whole Rolls-Royce thing now.
Don't think of it as a car. Think of it as a five-star hotel or a three-star Michelin restaurant on wheels - satisfying and indulgent on a whole different level.
Factfile
Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé
Engine: 6.75-litre V12, 460hp, 720Nm
Transmission:6-speed automatic
Acceleration:0-100km/h 5.8 seconds
Top speed:240km/h (limited)
Economy:15.1L/100km/h
CO2 emissions:377g/km
Weight:2,620kg
Boot capacity:315 litres
Base Price:€600,000
(£370,000 plus tax)
Standard Equipment:
Computer controlled air suspension, automatic soft-top, push-button "coach door" closing, satellite navigation, split "picnic" tailgate, pop-up rollover bars, stability control, heater leather seats, real-wood trim, teak decking, cruise control, climate control, Bluetooth kit.