Rolls-Royce Phantom Goldfinger Design Preview

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has unveiled a one-of-one Phantom Extended that pays homage to the 1964 James Bond film, Goldfinger – one of twelve Rolls-Royce appearances in the 007 film franchise. Revealed in the film’s 60th anniversary year, it takes inspiration from the 1937 Phantom III Sedanca de Ville owned by the eponymous villain, Auric Goldfinger. This story is masterfully explored in Phantom Goldfinger, with exquisite and ingenious Bespoke features linking to the plot and iconography of this enduring film.

Phantom Goldfinger incorporates some of the most extensively engineered Bespoke features applied to a one-of-one motor car in Rolls-Royce history, each linking to the Goldfinger film plot. A total of three years of continuous development was required to bring each of these elegant and playful Bespoke features to life – from a complex sculptural Gallery, inspired by the famous scene filmed on the Furka Pass, to a gold golf putter mounted to the inside of the motor car’s boot, recalling the club used by Auric Goldfinger during his first encounter with James Bond.

For the exterior of this contemporary tribute to Goldfinger’s motor car, Rolls-Royce paint specialists precisely matched the exterior yellow hue to the original 1937 Phantom III Sedanca de Ville used in the film. A unique ‘long-side’ two-tone design was developed in which the black finish wraps around the motor car’s generous coachwork as a single, uninterrupted graphic. The 21-inch disc wheels are finished in Black with silver ‘floating’ hubcaps, creating a tone-on-tone effect that recalls the wheel design of the 1937 motor car as seen in the film.

The Spirit of Ecstasy at the prow of Phantom Goldfinger has been given a unique finish, subtly referencing the motion picture’s plot. In the film, the villain Auric Goldfinger was smuggling gold in body panels of his Phantom. As a nod to this concept, sections of the figurine appear to reveal gold underneath, suggesting it is made of solid gold, concealed with a silver coat. Since it is not possible to silver-plate gold, Rolls-Royce specialists used a solid silver Spirit of Ecstasy and skilfully gold-plated it with 18-carat gold to achieve the ‘gold reveal’ effect.

In honour of the Goldfinger film, the Bespoke Collective of designers, engineers, and artisans within Rolls-Royce developed several highly complex details and features that incorporate 18- and 24-carat gold. One such feat is the hidden vault created in the centre console between the front seats. The area was re-engineered to house an illuminated solid 18-carat gold bar, shaped as a Phantom ‘Speedform’ – a stylised representation of the motor car’s design in miniature.

The base of the front and rear centre consoles is also lined with an exquisite gold finish, as is the inside of the glovebox.
The air vents and ‘organ stops’ throughout the motor car also have a lustrous gold finish. The speaker frets are given the same finish and inscribed with the film’s title treatment. The treadplates, designed to look like the gold bars that feature Goldfinger, are gold-plated and embossed using the same font developed for the film in 1964. The 24-carat gold-plated VIN plaque is engraved with a specially obtained vehicle identification number, which ends in 007.