Spy Shot
Spy Shots: 2007 Rolls-Royce Phantom Convertible
The Phantom goes topless for 2007
Official confirmation that a Rolls-Royce drop top was in the works came months ago, and now we have the first shots of a prototype in action. The Phantom-based convertible is expected to join the company's lineup in 2007, with the upcoming Bentley Continental GT convertible as the next closest competition, give or take a couple hundred thousand dollars.
Since BMW took over the company nearly three years ago, sales of Rolls' single Phantom model haven't quite met with the parent company's expectations. The recent stretched version of the Phantom has increased the brand's appeal in the Middle East, but the company needs a slightly more dynamic product — along the lines of this Phantom-based convertible — in order to broaden its American consumer base and further pin Maybach into the corner.
Rolls-Royce's spin-off of its primary model will draw a great deal of its inspiration from the 100EX concept which appeared at the 2004 Geneva Motor Show to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Rolls-Royce partnership. The Rolls-Royce convertible, as well as the 100EX, were both created by the company's former head of exterior design, Marek Djordjevic, at BMW's Design Works studio in California.
This two-door, four-seat vehicle will eschew the concept's jaw-dropping 9.0-liter V16 in favor of the standard Phantom's more manageable 6.75-liter V12. The convertible will also share its aluminum spaceframe chassis with the Phantom. The bold reverse-opening suicide doors, clear in these photos, will migrate from the 100EX concept to the production convertible.
The Rolls-Royce convertible will be hand-built at the company's Goodwood factory in the U.K. starting in 2007.
Since BMW took over the company nearly three years ago, sales of Rolls' single Phantom model haven't quite met with the parent company's expectations. The recent stretched version of the Phantom has increased the brand's appeal in the Middle East, but the company needs a slightly more dynamic product — along the lines of this Phantom-based convertible — in order to broaden its American consumer base and further pin Maybach into the corner.
Rolls-Royce's spin-off of its primary model will draw a great deal of its inspiration from the 100EX concept which appeared at the 2004 Geneva Motor Show to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Rolls-Royce partnership. The Rolls-Royce convertible, as well as the 100EX, were both created by the company's former head of exterior design, Marek Djordjevic, at BMW's Design Works studio in California.
This two-door, four-seat vehicle will eschew the concept's jaw-dropping 9.0-liter V16 in favor of the standard Phantom's more manageable 6.75-liter V12. The convertible will also share its aluminum spaceframe chassis with the Phantom. The bold reverse-opening suicide doors, clear in these photos, will migrate from the 100EX concept to the production convertible.
The Rolls-Royce convertible will be hand-built at the company's Goodwood factory in the U.K. starting in 2007.
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