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- Rolls-Royce Phantom celebrates its 100th birthday with a wild poolside spectacle.
- Keith Moon’s legendary pool myth inspires Phantom’s submersion at Plymouth Lido.
Of all the Rolls-Royce models, the Phantom remains the most closely linked to music. It’s the pinnacle in the brand’s lineup, and this year, it’s celebrating its 100th birthday with a pool party.
The Phantom has close connections to icons such as John Lennon, Elvis Presley, and Pharrell Williams, but the most famous link to music is that of Keith Moon, the drummer of The Who. His famous last words, “F*ck Off,” were amongst the most eloquent ever spoken. He died at 32, but he left behind a legacy of music and one of the greatest car myths in history that involved a swimming pool at the Holiday Inn in Flint, Michigan, and a Rolls-Royce, according to Tony Fletcher’s Keith Moon biography.
You might remember that time Jeremy Clarkson famously drove a 1976 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow into a pool in memory of Keith Moon. Well, it’s Rolls-Royce’s turn to get in on the act, and they’ve done so by submerging a Phantom Extended body shell into a swimming pool inside Lido in Plymouth, England.
The chosen location, next to the English Channel, is linked to John Lennon, one of Phantom’s most famous clients. The Lido served as a backdrop to a well-known photograph of The Beatles, which was taken on 12 September 1967 during a visit while filming for The Magical Mystery Tour. That same year, Lennon unveiled his yellow, hand-painted Phantom V.
These days, you can purchase a second-hand Rolls-Royce Phantom V for around USD$150,000, but a brand-new Phantom Extended will cost you well beyond USD$600,000 (approx. AUD$1 million).
Thankfully, the Rolls-Royce submerged in the pool next to the English Channel was a prototype destined for recycling. Only the body shell was submerged, meaning it was without its silky-smooth twin-turbo V12 engine under the bonnet, which produces 563 HP and sends it to the rear wheels only through an 8-speed automatic transmission. In fact, its driveline components are closely related to the Rolls-Royce Ghost Series II, which we had a chance to drive and review last year. You’ll notice the submerged Roller still has its interior trim, at least, most of it.
Since moving to Goodwood in 2003 and announcing the Phantom VII the same year, Rolls-Royce has acknowledged the connection the Phantom has to hip-hop. We’ve seen the Phantom appear in music videos like Pharrell Williams and Snoop Dogg’s 2004 US Billboard Hot 100-topping Drop It Like It’s Hot, but also TV series like 50 Cent’s meme in Entourage, which featured a Phantom VII Drophead Coupé.
Of course, we can’t forget Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter II album cover, or the way that the Starlight Headliner has been referred to in hip-hop for decades now, something which the brand calls “suitably poetic shorthand for Rolls-Royce ownership.”
“From the Golden Age of Hollywood to the rise of hip-hop, over the last 100 years, music artists have used Phantom to project their identity and challenge convention,” said Chris Brownridge, Chief Executive, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. “Their motor cars often became icons in their own right, with a lasting place in the history of modern music. This enduring connection reminds us that Rolls-Royce and the extraordinary people who are part of the marque’s story are united by one ambition: to make their presence felt.”
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