29 Dec 06
It looks smaller, and not just thanks to the 25cm chunk that's been taken out of the Phantom's wheelbase: the car is better proportioned and detailed. Your eyes are drawn at once to stainless steel bonnet and A-section windscreen pillars.
Then you notice the front opening suicide doors (chief designer Ian Cameron winces and says: '"Coach" doors please'), their handles carried forward into that enormously long front wing. You notice too the very un-Rolls rake of the front grille, the dramatic swage line running under the doors and, of course, the glorious teak decking behind the back seats.
'You can have leather if you want,' says Ian Cameron, 'but we like the look of teak and the association with classic boat design. Mind you, it does have to be maintained - if it's not oiled properly it will end up weathering just like your garden furniture.'
Climbing aboard, it's clear the Drophead Coupe is a full four-seater and that its only true rival is the £222,500 Bentley Azure. The Rolls will be more expensive still when deliveries start in the summer, with a price sure to be on the far side of £250,000. That buys you the same 6.7-litre, 453bhp, V12 motor found in the Phantom and its six-speed gearbox.
