In September, I wrote about the significance of the Rolls-Royce Phantom III, one of which was featured in the 1964 James Bond movie “Goldfinger” as the title villain’s means of chauffeured transportation and creative gold smuggling. At the end of the piece, I guessed the automaker would further “the legacy of this extraordinary motor car, and Rolls-Royce’s connection to the James Bond film franchise” with a limited run of Phatom VIIIs styled after the film’s black and yellow 1937 Sedanca de Ville. I was right. Kind of.
Rolls-Royce has made a special 2024 Phantom Extended to honor the 60th anniversary of its ancestor’s appearance in one of the most beloved 007 movies of all time, but that’s it – there’s just one “Phantom Goldfinger.” According to the company, it “incorporates some of the most extensively engineered and hand-crafted Bespoke features ever produced,” which took three years of continuous development and several prototypes to create.
Like the movie car, the Phantom Goldfinger has a distinctive black and yellow finish. Although Rolls-Royce decided against whitewall tires, it did opt for 21-inch black disc wheels with silver “floating” hubcaps to visually connect the two cars.
As a nod to Goldfinger smuggling gold by having the bodywork under his car’s two-tone color scheme made from the precious metal, Rolls-Royce crafted the Spirit of Ecstasy ornament at the front of the car out of solid silver, then plated it with 18-carat gold in such a way that it looks as if there’s gold hidden underneath the silver exterior. They even went as far as securing the British numberplate “AU 1” for the Phantom Goldfinger’s lucky and devoted owner, who is reported to be “a significant Rolls-Royce client and collector based in England.”
It’s a different story inside the Navy leather- and Royal Walnut veneer-lined cabin. While there are some 18- and 24-carat gold details that aren’t immediately obvious, there are plenty of others that are impossible to miss.
The center console between the front seats contains a hidden vault that holds an illuminated 18-carat solid gold bar shaped into a Phantom “Speedform,” aka a stylized miniature representation of the Phantom Goldfinger.
Opening the glove box reveals a gold lining and one of Goldfinger’s most famous lines: “This is gold, Mr. Bond. All my life, I have been in love with its colour, its brilliance, its divine heaviness.” The reclining Serenity Seating in the back features gold stitching, gold-colored bullet-style seat piping caps, and gold “RR” monograms on the headrests. More obvious uses of the color include the treadplates, speaker grilles, HVAC vents, and “organ stops.” Not only is the VIN plaque plated in 24-carat gold, but it’s also engraved with a VIN that ends in 007. Rear passengers have access to picnic tables adorned with a 22-carat gold inlay showing a fictional map of Fort Knox, which Goldfinger attacked during his doomed “Operation Grand Slam.” As an homage to 007’s golf game with Goldfinger, there’s a gold-plated putter under the trunk lid that has an “AG” (Auric Goldfinger) monogram.
Just as Aston Martin did with its DB12 Goldfinger Edition, Rolls-Royce went deep with some of its references to the movie. The 719 hand-placed “stars” in the Starlight Headliner emit a soft gold light and replicate the constellations as they appeared over the Furka Pass on July 11, 1964 – the last day of filming the scene in which Bond follows Goldfinger in Switzerland.
That series of switchbacks in the Swiss Alps is represented in a three-dimensional stainless steel isoline map that spans the width of the dashboard. One noticeable change in its distinctive pattern is the lines around the analog clock, which are styled after the gun barrel sequence that typically starts James Bond movies.
There are plenty of movies out there for car enthusiasts. It’s cool to see a company such as Rolls-Royce making cars for movie enthusiasts – one of them, at least.
Source: www.classiccars.com