Rolls-Royce Phantom Goldfinger pays tribute to movie

Although James Bond never personally used a Rolls-Royce (his favourite car was an Aston Martin DB5), the cars of the topmost luxury brand have appeared at least 12 times in the Bond movies.

They have usually been used by other characters (mostly the villains), with the first one appearing in 1964 in ‘Goldfinger’. This was the 1937 Phantom III Sedanca de Ville owned by Auric Goldfinger, a man so obsessed with gold that he gave himself the name ‘Auric’, which is an adjective for ‘of gold’.

‘Goldfinger’ was one of the more memorable James Bond movies from the Sean Connery era and to celebrate the 60^th anniversary of the movie, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has created a one-of-one Phantom Extended – referred to as the Phantom Goldfinger – which references the plot and iconography of the movie story with exquisite and ingenious Bespoke features.

Extensively engineered Bespoke features
The 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 3 years of continuous development was required to bring each of these elegant and playful 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 car’s boot, recalling the club used by Goldfinger during his first encounter with James Bond.

For the exterior of this contemporary tribute to Goldfinger’s 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 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 model that was used in the film.

The Spirit of Ecstasy over the grille has been given a unique finish, subtly referencing the motion picture’s plot. In the film, Goldfinger was smuggling gold in body panels of his Phantom. Referencing  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.

Hidden gold within
The Bespoke Collective of designers, engineers, and artisans at Rolls-Royce developed several highly complex details and features that incorporate 18-carat 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 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 inner lid of the glovebox is also debossed with Goldfinger’s iconic quote: “This is Gold, Mr. Bond. All my life, I have been in love with its colour, its brilliance, its divine heaviness.”

The air vents and ‘organ stops’ throughout the cabin also have a lustrous gold finish; likewise for speaker frets which are 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.

Furka Pass in the Gallery and overhead
The Bespoke artwork installed in Phantom’s Gallery, which runs the full width of the front fascia, is the true centrepiece of the cabin. The 3-dimensional design, which was hand-drawn, is a precise yet artistic isoline map that shows the contours of the Furka Pass; in the film 007 is seen on this legendary road, discreetly following Goldfinger to his smelting plant in the Swiss Alps.

The stainless steel used to construct the piece was darkened using a method named physical vapour deposition. Contour lines and elevation figures are engraved into the dark substrate, exposing the bright metal beneath. The Furka Pass is cut out from the stainless-steel layer, revealing a gilded surface underneath.

This highly complex feature required a year of painstaking development, in which the Bespoke Collective produced 10 complete prototypes to perfect the design. The Bespoke clock surround at the centre of the artwork is inspired by the instantly recognisable ‘gun barrel’ sequence which has been featured in every James Bond film since Dr. No, the first movie screened in 1962.

Another tribute to the memorable Furka Pass scene is shown on the ceiling. The marque’s Bespoke Collective designed the Starlight Headliner of Phantom Goldfinger to perfectly reflect the constellations as they were positioned over the Furka Pass on July 11, 1964 – the last day of filming the scene in Switzerland. 719 ‘stars’, which glow with a subtle gold hue, are surrounded by a further eight ‘shooting stars’ – all individually placed by hand.

A picnic table inlay
The Royal Walnut picnic tables are adorned with a 22-carat gold inlay with a depth of only 0.1 mm, which feature a fictional map of Fort Knox, the bullion depository where the United States’ gold reserves are stored. The design, which took 6 months to finalise and was developed over 3 prototypes, incorporates key locations including Gold Vault Road, Bullion Boulevard, and the Bullion Depository that Goldfinger planned to attack in ‘Operation Grand Slam’.

Gold standard for interior colourway
The Phantom Goldfinger is upholstered in Navy leather with Royal Walnut veneer, selected as an elegant and refined canvas to showcase the gold detailing, inspired by the interior colourway of the original car. The seating, which includes reclining Serenity Seating in the rear suite, is subtly elevated with gold stitching, gold-coloured ‘bullets’ to cap the seat piping sections, and headrests that incorporate gold ‘RR’ monograms.

Other movie-related details
James Bond’s initial encounter with Goldfinger takes place on a golf where the secret agent challenges him to a round of golf. Goldfinger uses a gold putter, which is safely guarded by his henchman, Oddjob.

For the Phantom Goldfinger, the gold-plated putter has been recreated and mounted on the underside of the bootlid. The club is adorned with a specially designed ‘AG’ monogram, inspired by the engraving on the signet ring worn by Goldfinger on-screen.

Later, while alone with Goldfinger’s Phantom III, Bond places a Q Branch-issued tracking device on the car, which he uses to follow the villain across Europe. To acknowledge this, the Bespoke Collective developed a device, inspired by the original gadget, that subtly projects the 007 logo onto the carpet of the luggage compartment floor whenever the lid is opened.

During the scene at the golf course, Bond is nearly caught interfering with the Phantom III by Oddjob, who loads Goldfinger’s golf clubs and an umbrella into the boot. For the Phantom Goldfinger, the umbrellas that fit into the car’s rear doors (a well-known feature) have been finished in the same red, blue, green, and yellow colours.

As a finishing touch, the prized British numberplate ‘AU 1’, which graced the Goldfinger Phantom III in the film, has been secured — a reference to the chemical symbol for gold on the periodic table of elements. This will remain with the Phantom Goldfinger, which has now been delivered to a significant Rolls-Royce client and collector based in England.

“At Rolls-Royce, we are dedicated to crafting deeply personal masterpieces that reshape the boundaries of possibility and truly define the essence of luxury. Each creation is a reflection of our commitment to producing extraordinary, unique motor cars that consistently delight and exceed the expectations of our clients. This particular project really invigorated our team of creatives, giving them the freedom to explore the reaches of their imagination. The final creation is a testament to the power of collaboration and the extraordinary ability of our designers, craftspeople, and engineers,” said Chris Brownridge, Chief Executive of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

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