Rolls-Royce unveils one-of-one Phantom Goldfinger

Given the depth of personalisation now permissible with very high-end cars, the end result of letting a customer run wild with their personal vision can be a bit hit and miss. Any luxury manufacturer will (privately) concede that it has seen no end of good taste fails emerge from the process. Nevertheless, with the right buyer, one possessing a clear vision and plenty of patience, truly great things can happen. Behold the Rolls-Royce Phantom Goldfinger, a one-of-one masterpiece. 

Clearly, cars dedicated to the cinematic world of 007 are not new – we were introduced to the limited edition Aston Martin DB12 Goldfinger just the other week. But the Phantom is better because a) there is never going to be another one like it, and b) it isn’t referencing a Bond car, but the 1937 Phantom III Sedanca de Ville driven by Auric Goldfinger. And when we say ‘reference’ for once we’re not talking about stick-on badges – Rolls reckons the Phantom features some ‘of the most extensively engineered Bespoke features’ it has ever installed on a car, all of them linking to the film’s plot. It took three years to complete. 

Firstly, and most obviously, there is the paint. Which is a match for the Phantom III used in the film. And the UK numberplate, ‘AU1’, that Rolls legally secured (presumably at great cost) for the Goldfinger. But there is also a solid silver Spirit of Ecstasy which has been gold-plated so that sections of the figurine appear to be gold underneath. Why? Because it’s a reference to Auric smuggling gold in the body panels of his car. Cute, right? It gets better. 

As you can imagine, the 18- and 24-carat theme continues apace inside. Many of the fixtures and fittings are inevitably in a gold finish, including the treadplates, but there are also concealed items like the centre console, which ‘was re-engineered to house an illuminated solid 18-carat gold bar, shaped as a Phantom ‘Speedform’’ – basically the car in miniature. Elsewhere, the inner lid of the glovebox, which is also gold-lined, is 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.” 

But even this is surpassed by the hand-drawn, Furka Pass isoline map that runs the full width of the dash fascia. This stainless steel feature took a full year to get right with its detailed colour variations (achieved using physical vapour deposition), and Rolls went through ten prototypes before it was happy with the result. And if that level of topographical accuracy doesn’t impress your passenger, you can always direct them to the Starlight Headliner, which is said to ‘perfectly reflect’ the constellations as they would have appeared over the Furka Pass on Jully 11th 1964 – the last day of filming. Honestly, the mind boggles. 

And it doesn’t stop boggling. In the back, the Royal Walnut picnic tables get a 22-carat gold inlay that depicts a fictional map of Fort Knox in tribute to ‘Operation Grand Slam’, Goldfinger’s plan to attack the Bullion Depository. Which is obviously brilliant – but not quite as brilliant as the gold-plated, ‘AG’ monogrammed putter Rolls had specially made just so it could be mounted to the underside of the Phantom’s boot lid. The only way it could be more note-perfect is if you had your own Oddjob to open the door for you. Quite how much all this cost (and this is by no means an exhaustive rundown of the details) is not revealed, but when Rolls says the Goldfinger represents ‘one of the Bespoke Collective’s greatest creative journeys to date’ it finds us in hearty agreement. Better yet, the collector responsible lives in England. Kudos, sir.