It’s also the largest vehicle Rolls-Royce makes, with a 6.

75-liter,
563-brake-horsepower, V12 engine powerful enough to run a tank.
The Phantom can hit 60 mph in just over five seconds—remarkable
for a car of its heft.

To appreciate the $450,000 vehicle’s full glory, start with its outside

and admire the sheer wall of the grille, from which designer Giles
Taylor has made all the other elements flow. Each steel prong has
been hand-polished to mirrored deco glory; the rectangular
headlights are the only ones in the world frosted in Lalique glass.

Climb in the back. With a gentle pull, the rear-hinged door closes
toward the front of the car. The interior is specifically designed to
dazzle with its inch-thick dyed lambswool carpeting; high-gloss
polished wood paneling; drinks cabinet with whiskey glasses,
decanter, Champagne flutes, and chilled compartment; and a ceiling
glittering with tiny lights.

Rolls-Royce says the new Phantom is the quietest car on Earth. After
three days spent winding through mountain passes and visiting rural
retreats near Zurich, I believe it. Engineers tested 180 prototypes of
the tires alone—they’re filled with noise-canceling foam—and
inserted thick layers of felt between alloy skins inside the cabin floor
and along the bulkhead. The result is a suite that’s officially 10
percent quieter than its predecessor when moving at high speeds.

The new Rolls-Royce Phantom easily dominated Switzerland’s Furka Pass. The sedan is

the first complete update on the model since 2003. 

Photographer: Yann Gross for Bloomberg Businessweek

Today’s wealthy, many of whom are relatively young and newly

affluent, expect these comforts. The average age of the Rolls-Royce
buyer is 44, down from 56 seven years ago and younger than the
average age of 50 among all luxury car buyers, according to Kelley
Blue Book. (In Rolls-Royce’s second-biggest market, China, 38
percent of all new luxury car buyers are under the age of 40.)

A foot on the pedal reveals that BMW’s full engineering resources

have made the car lighter, stiffer, and more technologically
advanced than anything that’s come before.

Rolls-Royce is very proud of a new double-wishbone suspension

coupled with an air ride system that makes the car as smooth as a
magic carpet, as executives will say to you often. Excuse the cliché
this time—they’re right. Push the gas pedal, and the Phantom uses
its massive power to surge effortlessly forward with authority and
elegance.

Most impressive is the car’s novel four-wheel drive. It allows each

wheel autonomy to choose traction and vector over any change in
direction. This was the secret to breaking the Furka: Even as the
Phantom thrust forward like a bullet train, it danced across the pass
like a much smaller car, surprising at every turn.

This bodes well for the Project Cullinan, the much anticipated first-
ever SUV from Rolls-Royce, which arrives late next year. It had
better be good. That is, if you need another Rolls.