Why the Rolls-Royce Phantom is still king of the road

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Ever since the nameplate first appeared in a newspaper advert in 1925, the Phantom has represented “the pinnacle of all Rolls-Royce motor cars”, says the company’s CEO Chris Brownridge. With its slab-like sides and vast, imposing body, the Phantom is Rolls-Royce’s flagship saloon, driven and ridden in by Queen Elizabeth, John Lennon, Elvis, David Beckham and Kylie Jenner, among others. 

This year the car celebrates a century on the road. And it remains one of the most prestigious and boldest vehicles for collectors. “Phantom values have been relatively consistent over time,” says John Mayhead, editor of the price guide for classic car insurer Hagerty. “This is a positive comment on the nameplate and brand’s continued eminence.” 

Phantoms with a royal provenance ‘are almost impossible to find for sale’

The original Phantom I, as it came to be known, wasn’t actually a car. In the mid-1920s, Rolls-Royce would only supply a framework and mechanical components and the body of the car would be made by coachbuilders. Since those days, the Phantom has cycled through eight generations, taking it from a vehicle often built for royalty and heads of state, to the ride of choice for celebrities. After BMW bought the company in 1998, it developed a modern iteration, a bold interpretation with upgraded tech that swiftly became associated with a younger driver, and featured in the music video for Snoop Dogg’s 2004 song “Drop It Like It’s Hot”. 

With the Phantom continuing to lead the marque’s four-model line-up, Rolls-Royce is in rude health. Last year marked the third-best sales year in company history, and in January 2025, it announced it was investing £300mn to expand its Goodwood manufacturing facility. Today, a new Phantom costs about £500,000 and can include added features such as a Starlight roof lined with hundreds of sparkling lights and rear-seat champagne coolers. 

For vintage Rolls-Royce Phantoms (cars made before the millennium), “the coachwork is typically the biggest influence on value”, says Ed Callow, spokesperson for online auction platform Collecting Cars. An original body is highly prized. “Many cars were rebodied in-period – so make sure you’ve checked whether the coachwork is original.” It is worth buying a copy of the original build record from RREC, the enthusiast club, to verify it. One such example, a 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom 1 tourer with early bodywork by respected British builder Hooper, is currently on sale with Vintage & Prestige Classic Cars for £850,000. Commissioned by the Maharajah of Pithapuram, the car comes with silver-faced dashboard instruments, pleated upholstery, a fitted drinks cabinet, silver cigarette case, chess board and binoculars. 

The Series II Drophead Coupé, a two-door convertible introduced in 2012, is another sought‑after model, with prices for a second-hand car starting from £200,000. P&A Wood in Essex is currently selling a model in Black Diamond paintwork for £205,000, complete with a brushed-stainless-steel bonnet and teak decking at the rear. 

When post-second world war austerity threatened to kill off the Phantom nameplate, its saviour was the British royal household. A Phantom IV remains in active service with Buckingham Palace for ceremonial occasions. “It is almost impossible to find one for sale,” says Callow of cars with royal provenance, but if you do, “expect to pay high six-figures or more”. In 2021, a Phantom IV once used by Princess Margaret was sold by RM Sotheby’s for SFr2.255mn (about £2mn). John Lennon’s Phantom V, one of the first cars in Britain with blacked-out windows, was auctioned in 1985 for $2.299mn. “If it’s daylight when you’re coming home, it’s still dark inside the car – you just shut all the windows and you’re still in the club,” Lennon told an interviewer in 1965. 

If there is a good value option to be found, it’s the Phantom VII, the first release from BMW in 2003. For a good-condition model, expect to pay about £80,000, such as the 2008 Phantom currently on sale for £87,000 with Marlow Cars. And, for something more recent, P&A Wood has a very-low-mileage 2015 Phantom finished in Madeira red for £165,000.

But “while it’s tempting to see the entry point to Phantom VII ownership as being on par with some modern family cars, be warned that even regular maintenance costs are vast”, says Callow. There are no “cheap jobs” on a Rolls-Royce Phantom of any age. “It’s not a collector car that you can run on a shoestring.”