Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has unveiled a one-of-one Phantom Extended that pays homage to the 1964 James Bond film, Goldfinger – one of twelve Rolls-Royce appearances in the 007 film franchise.
Revealed in the film’s 60th anniversary year, it takes inspiration from the 1937 Phantom III Sedanca de Ville owned by the eponymous villain, Auric Goldfinger. This story is masterfully explored in Phantom Goldfinger, with exquisite and ingenious Bespoke features linking to the plot and iconography of this enduring film.
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 three years of continuous development was required to bring each of these elegant and playful Bespoke 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 motor car’s boot, recalling the club used by Auric Goldfinger during his first encounter with James Bond.
2024 PHANTOM EXTENDED ‘GOLDFINGER’: EXTERIOR
For the exterior of this contemporary tribute to Goldfinger’s motor 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 motor car’s 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 motor car as seen in the film.
The Spirit of Ecstasy at the prow of Phantom Goldfinger has been given a unique finish, subtly referencing the motion picture’s plot. In the film, the villain Auric Goldfinger was smuggling gold in body panels of his Phantom. As a nod to 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.
INTERIOR: HIDDEN GOLD
In honour of the Goldfinger film, the Bespoke Collective of designers, engineers, and artisans within Rolls-Royce developed several highly complex details and features that incorporate 18- 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 motor 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 motor car also have a lustrous gold finish. The speaker frets are given the same finish and 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 GALLERY
The Bespoke artwork installed in Phantom’s Gallery, which runs the full width of the front fascia, is the true centrepiece of the motor car. The three-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 Auric 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 ten 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 (1962).
FURKA PASS STARLIGHT HEADLINER
The motor car pays another subtle tribute to the memorable Furka Pass scene. 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 11 July 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.
PICNIC TABLE INLAY: THE MAP TO GOLD RESERVES
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 six months to finalise and was developed over three prototypes, incorporates key locations including Gold Vault Road, Bullion Boulevard, and the Bullion Depository that Goldfinger plans to attack in ‘Operation Grand Slam’.
INTERIOR COLOURWAY: GOLD STANDARD
Phantom Goldfinger is finished in Navy leather and Royal Walnut veneer, selected as an elegant and refined canvas to showcase the gold detailing, inspired by the interior colourway of the original motor 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.
EXQUISITE DETAILS
James Bond’s initial encounter with Goldfinger takes place at Stoke Park in Buckinghamshire, UK, where 007 challenges him to a round of golf. Goldfinger uses a gold putter, which is safely guarded by his henchman, Oddjob. For the 2024 Phantom Goldfinger, the gold-plated putter has been recreated and mounted on the underside of the boot lid. 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 motor 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 Stoke Park scene, Bond is nearly caught interfering with the Phantom III by Oddjob, who loads Goldfinger’s golf clubs and a harlequin umbrella into the boot. For the 2024 Phantom Goldfinger, the umbrellas that fit into the motor car’s rear doors 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 Phantom Goldfinger, which has now been delivered to a significant Rolls-Royce client and collector based in England.
“Bringing Phantom Goldfinger into being was one of the Bespoke Collective’s greatest creative journeys to date. The elegant and whimsical features that reference the film’s most memorable moments are an exquisite demonstration of the power of Bespoke in adding a new chapter to an existing story. It was a privilege to be a part of the creative team that brought this highly sought-after collector’s piece to life.”
Nick Rhodes, Bespoke Designer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
