by Ross Finlay (04 May 04)

Rolls-Royce may have effectively taken over Manchester for the centenary celebrations to mark the occasion on May 4, 1904, when Charles Rolls came from London to meet Henry Royce in the city's Midland Hotel, but it hasn't all been a matter of nostalgia.

At the city's G-MEX exhibition centre the company unveiled a special edition of the 21st-century Phantom which does, however, have features harking back to the 1930s - and even earlier, to the time when Rolls and Royce first came together.

Only 35 examples of the Centenary Phantom will be built at Goodwood. The first of them is finished in the Dark Curzon paintwork also used for the 100EX car which stunned observers at the Geneva Show, not only with its body styling but also with the nine-litre V16 engine.

The Centenary model comes with the standard Phantom bodywork and the familiar V12 engine, but is rich in additional detailing. For one thing, each of the 35 examples to be produced will have its own numbered B-pillar plaque. For another, it will also come with special sill plates engraved with the names of C S Rolls and F H Royce, and the date of their first meeting.

More than that, these will be the first Rolls-Royce cars since the 1930s to have the RR monogram badge with the original style of red lettering rather than black.

Dark Curzon is also the colour for the leather upholstery and lower-level interior trim, but Smoke Grey is used for the headlining, also in leather.

If it wouldn't be a Rolls-Royce without high quality leather, the same can be said about the woodwork. The Centenary edition has silver-inlaid mahogany veneers, and even the picnic trays have been improved. Of course, there's more than wood and leather to the interior trim, with fine-textured aluminium featuring on the fascia panel, where the special edition has new instruments, not seen on the standard car, with anodised faces.

In designing the Phantom in the first place, Rolls-Royce made sure that the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot could be electrically lowered out of the way when the car was parked. That's an especially valuable security feature on the Centenary Phantom, considering that the mascot here is in solid sterling silver.

Following on from the Manchester celebrations, Rolls-Royce is to be the featured make at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in June and the Pebble Beach Concours in August. The Centenary Phantom will no doubt appear at both these lavish events.

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