The age of the elegant, formal carriage-trade limousine has long since passed in the world of modern cars. The art of building such vehicles was only truly practised in Britain, and it faded with the demise of the Rolls-Royce Phantom VI in '92 and, to a lesser degree, the Daimler DS420 at around the same time. The reasons were manifold but hard - and expensive - to ignore: safety legislation, type-approval irritations, and the cost of skilled labour able to form aluminium and hard woods into the graceful forms these traditional bodies required.
Too low-volume to justify production-line tooling, these specialised limousines-vehicles that had more in common with the horsedrawn broughams and landaulettes of 150 years previously than the modern 'stretched' equivalents - took months to build. They were always created to order, never for stock, and by necessity hugely expensive, which further reduced their potential audience.
It was a market that was dwindling anyway.
As ordinary large cars became easier to drive and handle generally, the need for chauffeur transport even among the very wealthy was in decline. Why employ a driver when it was such a pleasure to take the wheel of your Silver Shadow? Who really needed massive amounts of legroom and seven seats in a 20ft-long car to travel a world in which such decadence might, increasingly, be frowned upon? Most Phantom Vs had Park Ward or Mulliner Park Ward bodies. The 1959 Phantom V - the first Rolls-Royce to use the name since the demise of the 'Royalty only' straight-eight Phantom IV had been under development as Project Siam since 1955.
It was a well-judged extrapolation of the new Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II technology, which still meant massive drum brakes (with gearboxdriven servo assistance) and a live rear axle, but now with the new, all-aluminium 6.2-litre V8 of undisclosed, but 'adequate' outputs.
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A Breath of Fresh Air- Alfa Romeo's exotic, V8-powered Montreal was like nothing the marque had made before, but can it compare with a Porsche masterpiece, the 911S 2.4?
The stereotype of the ItaloGermanic automotive rivalry is that the Latin car will be brilliant to drive, but poorly built and ergonomically flawed, while the Teutonic will be the opposite. Yet these 2+2 sports coupés both ran against orthodoxy. In the Montreal, Alfa Romeo created an outlandish-looking two-door more comfortable, more powerful and more refined than anything it had produced for decades. Meanwhile, Porsche continued to refine its back-to-front, austere and increasingly aged 911. Neither took a traditional development path, but both created thrilling and individual cars that have echoed through the decades.
Daring to be diminutive
AMC's Gremlin and Pacer, and Ford's much-derided Pinto, led America's response to the threat of imported European compacts
THE LONG WAY ROUND
There is a great tradition of overland trips by Land-Rover, but the tale of this 70s Aussie epic and the car itself was discovered by chance
Handsome cab
The Phantom V limousine marked the beginning of the end for coachbuilder James Young, but this Rolls-Royce represents the craft at its very best
DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES
Racing for their own F1 teams brought some drivers success and an enduring legacy. For others, it turned into a nightmare
20 30 LITRES CYLINDERS, 400BHP......AND MORE THAN A CENTURY OLD
Thunderous torque, flame-spitting stub-exhausts, white-knuckle thrills - and hopefully no spills - aboard a trio of Edwardian racing titans
ICON.
The three top-selling vehicles in the USA in 2023 were pick-ups, topped by the Ford F-Series. This is the truck that started it all
Blurred Lines
lan 'Del' Lines blended the V8 burble of Triumph's open GT with real practicality in his Stag V8 saloons and estates
Home of the brave
The innovative Silverstone proved a hit with keen amateur drivers. To mark its 75th, Healey's club racer returns to the circuit for which it is named
PLAYING ALL THE ANGLES
Alfa Romeo's wild RZ eschewed the jellymould styling of the period to offer a striking, wedge-shaped take on open-topped performance motoring