• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • U-M Warns of Rough Road Ahead for Auto Industry
  • The Rearview Mirror: Ford Courts Ferrari
  • Hyundai Building New $5.5 Billion EV, Battery Manufacturing Complex Near Savannah
  • Tesla Chief Elon Musk and The Very Bad Week
  • Polestar 3 Set for October Debut
  • Faster, Lighter BMW M4 CSL Makes its Debut
  • Fabled Mercedes Sports Car Sells for Record $146M
  • Ford Recalling 39K Full-Size SUVs Due to Potential Fire Issue
  • Mercedes-Benz Abandons Its Entry-Level Ambitions
  • Push is on to Make Stealing a Catalytic Converter a Federal Crime
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • A Week With: 2022 Volkswagen Tiguan SEL R-Line 4Motion
    • A Week With: 2022 Kia Forte GT
    • First Drive: 2023 Genesis GV60
    • First Drive: 2022 Mercedes-Benz C 300
    • First Impression: 2023 Nissan Z
    • A Week With: 2022 Lexus LC 500 Convertible
    • A Week With: 2022 Ram 2500 Power Wagon Crew Cab
    • First Drive: 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning
    • First Drive(s): 2022 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali Ultimate and AT4X
    • A Week With: 2022 BMW i4 M50
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Automakers > First Look: 2023 Rolls-Royce Phantom

        First Look: 2023 Rolls-Royce Phantom

        Incremental updates for those who demand the finer things in life

        Larry Printz
        Larry Printz , Executive Editor
        May 12, 2022

        Even the most iconic cars need an update now and then. And so it is with the eighth-generation Phantom Series II, Rolls-Royce’s flagship sedan. Introduced in 2017, this is a car that doesn’t see change very often. After all, its bloodline descends directly from the first, and perhaps best-known, Rolls-Royce of all time: the Silver Ghost.

        2023 Rolls-Royce Phantom Series II front
        Time stands still for no one — not even Rolls-Royce, which offers a slew of changes on the eighth-generation Phantom Series II.

        But new car buyers don’t appreciate history, even if provenance is part of the reason for their purchase. They prefer the latest, which Rolls-Royce engineers and designers have provided.

        “With Phantom Series II, we have retained and carefully protected everything our clients love about this superlative and luxurious item, while making subtle yet meaningful enhancements that reflect their evolving tastes and requirements,” said Torsten Müller-Ötvös, chief executive officer of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, in a statement.

        Don’t expect radical changes

        While this newest apparition of Rolls-Royce’s best can be custom ordered in wild colors, the changes from Goodwood, England are more incremental, but appreciated.

        Given that this is basically a mid-cycle refresh, that means it’s time to update the front end. For too many automakers, this means a radical change in appearance, without regard to heritage. That’s not the case for Rolls-Royce and not what clients expect. 

        2023 Rolls-Royce Phantom Series II side
        While this newest apparition of Rolls-Royce’s best can be custom ordered in wild colors, the changes are more incremental, but appreciated.

        So instead, the designers placed a new polished horizontal line between the daytime running lights above its iconic Pantheon Grille, which has undergone a “subtle geometric change,” according to the company. It makes the car’s initials and Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament appear more prominent. And, in keeping with current fashion, the grille is now illuminated, a feature first broached on the smaller Ghost sedan. 

        A darkened chrome grille surround, black bonnet reins, windscreen surround and side window trim is available, if your prefer your Phantom murdered out.

        While there are no changes to the side sheetmetal — this is a mid-cycle refresh after all — the Phantom does receive new footwear. You’d expect the milled, stainless-steel wheel with triangular facets, either fully or part-polished ­— your choice. But the truly outrageous heritage option are the disc wheels, which were common on 1920s Rolls-Royces. The disc wheel is available in polished stainless steel and black lacquer. But the rear-hinged doors remain, a special touch that oozes elegance.

        One of the changes to the 2023 Phantom Series II is an updated front end.

        The inside story

        Why change a good thing? Rolls-Royce didn’t. The interior remains the sumptuous sanctuary it always was. How much space you have depends on whether you get the standard-length car or the extended length. This also depends on whether you have a chauffeur, of course. 

        But there are meaningful updates every customer can appreciate, such as Rolls-Royce Connected, a new feature that allows you to send an address to the car from Whispers, the Rolls-Royce private members’ app. Rolls-Royce Connected also displays the car’s location, security status and current health, which can be accessed on Whispers.

        An option introduced for 2022, Privacy Suite, is still available, offering a modern take on the old chauffeur-driven car, with an electrochromic glass divider and intercom to ensure privacy when needed, as do the window curtains.

        2023 Rolls-Royce Phantom Series II Platino rear seat
        The interior remains the sumptuous sanctuary it always was.

        And even though you can order a bespoke Phantom, Rolls-Royce is offering a model called the Phantom Platino, named for its silver-white finish and use of platinum. Inside, you’ll find the car’s seats are finished in manner similar to the 1930s: front seats are in leather, the rear are sheathed in tone-on-tone fabric, and comes from an Italian mill mixed with bamboo fibers. Finally, there’s Starlight Headliner, which receives a unique pattern specifically for this model. 

        What hasn’t changed

        The driveline’s velvety goodness, of course. Power comes courtesy of a twin-turbocharged V-12. Power is more than sufficient at 536 horsepower, and is fed to the rear wheels through an 8-speed automatic transmission. Rolls-Royce didn’t release pricing. If you have to ask, you can’t afford it. 

        So, who buys them?

        2023 Rolls-Royce Phantom Series II Platino side
        A Phantom can be ordered to taste, although the maker does offer the Platino, a nod to ’30s style grace and elegance in white and platinum.

        Wouldn’t you like to know? Multi-millionaires and billionaires, that’s who. Young and old, modern or traditional, self-made or old money, Rolls-Royce buyers are more diverse than ever.

        But this a rarified car; Rolls-Royce sold 1,490 vehicles in 2021, 805 of them cars. In the first three months of 2022, the company sold 190 cars, up from 160 last year. That’s small potatoes, although those “potatoes” come with sizable price tags. To put that in perspective, in 2021, Ford sold 1,989 F-150s every day. 

        But the Rolls-Royce Phantom doesn’t play by the same rules as other cars. These are cars that bought and coveted., rarified rides of the first order. Change comes gradually. But the automaker has been expert at keeping the cars current. This is no anachronism.

        “The subtle changes we have made for the new Phantom Series II have all been minutely considered and meticulously executed,” Müller-Ötvös said. “As Sir Henry Royce himself said: ‘Small things make perfection, but perfection is no small thing.’”

        Recently Published
        Buying a car

        U-M Warns of Rough Road Ahead for Auto Industry

        Today

        The Rearview Mirror: Ford Courts Ferrari

        May 21, 2022
        Hyundai Savannah logo

        Hyundai Building New $5.5 Billion EV, Battery Manufacturing Complex Near Savannah

        May 20, 2022

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2022
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: