The Phantom Coupe is the production version of the EX101 concept Rolls-Royce unveiled at the 2006 Geneva show. While it’s closely related to the extravagant Drophead, the first new two-door hardtop Rolls since the 1975 Pininfarina-designed Carmargue is being pitched as the driver’s Rolls.
“The Coupe and the Drophead are two distinct cars, with different personalities and specific performance characteristics,” says designer Ian Cameron. Um, okay… Except they both look an awful lot like each other, and both are powered by the same 453-horse 6.75-liter V-12 as used in the Phantom sedan. And Rolls-Royce claims the Coupe’s 0-60-mph sprint will take 5.6 seconds-exactly the same as the Drophead.
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So we’ll have to wait until we drive it to see how the stiffer body structure, firmer rear shocks and spring rates, and thicker rear roll bar makes the Coupe feel sportier than the other Phantoms. The steering has also been tuned to deliver more feel, and the steering wheel fitted with a thicker rim. There’s even-whisper it-a sport button on the steering wheel that alters the shift protocol of the six-speed automatic transmission.
The Coupe’s wheelbase is 9.8 inches shorter than that of the sedan, and the weight distribution is 49/51 front/rear, which means the car should retain some of the delicacy of feel you get in the Phantom sedan. Brakes are giant 14.7-inch discs up front, and 14.6-inch units at the rear.
The Phantom Coupe is a car in the tradition of the fast and romantic two-doors that the rich and famous once swooped across Europe into the grand hotels on the French Riviera or the ski resorts of Switzerland. These days, of course, they all take private jets.
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