Rolls-Royce is celebrating 60 years of arguably Sean Connery’s best James Bond film (calm down, From Russia with Love stans) with a special one-off Phantom Extended.
The bespoke sedan is called, unsurprisingly, the Rolls-Royce Phantom Goldfinger, and is inspired by villain Auric Goldfinger’s 1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III Sedanca de Ville in the titular film Goldfinger.
The Phantom Goldfinger took Rolls-Royce three years to develop and is a treat for any fan of the third James Bond film, brimming with subtle and not-so-subtle nods to the movie.
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It’s being delivered to a “significant Rolls-Royce client and collector based in England” who we can only presume isn’t a supervillain themself.
The exterior is finished in a yellow “precisely matched” to Auric Goldfinger’s vintage Rolls, with a wraparound black finish giving the Phantom a two-tone effect.
The 21-inch wheels are finished in black with silver “floating hubcaps”, again inspired by the 1937 vehicle.
In a particularly esoteric touch, the Spirit of Ecstasy has been designed to have a ‘gold reveal’ effect in a nod to Mr Goldfinger’s smuggling of gold within body panels of his Phantom III.
Rolls-Royce achieved this by gold-plating a silver Spirit of Ecstasy in 18-carat gold, to give it the effect of being the inverse – solid gold concealed with a silver coat.
The Phantom Goldfinger also wears AU 1 number plates, a reference not only to the car from the film but also the chemical symbol for gold on the periodic table of elements.
Inside, there’s a bevy of easter eggs scattered throughout the cabin, which is finished in Navy leather with Royal Walnut veneer to give the gold trim maximum visual impact.
We hope this owner loves gold as much as the character played by Gert Fröbe, because there’s a lot of it in the cabin – most notably, an illuminated solid 18-carat gold bar shaped like a Phantom, located in the centre console in a “hidden vault”.
Other touches include a gold finish for the base of the front and rear centre consoles and the inside of the glovebox, as well as the air vents, speaker grilles and ‘organ stops’ throughout the car.
The tread plates are also gold-plated and embossed using the same font developed for the film, while the seats feature gold stitching, gold-coloured ‘bullets’ to cap the seat piping sections, and gold RR monograms on the headrests.
There’s a 24-carat gold-plated VIN plaque with a specially obtained VIN that ends in 007 – you know, the secret agent who sent the villain to his death (no spoiler warning here, you’ve had 60 years to watch the movie!)
One of Auric Goldfinger’s most memorable quotes is debossed on the inside of the glovebox – no, not “No, Mr Bond, I expect you to die!” but rather, “This is gold, Mr Bond. All my life, I have been in love with its colour, its brilliance, its divine heaviness.”
The Royal Walnut picnic tables can help you plan your attack on Fort Knox (not really), with a 22-carat gold inlay with a depth of only 0.1mm featuring a map of the bullion depository, incorporating locations like Bullion Boulevard.
The analogue clock on the dashboard is inspired by the iconic James Bond ‘gun barrel’ sequence used in every 007 film since the first, 1962’s Dr. No.
Pop the boot and you’ll find Mr Goldfinger’s gold-plated putter has been recreated and mounted on the underside of the boot lid, featuring an ‘AG’ monogram inspired by the engraving of the villain’s signet ring.
Rolls-Royce has also fitted an item inspired by 007’s Q Branch-issued tracking device in the boot, though instead of telling MI6 the owner’s location it projects the 007 logo onto the carpet of the boot floor.
Some of the interior touches are so subtle you’d have to be a real James Bond nerd to get them.
Each of the Phantom’s four umbrellas, placed inside its doors, have a harlequin finish like that seen on the umbrella in the Stoke Park golf course scene in Goldfinger.
The Starlight Headliner reflects the constellations as they were positioned on July 11, 1964, the last day of filming the Furka Pass scene in Switzerland where 007 and Tilly Masterson separately pursue Goldfinger.
A more obvious nod to this scene can be found in the isoline map on the dashboard, depicting the contours of this iconic road.
The stainless steel used for this piece was darkened using a method called physical vapour deposition, with contour lines and elevation figures engraved into the dark substrate to expose the bright metal underneath.
This feature alone required a year of development, with ten complete prototypes developed by Rolls-Royce’s Bespoke Collective to perfect the design.
The 60th anniversary of Goldfinger didn’t inspire only Rolls-Royce to create a tribute vehicle.
Aston Martin has also revealed a bespoke Goldfinger version of its DB12, though you have a much better chance of getting your hands on one as the company is building 60 examples.
The grand tourer also features various 18-carat gold interior embellishments and subtle easter eggs, though there’s no illuminated map of the stars as they appeared during the last day of Swiss filming. Rats.
Click an image to view the full gallery, including photos of the car on the Furka Pass.
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