#Rolls-roycePhantom

Rolls-Royce debuted its new Phantom Extended Wheelbase today at the Beijing Auto Show, adding new technology, drivetrain options and styling to the car. 

Long wheelbase cars have become hugely popular in the Chinese market, and Rolls-Royce as a leader in luxury is looking to cash in on the trend with its stretched Phantom. Running the Rolls will be the company’s V12 direct-injected engine, mated with a new eight-speed automatic gearbox which the company projects will help with fuel consumption by 10 percent.

Rolls-Royce has probably caught on that bespoke models for niche markets sell pretty quickly. The British luxury automaker sold out its “Year of the Dragon” Phantom in merely two months to the Chinese, and now it created a complete one-off Phantom Coupe Mirage for the United Arab Emirates market.

Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös recently confirmed that there will be no all-electric model or SUV coming anytime soon, if at all. The British luxury automaker will instead concentrate on its existing Ghost model, potentially releasing a coupe and convertible variant.

Rolls-Royce has decided to roll out the red carpet for this year’s Geneva Motor Show, unveiling its Phantom Series II family of vehicles. The Phantom Sedan, Phantom Drophead Coupe, and Phantom Coupe have all received updates with “contemporary yet timeless design enhancements that frame the introduction of cutting-edge technologies which significantly improve the car’s drive-train, ease-of-use and connectivity.”

Some people probably rolled their eyes when Rolls-Royce announced the Year of the Dragon Phantom, believing it would just be another poor-selling limited edition vehicle. But never underestimate just how strong the Chinese culture and beliefs are. Or rather, just don’t underestimate the wallets of those strong-believing Chinese.

Wald’s creations are known to be aggressive but for the most part they tend to keep the luxury still intact with their styling packages. This time however, they may have gone too far with their Black Bison kit for the Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe.

Over in the United Kingdom, Hertz has teamed up with Premiere Velocity in order to offer their customers the ability to rent some of the world’s finest exotic supercars. The list of exotics being offered is impressive including Lamborghini‘s LP560-4 Bicolore and Aventador, Porsche‘s Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet, Ferrari‘s 458 Italia, Range Rover‘s Evoque, Mercedes-Benz‘s Brabus S-Class and SLS AMG Roadster, Rolls-Royce’ s Phantom and even McLaren’s MP4.

Qatar is slowly becoming the land of outlandish and brazenly modified vehicles, despite the modifications normally consisting of an insane paint job or wrap. This time around though, we’re almost speechless, as the world’s classiest and most luxurious vehicle has received a turquoise treatment.  That’s right, this Rolls-Royce Phantom was delivered to the Rolls-Royce showroom in Doha, Qatar sporting the wonderful shade.

On the Chinese calendar, 2012 is the ‘Year of the Dragon,’ which celebrates one of the most celebrated mythical creatures in national folklore. Symbolically, in Chinese culture, the dragon represents power, prosperity and good fortune.

Next year, the UK’s National Motor Museum will stage the largest exhibition of James Bond cars ever displayed. The exhibition will run at the museum through 2012 and will include some of the most famous vehicles from the movies, to celebrate fifty years of the film franchise. Some of the heavy hitters will include the 2002 Jaguar XKR with SFX weapons from Die Another Day, the 1964 Aston Martin DB5 from Goldeneye and the 1937 Rolls Royce Phantom III from Goldfinger. In total, fifty James Bond vehicles will be present at the museum.

Stuart Hughes, based out of the United Kingdom, is known for its bespoke customization of high-end luxury products from iPhones to yachts, liquor to furniture, and everything in between. But this Rolls-Royce Phantom may just be one of the company’s most extravagant creations, featuring over 260-lbs of 18-karat gold on the outside and inside of the of the armored luxury limousine.

More commonly known as Mr. Bean, Rowan Atkinson is a little hard to take seriously. In all of his acts, the oftentimes silent comedian can generate laughs with his facial expressions alone. That’s why when we heard that he was recently on Top Gear and even set the fastest time in their “Star in a Reasonable Priced Car” competition, we knew we had to see the clip. We all knew Atkinson was an automotive enthusiast, but being able to see him in action while piloting a car around a track is truly priceless.

Piloting a Kia Cee’d, Rowan Atkinson now sits on top of the leaderboard with a time of 1:42.2, besting the likes of Tom Cruise and Simon Pegg. In addition, Atkinson brought a V16-powered Rolls-Royce Phantom to the show, a vehicle he was granted the rights to use through Rolls-Royce themselves. It’ll be seen in his upcoming film Johnny English Reborn, where the 9.0L V16 Phantom will star with Atkinson. Supposedly Rolls-Royce had toyed with the idea of mass producing the 9.0L V16 Phantom but ultimately tossed the idea out the window. But prior to that, Rolls-Royce managed to produce three or four of them, one of which Atkinson was able to get his hands on.

We can’t wait to see what sort of comedy ensues in his upcoming film, despite having a more serious note than the majority of his previous work.

Check out the clip of Atkinson at Top Gear after the break.

[Source: Autoblog]

Kim Kardashian’s star-studded wedding will feature a fleet of white Rolls-Royce Phantom and Maybach 62 limousines, as befitting a celebrity wedding.

The Kardashians worked out a deal with Platinum Motorsports (which customizes vehicles for athletes and celebrities like David Beckham) to provide this sterling example of conspicuous consumption, which the company said was not a challenge. All the cars will be chauffer-driven, and will ferry guests around for optimal paparazzi exposure.

Plus, Kardashian insisted every vehicle be white… not matte black.

[Source: TMZ]

Curious about these Platinum Motorsports ballers? Check out the video after the jump:

Look, most of the time we try our absolute best to find the bright side of things no matter how awful they might be. But this time, this Rolls-Royce Phantom spotted in Marbella, Spain, has us completely speechless.

Rolls- Royce is expecting a massive sales increase in the second quarter of this year, thanks to increased demand spurred by their “cheaper” Ghost model, which retails for a mere $246,500.