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Dream Cruisin' a Rolls Royce Phantom

Upturned thumbs aplenty, no other digits noticed

Say Rolls Royce offers you a weekend loan of a $350K Phantom, one of the most rare and exclusive new cars on the planet. What would you do?

Same thing we did, of course—take it to Detroit's Woodward Dream Cruise to mix with thousands of weird and wonderful rods, customs and rolling collectibles of all descriptions. See how the folks who line the famous boulevard through Detroit's northwestern suburbs react. Will they accept, respect, reject, resent or simply ignore it as a bona fide Dream Cruiser worthy of prime Woodward Ave. real estate?

The Car

The 2006 Rolls Royce Phantom, designed and built by Germany's BMW since it purchased the rights to the storied brand in 1998, is the nuclear aircraft carrier of luxury cars. It's seven inches longer on a wheelbase 10.6 inches longer than the monster truck-based Cadillac Escalade ESV. And, despite its high-tech aluminum space frame and lightweight body panels, it's nearly as heavy at 5,577 lbs. Yet it's burly BMW-based 453-hp direct-injected DOHC 48-valve 6.75-liter V-12 can launch it from rest to 60 mph in just 5.7-seconds, and through the quarter-mile in a stunning 14.3 seconds.

Its massive classic Rolls Royce Parthenon grille proclaims to all exactly what it is. Its wide rear doors open to the front and whisper shut electrically. Its sumptuous full-leather interior consumes an average of 17 quality hides, its rich wood veneers are "book matched" with alternating feature and straight grains, and its carpeted floor mats are plusher than the wall-to-walls in most folks' homes.

The traditional round analog clock at dashtop center flips over to reveal a 6.5-inch screen for navigation, (BMW iDrive-type) central control functions and live local TV. The pie-plate-size center wheel caps are weighted so their big RR logos are always right side up. The legendary Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament, once a collectors' item for unscrupulous non-owners, retracts out of sight at the push of a button and when the car is locked.

Each new Phantom takes some 260 hours (10.8 days) for skilled craftsmen to assemble compared to 30 hours for the average new car. In 2005, 796 were sold worldwide, 382 of them in North America through 29 U.S. dealers, and one each in Canada and Mexico. Tiny as it is, that global number bested Mercedes' rival Maybach by nearly three to one. In reality, this car competes mostly with private planes, yachts and vacation homes.

Rolls Royce Phantom owners are typically multi-multi-millionaires with three or four homes and five or six other cars. Not counting royalty and heads of state, most are self-employed (famous writers, artists and athletes) or heads of privately held companies. Only about a third have names or faces we would recognize. Outside the U.S., about 80 percent of new Phantom owners custom-specify interior materials, like decorating a house. In America, barely 20 percent take advantage of that opportunity. U.S. gamblers and liability lawyers who hit a big jackpot want their new Rolls Royces right away.

The Cruise

The Woodward Dream Cruise started 12 years ago as a one-time opportunity for local gearheads to relive the golden years of Detroit motor mania, when cruisin' the famed eight-lane avenue between drive-in burgers and cokes often led to impromptu—and sometimes deadly serious— racing. Some summer nights saw people sitting along both curbs to watch.

That first Dream Cruise was such a hoot that one was not enough. It quickly became a long-looked-forward-to annual event that begins on a mid-August Monday and builds to a Saturday dawn-to-dusk automotive orgy. Organizers say more than a million enthusiasts show up each year, many from other states and some from faraway countries. When not showing off their four-wheeled (sometimes two- or three-wheeled) prides and joys in the creepy crawly traffic jam, they park and display them along the route and line nearly every inch of it to party and spectate as the world's largest free car show passes in review.

So here I am with my borrowed super-status symbol, wearing a rented chauffeur cap for effect, wondering how it will be received. Amazingly well, it turns out!

The Reaction

These are hardcore car guys and gals. Most know what it is and what it means. First, their jaws drop in amazement. They could watch all day and night and not see another new Phantom among the many thousands of classic, specialty, sports and exotic machines rolling slowly before them. They point it out to wives and kids and friends. Most break into smiles, and I smile back. Some shoot photos or video. A surprising number offer enthusiastic thumbs up. Some shout such things as, "Nice car!" A few hold up flashcards with the number "10," as if judging a perfect Olympic dive.

Assuming I'm the chauffeur, they strain to see who's in back...but the cavernous rear cabin is vacant. "Does he know you're out here with his car?" someone yells. One man asks, "How you doin'?" "Great," I reply with a grin. "You sho is!" he laughs back, shaking his head in amazement. One man in the next lane stares at the Rolls until he bumps smack into the car in front of him. No damage, luckily. Perhaps the best reaction comes from a group of 30-something women in a row of folding chairs. They hoot and holler while one flashes a "10" sign and another announces through a megaphone, "That's too nice for this road!"

The Scoring

Some fellow cruisers offer trades. One couple offers a beautiful Bentley racer replicar. A tightly packed group of four golden agers and three golden retrievers offer their mid-'60s convertible decked out with "Golden Oldies" signs. They say they'll throw in the dogs. I politely decline. Two guys (probably dealers) at GM's Athens Coney Island hospitality area offer an employee discount on something new.

Off the avenue, approaching the toney Townsend Hotel in the upscale suburb of Birmingham, I watch the valets' eyes light up then drop in disappointment as I cruise on by (that felt cheap, but strangely satisfying). I use the wonderful and very necessary front and rear park distance sensors and cameras to maneuver into a tight spot. A woman with an Eastern European accent asks to take a picture of the car. I take her picture taking the picture. A man inquires about the color, a medium brown called dark sable that was once reserved for England's royalty. An SUV-load of teens slows to ogle and shout, "Nice ride!" and some other hip superlatives I'd never heard before. Two guys say it reminds them of the evil killer car in the movie "The Car."

The next day, my wife and I dock the Rolls in a discount house parking lot for a few minutes. Upon our return, some people take our pictures through the windshield. Guess they'd waited to see what multi-multi-millionaires look like. Guess we disappointed them.

My $351K Phantom, actually $328,750 plus $19,000 worth of options and a $3,000 federal gas guzzler tax, achieved a surprising 16 mpg for the weekend, which included some 180 miles of high-speed freeway running. It had posed for a lot of pictures and had brightened a lot of days, including mine. It goes back tomorrow. So does the chauffeur's cap. Sigh.