Rolls-Royce buyers spent on average about €500,000 for their ultra-luxurious cars in 2022. While pricing details have not been disclosed for the new Phantom Syntopia, we have a feeling it cost well above the half-million mark. Why? Because the Goodwood-based marque part of the BMW Group calls it “the most technically complex Bespoke Phantom ever produced.”
Based on the Phantom Extended, the one-of-a-kind creation was conceived in collaboration with Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen. It’s been in development for no fewer than four years, meaning the project was green-lighted shortly after the Phantom VIII made its official debut. The opulent saloon has gone through a discreet facelift since then, and this unique build gets the updates introduced in 2022 with the Series II. These include the illuminated Pantheon Grille flanked by revised headlights with laser-cut bezel starlights.
The Phantom Syntopia comes painted in an exclusive Liquid Noir color with purple, blue, magenta, and gold accents depending on the viewing angle. Applying a pigment to the clearcoat to achieve the subtle shimmer took months of development, with more than 3,000 hours spent just for testing and validation. The imposing bonnet hosts a Weaving Water motif found throughout the interior.
Open the coach doors and you’ll be immediately greeted by the most sophisticated headliner ever installed by Rolls-Royce. It’s covered in a single sheet of perfect leather chosen from more than 1,000 hides. Symmetrical cuts were made to show off a so-called “liquid metal” texture formed by the woven nylon fabric underneath and finished with 162 petals made from glass organza. These were applied during an elaborate process that took almost 300 hours.
The manual labor also involved individually placing 187 of the 995 fiberoptic stars by hand. Beginning from the rear compartment to the front, these illuminate sequentially to mimic “a feeling of movement. The intricate headliner alone took nearly 700 hours of collective work to complete. An additional 85 petals are found on the Gallery, which is Rolls-Royce speak for the Phantom’s dashboard. These were also meticulously applied by hand.
The Weaving Water theme we mentioned earlier appears on the picnic table and the passenger panel below the Gallery where multiple coats of paint and lacquer with different quantities of glass particles were applied. It took four months to perfect the formula and nine trial runs to figure out the exact proportion of glass particles – one tablespoon for the entire car.
Phantom Syntopia is the first Rolls-Royce ever to come with its own Bespoke scent, created specifically for this car by an expert perfumer. It uses cedarwood obtain from the owner’s home region, combined with iris and hints of leather before being blended with rose from Patagonia and mild lemon. To release the scent, there’s a mechanism within the headrests.
Aside from buying a truly unique car, the customer will also receive a matching garment featuring the Weaving Water theme. The dress is going to take six months to complete, and the car will be delivered in May.
Source: Rolls-Royce
