A Century of Hollywood Glamour

Whereas performing within the Gershwins’ musical Humorous Face in London in 1928, Fred Astaire purchased a custom-bodied 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom I City Automotive. He was so impressed with the car, he shipped it again to the States after the run, outfitted with a {custom} Louis Vuitton trunk for his faucet sneakers. Likewise, when Marlene Dietrich arrived in Hollywood from Germany in 1930, executives at Paramount greeted her with a inexperienced Phantom I convertible. The automotive even appeared in her Hollywood debut, Morocco, which earned Dietrich her solely Oscar nomination.

Since its launch in 1925 — 100 years and eight generations in the past — the Rolls-Royce Phantom has maintained its place because the British ultra-luxury model’s most costly (and unique) mannequin. Hailed for his or her seemingly easy energy, supple experience, technologically subtle gizmos and beautiful inside and exterior appointments, Phantoms have been the last word celeb standing image almost for the reason that nameplate’s launch. This was partly by design.

“Within the early days, Hollywood inspired their stars to experience round in very costly vehicles,” says Leslie Kendall, curator of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, “as a result of it enhanced their celeb and by extension, the celeb of the studio.”

They weren’t essentially probably the most demanding purchasers. The Phantom IV limousines of the Nineteen Fifties have been constructed solely for autocrats and rulers just like the Shah of Iran, Basic Francisco Franco of Spain and Queen Elizabeth II of England. “To personal a Phantom IV, you needed to qualify as a head of state or of royal start,” Kendall says. “That was probably the most elusive Phantom and the one which was off limits even to Hollywood.”

However as musicians grew to become royalty in their very own proper, they ascended the leather-based throne. Huge band leaders Duke Ellington and Rely Basie traveled by Rolls-Royce, seemingly in a Phantom II or III. Elvis Presley personalized a 1963 Phantom V with a phone and a microphone in case inspiration struck. French songbird Édith Piaf was a Phantom fanatic, as have been soul legends Sam Cooke and Al Inexperienced.

In 1964, John Lennon purchased a Phantom V, commissioned a {custom} psychedelic paint job and outfitted it with a report and cassette participant and exterior audio system. (As if looking for a cleanse, he bought a second Phantom in 1968 in white-on-white.) Liberace lined one among his Rollses, a 1962 Phantom V convertible, in a disco ball of tiny mirrors; it co-starred in his countless Vegas residency.

Liberace’s flamboyant inheritor, Elton John, validated his success with a white Phantom VI. Whereas being pushed to a 1973 Manchester live performance, he noticed a more recent brown Phantom in a dealership, instructed his chauffeur to drag over, purchased the automotive and rode in it to the occasion. Later, he outfitted it with a stereo so potent the again windshield required shatterproof reinforcements. He personalized one other, a 1962 Phantom V, with a disinhibited cotton sweet livery, inside and outside.

“For those who purchased one among these vehicles, you didn’t sneak it house at night time and conceal it within the storage. You paraded it,” says Kendall. “It’s past conspicuous consumption.”

Phantom took a break within the ’90s as Rolls reorganized. However when Phantom VII was launched in 2003, it instantly grew to become a hip-hop icon. T-Ache, 2 Chainz, Huge Boi, Fats Joe, Rick Ross and Pharrell Williams all purchased in. Drake’s supervisor gifted him a Phantom that the rapper had rented “to maintain up appearances.” And Jay-Z and Beyoncé purportedly commissioned a $28 million custom-bodied “Boat Tail” convertible, primarily based on a Phantom VIII’s underpinnings.

The following-generation Phantom IX might be electrified, like all future Rollses. However that appears unlikely to dim its attract in Hollywood. “A Phantom will at all times be equal components elegant and intimidating,” Kendall says. “So, you’re at all times going to have that turn-your-head-and-see-who’s-inside phenomenon. You’ll be able to’t assist however peek.”

This story appeared within the Oct. 15 challenge of The Hollywood Reporter journal. Click on right here to subscribe.