The Rolls-Royce Phantom V is a 4-door saloon from Rolls-Royce, built from 1959 to 1968, at the height of the post-war boom. Under the bonnet: 6,230 . John Polwhele Blatchley of Park Ward for design #980 and Mulliner Park Ward design #2003 et al / A. F. McNeil of James Young for designs #PV10, PV15, PV16, PV22 et al. drew it.
How it came about
The Rolls-Royce Phantom V is a large four-door limousine produced by Rolls-Royce Limited from 1959 to 1968. Based on the Silver Cloud II, it shares a V8 engine and Rolls-Royce Hydramatic automatic gearbox (manufactured under licence from General Motors by Rolls-Royce) with that model. Rolls-Royce built the cars' chassis and drivetrains, with bodies mainly made to standard designs by coachbuilders Park Ward, Mulliner Park Ward and James Young, former vendors absorbed by Rolls-Royce. Other coachbuilders, including Hooper, Henri Chapron and Woodall Nicholson, built one or two bodies each on Phantom V chassis.
The engine is a 6,230 cc 90-degree V8 with twin SU carburettors, coupled to a 4-speed automatic transmission. The car has massive drum brakes and a wheelbase of 3,683 mm. Power assisted steering was standard. A low final drive ratio allowed a walking speed which was suitable for ceremonies. From 1963 onward, the Silver Cloud III's 7% more powerful engine and new front wings (incorporating the latter's quad headlamps) were fitted.
The hardware
Power comes from 6,230 . It weighs 5600 lb. It shifts through a 4-speed automatic. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 145 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Phantom IV; its successor was the Phantom VI; assembly was at Crewe, England. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Mini Mini, the Dodge Challenger, the Nissan Patrol — show what else the money bought that year. Its Rolls-Royce stablemates include the Rolls-Royce 100EX and the Rolls-Royce 102EX.
What it costs now
There is no federal ownership record for the Rolls-Royce Phantom V — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.
Rolls-Royce Phantom