Phantom to counter Maybach

Base price set at Rs 3.5 crore.

Rolls-Royce, the last word in automobile luxury, is set to make a comeback to the land of the maharajas. The first of the all-new Rolls-Royce Phantom, an automotive behemoth and technological tour de force that will set one back by around Rs 3.5 crore, is set to kiss Indian tarmac this November. Early this year, DaimlerChrysler was in the news for unveiling the Rs 5 crore Maybach in India.

As history goes, India was one of the largest market for Rolls-Royce cars during the 1930s and '40s, and the famed British marquee even had an 'India Depot' in London to prepare and export cars to Maharajas and their kin who were waiting patiently in the sub-continent. India received close to 750 Rolls-Royces. Most of them still survive in private collections in India and abroad.

The new Phantom will be imported to India by Navnit Motors, a company that has been importing BMWs for the last 10 years.

BMW builds Rolls-Royces from a brand new plant at Goodwood, near London. BMW acquired the naming rights from the unsuspecting Volkswagen, which ended up with the original factory and the rights to build Bentley cars after an hostile war of bids in 1999.

Rolls-Royce celebrated its 100th anniversary in May this year, and has been building cars named after silent things because that has been the selling point ever since the Silver Ghost earned the title of the 'best car in the world' in 1907.

The original Ghost was followed by Wraiths, Spirits, Shadows, Clouds and Phantoms.

Launched at the 2003 Detroit motor show, the Phantom is built around an aluminium space frame and features a monstrous 6,750cc V12 engine good enough for 460 bhp and 72 kgm of torque. This power plant can haul the two-and-half tonne car to 100 kph in 5.9 seconds flat and cross continents at a top speed of 240 kph.

The interior is equipped with every possible luxury fitment invented for automotive use, from sheep-skin floor mats to hand-cut Burl wood on the dashboard. BMW engineers have given it a full complement of safety equipment.

The new Phantom is inspired by design cues of legendary Rolls-Royces, including the Parthenon grille and the 'flying lady' (Spirit of Ecstasy) mascot.

The final form, penned by Yugoslavian-born designer Marek Djordjevic, has been criticised for being too bold and snooty for a new millennium car. The Phantom has been a big hit in the American market though, where it just about managed to outsell the Maybach (close to 170 cars) in 2003.

The first Phantom in India will go to a rich industrialist family based in Pune, Maharashtra, and the second one is destined to go to a keen Rolls Royce enthusiast in Baroda.

The base price for the new Phantom is Rs 3.5 crore, though the final price will depend on the options that it is ordered with. A few maharajas will be rolling in their graves for sure.