This New Rolls-Royce Phantom Is a Gold-Finished Ode to ‘Goldfinger’

“This is gold, Mr. Bond. All my life, I’ve been in love with its color, its brilliance, its divine heaviness.” These iconic words were spoken by the notorious Auric Goldfinger in 1964, just moments before he voiced his chilling expectation that agent 007 was about to meet his demise at the hands of a deadly laser beam. The film *Goldfinger* left an indelible mark on the world of cinema and continues to resonate with audiences today.

Fast forward sixty years, and Rolls-Royce has crafted a remarkable tribute to the legendary film with the creation of a unique, one-off Phantom, designed perfectly for the villainous mastermind himself. Drawing inspiration from the classic Phantom III that was driven by Oddjob—Goldfinger’s loyal and diminutive chauffeur—this exquisite automobile is adorned with substantial quantities of genuine gold, solidifying its status as perhaps the ultimate Bond vehicle.

The storyline of *Goldfinger* revolves around its titular villain, who devises a sinister plot to detonate a nuclear weapon within Fort Knox. The goal? To render the United States’ $15 billion gold reserves radioactive for a staggering fifty-eight years, consequently inflating the worth of his own gold tenfold. This nefarious plan, dubbed Operation Grand Slam, hinges on a 1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III Sedanca de Ville, whose solid 18-carat gold body (at least in the film) facilitates Goldfinger’s smuggling endeavors. This classic car traverses the renowned Furka Pass in Switzerland, shuttling bullion towards Auric Enterprises where the precious metal’s body panels stand ready to be melted down.

According to Nick Rhodes, the chief designer at Rolls-Royce’s Bespoke division, the Phantom Goldfinger took three years to perfect. “We engaged with EON Productions, the current custodians of the original Phantom III featured in the film, aiming to fashion something extraordinary in celebration of the film’s 60th anniversary,” Rhodes explains. “The original vehicle was displayed in Brussels, allowing us to closely inspect it. However, we deliberately diverged from crafting a mere replica; this Phantom embodies a contemporary interpretation.”

One of the most challenging aspects of the design was achieving the intricate two-tone paint finish. The brilliant yellow hue required meticulous matching to the 1937 Phantom, complemented by a sharp black on the car’s upper surfaces. Additionally, the 21-inch disc wheels are coated in black and feature silver hubcaps that ingeniously maintain a vertical position at all times.

Although the new Phantom unfortunately doesn’t feature solid gold coachwork (there go the smuggling operations in Switzerland), the car’s Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament has been ingeniously altered to create what Rhodes describes as a “gold reveal” effect. “It isn’t feasible to silver-plate gold,” the designer clarifies, “so we utilized solid silver and applied a partial layer of 18-carat gold. This method results in a striking piece of automotive art.”

Inside the Phantom, the theme of opulence continues with gold accents adorning air vents, organ stops, and speaker grilles, while the sill tread plates cleverly mimic gold bars. The glove-box lid bears an embossed version of the famous quote attributed to Goldfinger mentioned earlier, and the walnut picnic tables showcase an inlay depicting a fictitious map of Fort Knox made from 22-carat gold.

The dashboard gallery of the Rolls-Royce features a meticulously hand-drawn isoline map of the Furka Pass, the picturesque route that James Bond navigates while pursuing Goldfinger to his mountainous hideout. Creating this piece of art required ten prototypes to achieve the perfect representation, crafted from stainless steel that has been darkened through physical vapor deposition, with engraved contour lines that reveal the bright metal beneath. At the heart of the gallery lies an analog clock, designed in homage to the iconic gun-barrel sequence that graces the opening credits of every Bond film.

Adding to the charm, a delightful surprise lies within the car’s center console: a hidden vault that unveils an illuminated 18-carat gold bar, sculpted in the sleeker silhouette of the Phantom. Above, Rolls-Royce’s renowned Starlight Headliner mimics the starry sky over the Furka Pass as it appeared on July 11, 1964—the concluding day of filming in Switzerland—and features an impressive 719 hand-placed fiber-optic stars, each one shimmering with its distinctive warmth.

Our encounter with the luxurious Phantom Goldfinger unfolds at Stoke Park in Buckinghamshire, England, the very estate where James Bond first encounters his arch-nemesis and proposes a high-stakes golf match. True to character, Goldfinger wields a gold putter—mirroring the one lovingly affixed to the inside of the trunk lid in this bespoke Rolls-Royce. The film cleverly includes a scene where Bond conceals a tracking device from Q Branch within the Phantom III, an element echoed in Goldfinger’s modern homage, where a puddle light projecting the 007 logo illuminates the trunk’s floor whenever the lid is opened.

Mechanically, the Phantom Series II remains unchanged, boasting a powerful 571 hp, 6.75-liter V-12 engine capable of propelling it from 0 to 60 mph in approximately 5.5 seconds. Rhodes notes that the car’s British owner was thoroughly delighted with this exceptional bespoke commission. A final touch did make its way onto the vehicle: the UK license plate “AU 1,” reminiscent of the Rolls-Royce seen in the movie and a clever nod to the chemical symbol for gold on the periodic table. Auric Goldfinger would undoubtedly approve of such an elegant tribute.