The Rich are Different...
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"We have just sold our 1500th Phantom in the U.S.," the man from Rolls-Royce murmured to me the other week. That means over the past five years, this country has accounted for about half the total number of Phantoms sold worldwide. And the demand shows no sign of slackening: While we mere wage slaves worry about our shaky mortgages, our maxed-out credit cards, and a dollar that's worth little more than a peso, sales of the $340,000 super-luxury sedan are as robust as ever.
Even more staggering, the next two years' allocation of the $407,000 Phantom Drop Head Coupe has already been sold. "In fact, we could probably take the entire world's production for the next two years and still not meet demand," said my Rolls-Royce source. Memo Wall St: Crisis? What crisis?
The rich, as F. Scott Fitzgerald once observed, are different from you and me. I remember when the Phantom was launched in 2003, more than a few of my colleagues openly questioned whether there were enough people in the world with the means to spend what many of us would spend on a reasonable house on something they would only park in their garage. Apparently, there are.
So here's a profile of your typical Rolls-Royce Phantom owner: They generally own two to three homes and have five to seven cars, with typically a Mercedes-Benz S-Class, a Bentley, and a Range Rover (well, you need something to run down to the marina) among those sharing the garage with the Phantom. One in three has access to a private jet, and most have at least $1 million sitting in the bank not doing much.
The Unites States is unique in that it's the only country in the world where Rolls-Royce dealers routinely hold inventory. Elsewhere, buyers spend time ordering their Phantom exactly to their requirements ("You want leather the same shade as your wife's favorite Chanel bag? No problem, sir") and some even travel to the factory to watch their car being built.
Not here, though. Between 80 and 90 percent of buyers walk in, check out a Phantom on the showroom floor, and drive it away that afternoon. Financing is not an issue, as basically most of these guys effectively pay cash. They drive a hard bargain, however, says my source: "These are smart business people and tough negotiators. They are not careless with their money." Very few Phantoms are leased.
For that reason, perhaps, even though Rolls-Royce boasts a bespoke color palette of 44,000 different hues, some 40 percent of Phantoms sold here are black, with white, silver and dark blue accounting for the majority of the rest. Boring lot, these dealers, though you probably wouldn't want to bet your commission on trying to shift a salmon pink Phantom on spec, either. Even so, the typical Phantom runs about $20,000 to $25,000 in options, usually special wood and leather trim combinations chosen by savvy dealers. Triple black -- black paint, black leather, and black piano-finish wood -- has been a popular seller. Pictured is the Rolls Phantom Tungsten, a special-edition model that sounds perfect for U.S. showrooms.
I find all this faintly depressing. The Rolls-Royce Phantom is a glorious automotive experience. I love the stately manner in which a Phantom glides down the road, even at 100 mph. I love the imperious view over that long runway hood, past the Spirit of Ecstasy. I love the lounge room interior that quietly reveals the high technology contained within only when you need it.
Riding in a Phantom seems to make this hyper-wired, interconnected, multi-tasked world run a little slower, which is why it's one of the few cars in the world that truly makes you feel special, that truly defines that much abused term -- luxury. Yet most of these guys seem to put no more thought into buying one than they would plucking a new Camry off the lot. F. Scott Fitzgerald was right. The rich are different from you and me.
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