Rolls Royce Phantom V Limousine 980 LH by Park Ward
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Car producer : |
Rolls Royce |
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Model: |
Phantom V Limousine 980 LH by Park Ward |
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Year: |
1959-1968 |
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Type: |
Limousine |
The Phantom V is a large, ultra-exclusive four-door saloon that was made by Rolls-Royce Limited from 1959 to 1968. Based on the Silver Cloud II, it shared a V8 engine and General Motors Hydramatic automatic gearbox with its smaller sibling. Rolls-Royce assembled the cars' chassis and drivetrains with bodies made to standard designs by coachbuilders H. J. Mulliner, Park Ward, and James Young, former vendors absorbed by Rolls-Royce.
The engine was a 6,230 cc 90-degree V8 with twin SU carburetors, coupled to a 4-speed automatic transmission. The car had massive drum brakes and a wheelbase of 3,683 mm. Four speed automatic transmission and power assisted steering were standard.
From 1963 onward the Silver Cloud III's 7% more powerful engine and new front wings incorporating the latter's quad headlamps were fitted.
Rolls-Royce's in-house coachbuilder H J Mulliner, Park Ward Ltd produced what was in effect the 'standard' seven-passenger limousine coachwork for the Phantom V, while an alternative design was offered by James Young. A lack of suitable chassis would force the latter's closure before the 1960s ended, but in its latter years the Kent-based firm produced what are widely recognized as its finest creations, the sublimely proportioned Touring Limousine (Design PV22) being one of the most widely acclaimed. Undeniably more graceful than the rival Mulliner, Park Ward version, James Young's Touring Limousine combined the formality of an internal division with luggage space sufficient for continental touring.
A total of 51 Notable Phantom V owners included Queen Elizabeth II and her mother, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. Those owned by Elizabeth II were official state cars, adapted for that purposed with a flag staff and illuminated heraldic shield above the windscreen. Having been retired from active service in 2002, both are now on public display: one in the royal motor museum at Sandringham, and the other in the special garage aboard HMY Britannia in Leith, Edinburgh.
The Governor of Hong Kong used a Rolls-Royce Phantom V for ceremonial occasions. It was removed from Hong Kong by the Royal Navy immediately following the handover to China on 1 July 1997.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, owned a Phantom V. Since his exile, the car has been kept in his royal residence in Tehran and is occasionally shown to the public among the other luxurious cars owned by the Shah, including a unique Rolls-Royce Phantom VI and a Phantom IV.
King Olav V of Norway owned a 1962 limousine as a state car. Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito had Rolls-Royce Phantom V in presidential collection for representative purposes. The car is now displayed at the Museum of Yugoslavia, Belgrade.
Then Beatle John Lennon's Phantom V, a 1960s counter-culture icon, came from the factory finished in white, with Lennon commissioning the custom paint job atop it in the style of a Romany gypsy wagon (not "psychedelic" as often referenced). 6 Phantom V's were made.
