It’s hard to upstage Lake Como. But leave it to Rolls-Royce to give it a run for its money.
At the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, that most rarefied of automotive gatherings, Rolls-Royce unveiled a singular creation: the Phantom Goldfinger. One car, one occasion, and more than a nod to one of cinema’s most enduring villains.
This was no ordinary car launch. This was a story being told in chrome and gold, on the lawn of the Grand Hotel, beside the water’s edge. It was a moment layered with references, glamour, and more than a little theatre. In a year that’s already seen Italy flex its cultural muscles, this felt like something of a showstopper.
The Phantom Goldfinger is a one-off, created to mark 100 years of the Phantom nameplate. It draws on the style and symbolism of Auric Goldfinger’s 1937 Phantom III Sedanca de Ville yes, the very car driven by the gold-obsessed villain in the 1964 Bond film. That original car stood alongside its modern descendent at the event, the past and present glinting under the northern Italian sun.
But where the older model once carried a fictional villain, this one is built to celebrate the power of storytelling itself. Inside and out, there are cinematic touches, subtle homages and gold elements 18 and 24-carat, no less worked into the design. The result is quietly extravagant, with just enough flourish to reward a closer look.
Elsewhere on the grounds, Rolls-Royce exhibited eight bespoke artworks, each one depicting a different generation of Phantom. Rather than simply showcasing design evolution, the pieces told a broader story about the cultural role Phantom has played over the past century. From post-war formality to modern-day swagger, each generation reflected something of the time in which it was built.
A Phantom V, immaculately preserved, also took part in the event’s opening parade. Once favoured by royalty and heads of state, it remains a reminder of Phantom’s long-standing ties to power and influence.
For Rolls-Royce, this wasn’t just a party. It was a statement, that even after a hundred years, Phantom isn’t simply a car. It’s a canvas, a piece of rolling theatre, and an enduring emblem of status and style. Goldfinger may have been fiction, but the car that bears his name is very real, and, if this gathering is anything to go by, still very much centre stage.
