BMW’s way to possession of Rolls-Royce started long before the first phantom rolled out of Goodwood. In the early nineties, the Munich car manufacturer made an unsuccessful offer to buy missions on both Rolls-Royce and Bentley. A decade later they finally had their chance – but not without a complicated fight against Volkswagen. First, VW ended with the designs, the spirit of the Ecstasy emblem and the famous Pantheon cooler grill, while BMW only secured the name and brands of the Rolls-Royce. For a few months it looked as if VW could build Rolls-Royce cars with BMW engines under a license agreement. Finally, the two sides met an agreement: from 2003, BMW would take full control over Rolls-Royce while VW Bentley held.
Kickstart of the Rolls-Royce brand
As soon as the agreement was concluded, BMW faced an unusual challenge: Start of a new Rolls-Royce without a single kidnapping design or a blueprint from the outgoing silver session. The company had the name, the badge and the inheritance of the brand – but none of the physical elements that immediately made a roll recognizable. That meant starting with an empty sheet of paper and starting every line and all the details from scratch.
The designer Ian Cameron started to take over the Pantheon cooler grill (which was initially part of the brand’s intellectual property) and presented the spirit of the ecstasy for BMW’s first Rolls-Royce, the seventh generation Rolls-Royce Phantom. It replaced the silver seraph as a luxury limousine from Rolls, which meant that it took epic proportions that announced how much money they shared the road. As such, the phantom brags a long wheelbase and a long wheelbase and a high roof with high wheels and tires. Under the bonnet, the size of the survival continued. BMW bored and stroked its existing V12, the N73, to 6.75 liters. The new mill offered 453 hp at £ 531, with a large part of the torque of only 1,000 rpm.
Build up intrigue
Similar to the marketing of BMW in the USA with the Mini brand, Rolls-Royces debut in the USA. The car debuted in only three cities – Culver City, California, Miami, and Lyndhurst, New Jersey – in inconspicuous industrial buildings. They could only be invited if a Rolls-Royce dealer guarantees them And accompanied them to visit. The cloak and the dagger contributed to the Allure and it worked. “It had a truly James bond-like quality, and people loved it,” says Robert Austin, who at the time Rolls-Royces North American Communications Director.
The success of the phantom was strong enough that BMW soon began working on a smaller Rolls-Royce “Entry”, the spirit, with work. Although it still cost around 280,000 US dollars, it was marketed as “everyday” rolls. As designer Ian Cameron of the New York Times explained in 2004: “Our owners usually have a garage for five or six cars. The phantom could be a tuxedo …[the Ghost]A business suit. The tailor cuts the cloth in the same way, but the suit is different. “Today, Rolls-Royce sells more than ten times as many cars as 2003-a transformation that started with the Phantom, and the extraordinary circumstances of the takeover of BMW.
