rolls-royce reveals phantom goldfinger, inspired by its motor car in the 1964 james bond film

2024 phantom goldfinger by rolls-royce motor cars

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars introduces Phantom Goldfinger, the motor car that marks the 60th anniversary of the 1964 James Bond film. Its design cues take from the 1937 Phantom III Sedanca de Ville in the 007 movie, the one owned by the villain Auric Goldfinger, and the bespoke features of the car link back to the Goldfinger plot, from the complex sculptural gallery inspired by the scene filmed on the Furka Pass to the gold golf putter mounted to the inside of the car’s boot, which ties in with the club used by Auric Goldfinger during his first meeting with James Bond.

The interior shines in gold, and quite literally through the presence of the varying-carat material. The design team embeds a solid 18-carat gold bar, shaped as a miniature version of the car’s design. Gold finish brushes the base of the front and rear center consoles, and even the inside of the glovebox and the hidden vault created in the center console between the front seats. Gold for the air vents, gold for the organ stops throughout the motor car, gold finish for the speaker frets, and gold plates for the treadplates designed to look like gold bars that feature Goldfinger. There’s also a 24-carat gold-plated VIN plaque engraved with the vehicle ID number, which ends in 007.

all images courtesy of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

719 glowing stars on the ceiling of the rolls-royce car’s interior

The Furka Pass references show up several times throughout the Rolls-Royce Phantom Goldfinger. The hand-drawn, 3D artwork installed in the gallery runs the full width of the front fascia, whose isoline map draws the contours of the Furkpa Pass road that’s seen in the James Bond film. The silver-like lining glimmers around the stainless steel that’s used to construct the base of the artwork, further darkened using a method called physical vapor deposition to bring out the stark lines of the Furka Pass illustration.

The motor car company says they engrave the contour line of the map onto the material to expose the bright metal underneath, thus revealing a gilded surface overall. Inside the motor car, the ceiling glistens as if there were stars at night, and in fact, the design team replicated the constellations positioned over the Furka Pass during the last day of filming the scene in Switzerland, July 11th, 1964. When the passengers look up at night, 719 ‘stars’ glow with a subtle glimmering hue, surrounded by eight ‘shooting stars’ that are all individually placed by hand.

2024 Rolls-Royce Phantom Goldfinger along the Furka Pass, the place the 1964 movie was shot

1965 movie references for the 2024 phantom goldfinger

The 1965 James Bond movie references are almost endless. In the film, Agent 007’s first encounter with the Goldfinger occurs at Stoke Park in Buckinghamshire, UK, where James Bond challenges him to a round of golf, and he uses a gold putter that was guarded by his henchman, Oddjob. It’s the reason the gold putter in gold, a recollection of the scene, appears mounted on the underside of the Phantom Goldinfinger car’s boot lid. Rolls-Royce adorns it with an ‘AG’ monongram, inspired by the engraving on the signet ring worn by the villain on-screen.

Later in the movie, the agent places a Q Branch-issued tracking device on Goldinger’s Phantom III to monitor his whereabouts around Europe. Rolls-Royce doesn’t leave it behind as they develop a device inspired by the original gadget, and it subtly projects the 007 log onto the carpet of the boot floor whenever the user opens the lid. Then, during the Stoke Park Scene, James Bond is nearly caught interfering with the Phantom III by Oddjob, who loads Goldfinger’s golf clubs and a harlequin umbrella into the boot. Rolls-Royce then produces umbrellas finished in the same red, blue, green, and yellow colors, stashed in the 2024 Phantom Goldfinger’s rear doors.

many of the motor car’s design cues take from the 1937 Phantom III Sedanca de Ville in the 007 movie

Outside the Rolls-Royce Phantom Goldfinger, the design team matches the yellow hue exterior to the original 1937 Phantom III Sedanca de Ville used in the film. The two-tone shade has a ‘long side’ with a black finishing wrapping around the motor car’s coachwork, creating an uninterrupted graphic. They place 21-inch black disc wheels with silver floating hubcups to mimic the wheel design of the one used in the 1964 movie. At the curved front end of the car, the Spirit of Ecstasy is found, a subtle reference to the Goldfinger movie plot. As the film goes, Auric Goldfinger smuggles fold in the body panels of his 1937 Phantom III car. Rolls-Royce revives it in the 2024 Phantom Goldifinger.

The sections of the figurine seem to reveal gold underneath, but in reality, it is coated with silver. The motor car company says it’s not possible to silver-plate gold. To achieve the one they put in the car, they tap specialists who use a solid silver Spirit of Ecstasy and gold-plated it with 18-carat gold for the ‘gold’ reveal effect of the figurine. To top these all off, the numberplate ‘AU 1’, which appeared on the Goldfinger Phantom III car in the film, returns to the 2024 model, doubling as a reference to the chemical symbol of hold on the periodic table of elements. The first Rolls-Royce Phantom Goldfinger has been delivered to one of the motor car’s clients, who is an England-based collector.

inside the 2024 Rolls-Royce Phantom Goldfinger