The Most Stunning Rolls-Royce Models (and 2 Duds)

From the early 1900s, Rolls-Royce has made a name for itself synonymous with quality, remaining true to its values despite changes in the world at large. The company remains more relevant than ever too: Its first electric model, Spectre, hasn't even been built yet and it's already in such high demand that the elite automaker might have to build more than planned. Here's a look at the best Rolls-Royce models of all time, plus a couple of duds, with production dates supplied by Supercars. They include the iconic Phantom II, now in its eighth generation with a recent refresh. 

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Made: 1906 to 1925

Henry Royce and Charles Rolls joined forces to make and sell cars in 1904, forming Rolls-Royce Ltd. in 1906 and putting the Silver Ghost on the road the same year. It didn’t just have a clever folding “trap” seat to add to seating capacity at the rear; it finished the Scottish Reliability Trail, a grueling 774-mile race known for a 2-mile stretch known as “Rest-and-Be-Thankful” hill that ended several competitors that year. The Silver Ghost earned a gold medal — and quickly became famous as the vehicle of choice for monarchs and gangsters alike. Enoch “Nucky” Johnson of “Boardwalk Empire” infamy bought one of the last original Silver Ghosts for $14,000 (or $228,674 in today’s dollars). In 1926, that would have scored him 50 Model T’s.

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Made: 1922 to 1929

The Twenty was built during England’s post-World War I boom, and became the first to break a “one model” policy that had Henry Rolls keeping production to one model available at a time. The reason: demand for smaller vehicles. Rolls-Royce gave the market what it wanted, “but standards of workmanship were not compromised,” Edward Eves wrote in his “Rolls-Royce: 75 Years of Motoring Excellence.” Drivers could also expect to be set apart from other drivers by a “Spirit of Ecstasy” hood ornament that came standard; until 1920, a hood ornament was an option.

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Made:1929 to 1935

You probably recognize the Phantom II as Cruella de Ville’s car from “101 Dalmatians,” but a rollout just a month before the U.S. stock market crashed delayed the fun. The crash hurt demand, and lost sales during the Great Depression saw the shuttering of Rolls-Royce of America in 1934 after just 15 years. Still, buyers of the opulent Phantom series got a classic Rolls bonus in the custom set of tools that come laid out just-so in the trunk of each vehicle. Today, buyers can get the eighth-generation Phantom II with new updates including a feature that links the car with a private members' app for ever-easier navigation, security and car "health" checkups, and more. 

Made: 1936 to 1938

The 25/30 (the number refers to horsepower) stopped production at the start of World War II. During the war, the manufacturer pivoted to making engines for airplanes, tanks, and torpedo boats. The first decades of Rolls-Royce models were made distinct by their various bespoke coach builders, different shops that might give a vehicle a wind-down hood to provide passengers sun and air, or make it into a “sedanca,” with the driver exposed but passengers in a compartment — with a divider that could be raised or lowered electrically. Either way, luxury car owners of the age liked this model’s added power.

Made: 1936 to 1939

With only 727 sold during a brief production run, the Phantom III practically has its own fandom. This last large prewar Rolls-Royce, with its “Sedanca de Ville” models still shaped by different coach makers, again stood out for reasons of power, switching to a 12-cylinder engine from a 6-cylinder. You can catch one in action as the villain Goldfinger and his best buddy Oddjob zoom around in the James Bond film “Goldfinger.”

Made: 1946 to 1959

The sleek Silver Wraith was the last that was meant to vary depending on who was doing the coachwork, and was shaped somewhat by postwar austerity. In the Silver Wraith’s later production years the maker offered drivers automatic shift and power-assisted steering, while passengers could appreciate a large sunroof and — in a switch from earlier thinking that cloth was cooler and more comfortable — supple leather seating with an armrest hiding storage for personal items, as well as a cocktail cabinet and twin picnic tables.

Made:1949 to 1955

The Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn was the first with a factory-built body and chassis (though buyers could still buy just a chassis for a coachmaker to work with) and marketed for people who would drive themselves rather than have a chauffeur. It was meant to be sold overseas only, but by 1953 the vehicle was made for sale in the United States. Only 761 Silver Dawns were ever made, costing about $19,000 (or 12 times the cost of a brand-new English Ford) in the 1950s. Adjusting for inflation, that's about $227,500. A Silver Dawn driver might expect power windows, a sliding sunshine roof, and an electrically operated hood as well as such lifestyle touches as leather seats, walnut veneers, a wicker picnic hamper, and a red umbrella in the trunk.

Made: 1955 to 1966

The limited edition Silver Cloud — a mere 2,238 models were made — was marketed as blissfully quiet, with one 1959 ad for the Silver Cloud boasting that at 60 mph “the loudest noise in this Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock.” Buyers should also expect to find burl walnut paneling inside (including as rear-seat picnic trays) and lambswool carpets; a silver flask behind the rear center armrest; an electric sunroof and power windows; an electric aerial for the Blaupunkt radio; and air-conditioning. 

Made:1965 to 1980

The Silver Shadow offered luxuries such as wool carpet and walnut trim, power windows, and electrically adjustable leather seats, air conditioning and heating — bells and whistles that, combined with under-the-hood advances such as power-operated disc brakes and a new suspension system, made it the most technologically complex Rolls-Royce of the time. The going price for the Silver Shadow in 1965? About £6,556, which would be £109,497 today ($143,060).

Made: 1971 to 1996; 2000 to 2002

This quintessential Rolls started production as a two-door in 1967, morphing quickly into sedan and convertible varieties. In 2002, the Corniche convertible clocked in at $360,000 and in return rewarded drivers with a fuel efficiency of 13 mpg, but came with a six-disc CD changer in the front seat armrest, which was pretty cool for the time, and a remote control for rear-seat passengers.

Made: 1980 to 1989

The Rolls-Royce Silver Spur II is an over-the-top and ostentatious limousine that commands its place on the road with a length of nearly 20 feet (and came complete with an intercom) with perks such as a VCR (it was the ’80s, after all) and an ice bucket to keep your champers cold. Only 101 were made.

Made: 1980 to 1998

This four-door, full-sized luxury sedan went for $109,000back in 1981, an impressive $349,857 in the current market, with perks such as powered front bucket seats adjustable eight ways, automatic temperature control, and a digital clock — shrugging away the chance to boast about the ticking of a minute hand being the loudest noise in one. The 1987 model was the first to offer a retractable Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament, which wouldn’t become a universal automatic theft deterrent until 2003. 

Made: 2008

This specially designed car, with a carbon fiber body and elaborate custom woodwork, was commissioned by Roland Hall, a Rolls collector who was gaga over the Phantom Drophead Coupe. Italian car design firm Pininfarina worked on the Hyperion, a vehicle that practically undulates its way through time and space. The car made its debut at the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and was last seen circa 2017 available for sale in Dubai for a mere €2 million ($2.4 million).

Made:1949 to 1955; 2016 to 2021

The 2021 Rolls-Royce Dawn is the baby of the group, but is soon to be retired. Its open-pore, book-matched wood (the fancy term means the grains of pieces mirror each other, like pages of an open book), was designed to evoke the carmaker’s 1950s models, and Car and Driver praised the Dawn as having “one of the most luxurious interiors in the car business,” including front seats with a massage function. The doors are power-assisted, and when the six-layer cloth top is down, riders are assured that they won't be bothered by wind even at high speeds. All of this gorgeousness costs: The base price for the 2021 Dawn is $368,850 — or assuming the cost of $5.50 a latte, about 67,063 coffee breaks.

Made: 1975 to 1986

Getting a mention in Top Gear’s competition for “The Worst Car In The History Of The World,” the Camargue has had a tough go of it. This Pininfarina design was proposed first for Mercedes, and didn’t look much like other Rolls models of the era, though the interior didn’t have much new to offer beyond dual-zone climate control. At least by the final edition there was a rear parking sensor and a car alarm. A $70,000 price ($521,588 today) — almost double the price of the Silver Shadow — didn’t help it sell, and and Rolls stopped manufacturing the car, after making 530 copies.

Made:1954

The Canadian website Driving ponders whether the Vignale is the ugliest Rolls ever made, but at least there’s only one. It was custom ordered by Joseph Mascuch of New Jersey from a 1954 long-wheel-base Silver Wraith chassis, and completed in the spring of 1955, the magazine says, with design innovations that included a television … and a rear-seat toilet. (Maschuch later claimed the toilet was for keeping champagne chilled.)