" After seven years of experiment and test, the 40/50hp six-cylinder Phantom chassis emerged, and is offered to the public as the most suitable type possible for a mechanically-propelled chassis under present-day conditions.

"—New Phantom launch brochure, May, 1925 By 1925, the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost had been upstaged by a younger generation of more technically advanced luxury cars.

The glory days of the 1913 Alpine Trials had long passed, and both Henry Royce and Rolls-Royce sales manager Claude Johnson felt the need to produce a new claimant to the title of "best car in the world." Just as the competition between car manufacturers was becoming increasingly fierce, so that between rival coachbuilders had intensified correspondingly.

With the arrival of each faster, more powerful chassis came the opportunity to construct ever more lavish, sophisticated coachwork.

To ensure that their cars could be fitted with the finest bodies in the world, Rolls-Royce introduced the "New Phantom...