A low final drive ratio allowed a walking speed which was suitable for ceremonies.[1] From 1963 onward, the Silver Cloud III's 7% more powerful engine and new front wings (incorporating the latter's quad headlamps) were fitted.
Of the 518 total Phantom Vs built from 1959 to 1968, coachbuilderPark Ward, owned by Rolls-Royce, made 133 bodies; James Young built 197 bodies, and H. J. Mulliner & Co. bodied 9, before their 1959 acquisition by Rolls-Royce, who merged them into Park Ward in 1961, forming Mulliner Park Ward. The combined firm of Mulliner Park Ward built 174 bodies.[3]
Sedanca de Ville by James Young, design number PV22SD
James Young right rear
1967 State Landaulet by Mulliner Park Ward, design number 2052
BeatleJohn Lennon bought a 1964 Mulliner Park Ward Phantom V, finished in Valentines Black. Everything was black except for the radiator, even the wheels. Lennon asked for the radiator to be black as well, but Rolls-Royce refused.[4]
Originally the car was customised from Park Ward with black leather upholstery, cocktail cabinet with fine-wood trim, writing table, reading lamps, a seven-piece his-and-hers black-hide luggage set, and a Perdio portable television. A refrigeration system was put in the boot, and it was one of the first cars in England to have tinted windows. He probably paid £11,000 (nearly £210,000 in today's general inflation value).[5] Lennon didn't know how to drive and didn't get his driving licence until 1965, at twenty-four years of age. He sometimes hired a 6'4" Welsh guardsman named Les Anthony as a chauffeur.[4]
In December 1965, Lennon made a seven-page list of changes that cost more than £1900: the back seat could change into a double bed, a Philips Auto-Mignon AG2101 floating record player that prevented the needle from jumping, a Radio Telephone and a cassette tape deck were added, while speakers were mounted in the front wheel wells so that occupants could talk outside via microphone.
The car needed repainting after Lennon used it in 1960s Spain during his filming in Richard Lester's How I Won the War. Lennon commissioned coachmakers J.P. Fallon Ltd. to do so in the style of a Romanygypsy wagon (not "psychedelic" as often referenced).[6] Artist Steve Weaver produced red, orange, green and blue swirls, floral side panels and a Libra on the roof.
Lennon was in a 60s mood and wanted to make a statement to the English establishment. He loved telling a story about an elderly woman who hit the car with her umbrella.[7][4]
To match his later White Album period Lennon also bought another, all-white Phantom V in 1968.
The Cooper-Hewitt Museum auctioned the car in 1985 at Sotheby's for $2,299,000 to Canadian businessman Jim Pattison, who donated it to the Province of British Columbia. It was on display during Expo 86 in Vancouver, and since 1993 it has been in the Royal British Columbia Museum in Canada.[4]
Queen Elizabeth II
1961 Rolls-Royce Phantom V State Limousine at the Sandringham Museum.
Two cars built in 1960 and 1961 joined the British royal fleet of two earlier Rolls-Royce Phantom IVs. Having been retired from active service in 2002, both are now on public display: one in the royal motor museum at Sandringham,[8] and the other in the special garage aboard HMY Britannia in Leith, Edinburgh.[9]Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother acquired a Rolls-Royce Phantom V Landaulet (registration plate NLT 1) in 1962 which is now used by Charles III.[10]
Elvis Presley had a 1963 James Young. It came with few extra options but did have a telephone, Firestone whitewall tyres, electric windows, and air conditioning. The centre rear armrest had a writing pad, mirror and clothes brush. An unusual feature was a microphone for the singer. It was originally painted Midnight blue, but Elvis had to repaint it a light silver as his mother's chickens kept pecking the paint.[13]
