I saw a beautiful Rolls Royce Phantom parked at the Shell station today. It’s an amazing looking car, and it’s freakin huge. While gorgeous, I couldn’t help but think if I were the driver, I’d feel kind of ridiculous driving it about town, going about my business.
If I could afford it, I think I’d pass. I’m not against expensive cars in general; I’d drive a Ferrari or a Lamborghini in a heartbeat. I’d want a big, nice, car, but I think I’d go for something a little more “understated”, like a big Cadillac, Merc S, or Bimmer 7.
Let’s say you’re rich, and aren’t against the idea of owning expensive cars in general would you drive a Rolls Royce?
No, I think they’re beautiful vehicles but they scream out “LOOK AT ME, I’M RICH!” and, more importantly for me, they’re too well-known in the public consciousness. I’d get something more obscure, like an early 60s Jaguar or Mercedes, fully restored.
Forget about the Rolls, Bentleys are all the rage these days for the super-chic urban rich. I was in Beverly Hills the other day for a doctor’s appointment (long story, they were the only ones I could find for a certain operation I need that were in my insurance’s network. Go figure) and in a span of 10 minutes I saw four Bentleys. :eek:
Personally though I’d probably go for one of the nicer Mercedes, as they are a good-looking and luxurious car without being too ostentatious.
I can concur with Rigamarole: everyone drives Bentleys nowadays. Hell I see probably 2 a day; UCLA borders Bel Air/Beverly Hills so I see a lot of exotics. I probably wouldn’t drive a Rolls or Bentley myself, though - I’d have a driver do it for me. And I’d prefer that the driver be named Jeeves.
Unless it has changed of late, Rolls have a bad rep for always needing repairs.
I remember an article years ago about Al Goldstein (of Screw Magazine) buying his first Rolls and having it being in the shop about two months out of the year.
I also remember working briefly for a lawyer who owned a Rolls (this was in Beverly Hills) and I would have to pick him up for work at the Rolls dealership (with my crappy old, trusty Chrysler) while his car was being repaired over and over again.
I also remember a guy at the film studio who owned a Rolls (once again, in the shop) and when he bitched and said, “What am I supposed to do while the car is being repaired?” the owner of the dealership sniffed haughtily and said, “Most people who own a Rolls have a second car.”
Truly, isn’t a Rolls the car that should come with a Sebastián at the wheel? Jaime is also a classic driver’s name, but since my brother is a Jaime, the uniformed chauffeur would have to be a Sebastián (never a Sebas). Sebastián should also be qualified to carry shopping bags around. I’m not very much into shopping, so my own Sebastián would need to specialize in shopping bags full of books, say I.
Or, even better: I’d make him drive Mom around! Now that’s a stroke of genius! Would need to give him hazard pay, though…
If money was not an issue, I’d still have other choices before the Rolls. If I was too old to be bothered driving and had a chaffeur, it might be a different matter.
Rolls Royce cars are very heavy, i believe the sedan checks in at 4900 lbs. because of the huge weight, they don’t handle all that well-and the suspension components (shocks, ball joints, etc.) wear out quickly. In addition, they guzzle gasoline-i think about 12 MPG is about average. but iof you are a Beverly hills millionaire, who cares? the question is: does owning such a car grant you prestige? I’d wager, not so much in brentwood/BH: you are much better off driving a vintage car-something from the 1930’s or a 1960’s muscle car.
Would I own one? God, no. Even if money was no object and I had second, third, whatever cars so reliability wasn’t an issue or inconvenience, still no. I’m just not a big fan of the size or style of the make.
Nope, not a fan of luxury cars, far too boring, give me a high-performance sports car instead (Ferrari/Lamborghini/McLaren F1/Dodge Viper/etc…), i want to enjoy driving, something that’s impossibe for me to do in an automatic
Nope, because even if you handed me the keys (and the tax payment) for free, it’d still be too expensive for me to upkeep and fill with gas. And it’s just not the kind of car for the uses I need - city driving, parallel parking in small spots and camping 300-800 miles away from home 10 times a year. I’m not in the position to buy and I’m not a car person, so I don’t know if it’s available yet, but what I would really love is something like a RAV-4 that’s a hybrid. Lots of cargo room, but not impossible to park, with decent gas mileage and comfy seats.
I presume you mean the brand-new one? I would much prefer one of the older ones. It wouldn’t surprise me if you could get something like this plus a decade’s servicing for less than the cost of one of the new ones, and it’s a heck of a lot classier, IMO.
The new Rolls are basically BMWs superpremium brand, so the quality has probably gone up a lot from the bad old days when they were only high-quality by comparison to British Leyland, but personally I think they are far too blowsy.
