Opulence comes in many forms - a cushioned toilet seat, peanut butter and jelly in the same container, and this Rolls Royce Phantom, which may need a little bit of work to be fighting fit and exactly why it’s the cheapest one you may ever find.
This 2004 Rolls Royce Phantom is the car for the person that looks at a brand new Mercedes-Benz S-class and says “not fancy enough!” It’s a hand-built luxury super-cruiser that has as much to do with its century-long heritage as it does with present day motoring. If you’ve ever seen a Phantom in person, the car has an overwhelming presence and it looks like a big diamond-encrusted school bus, if I’m honest. The lines of design are elegant and understated but everyone knows exactly what they’re looking at the very second it’s seen.
However, with some minor electrical issues and gaudy wheels adorning this example, it’s the cheapest Phantom you’ll find for a while, with an asking price of well under six figures.
While the car isn’t perfect, it isn’t a complete basket case. It sports a clean title, mileage that’s more-or-less passable for a kinda-sorta exotic, and the interior is clean enough that a minor detailing and refurbishment wouldn’t be an unreasonable cost, although you’d be daft not to do a multi-point inspection before taking delivery of this car.
Here’s an excerpt from the description. It’s a little loose on details:
Very imposing and with the 24 “ wheels even more so ! A no excuses , great driving car ! 50 k mi. Clean car , CLEAN CARFAX , ready for you to enjoy ! ( very tempted to keep it myself , but too many obligations right now.. )
If I was someone who was trying to assemble a dream garage and had the money to spare to get something that needed a bit of reconditioning, I wouldn’t hesitate in getting this car, swapping the wheels for stockers, fixing any electrical issues, and having a Rolls Royce Phantom I could drive when I need that extra bit of fancy in my pants. That is, after checking out that the car doesn’t have a few dead cylinders and a history of working for the mafia.
It’s not for everyone, but with a price like this, it’s an aspirational car that you can realistically save up and buy to enjoy for many years to come.
Tavarish is the founder of APiDA Online and writes and makes videos aboutbuying and selling cool cars on the internet. He owns the world’s cheapestMercedes S-Class, a graffiti-bombed Lexus, and he’s the only Jalopnik author that has never driven a Miata. He also has a real name that he didn’t feel was journalist-y enough so he used a pen name and this was the best he could do.
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