The ultra famous Rolls Royce Phantom V owned by John Lennon, to come back to the UK for the 8 great Phantoms Exhibition.

• ROLLS-ROYCE ANNOUNCES ‘THE JOHN LENNON PHANTOM V’ TO RETURN TO LONDON DURING 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF SGT. PEPPER’S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND
• #GreatPhantoms

Rolls-Royce has announced that it will celebrate the 50th anniversary year of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in its own way by bringing the colourful Rolls-Royce Phantom V, famous for being owned by John Lennon, back home to London for the British public to see.

Currently owned by the Royal British Columbia Museum in Canada, ‘The John Lennon Phantom V’ will travel from Canada to London to join ‘The Great Eight Phantoms’ – A Rolls-Royce Exhibition, at Bonhams on New Bond Street, an area visited regularly by Lennon in the late 1960s in this very car. 

Members of the public will be able to see ‘The John Lennon Phantom V’ at Bonhams from 29 July to the 2 August.

‘The John Lennon Phantom V’

On 3 June 1965 – the same day that Edward H White left the capsule of his Gemini 4 to become the first American to walk in space – John Lennon took delivery of something rather special. 

  

It was a Rolls-Royce Phantom V in Valentine Black. He would later say that he always wanted to be an eccentric millionaire, and the Phantom would become an important step towards that dream. 

Lennon had the Phantom V customised in true rock-star style. The rear seat was converted to a double bed, a television, telephone and refrigerator were installed, along with a 'floating' record player and a custom sound system (which included an external loud hailer). 

Then, in April 1967, just as the recording of the game-changing Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was finishing, Lennon asked Surrey coachbuilders, JP Fallon, to give the Phantom a new paint job. The freshly-painted Phantom was unveiled days before the worldwide release of Sgt. Pepper’s on 1 June and it seemed part of the overall concept of the album.

The new colour scheme is often described as 'psychedelic' and certainly the colours, particularly the dominant yellow, reflected the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. But look carefully and you will see it is no random swirl, but a floral Romany scroll design, as used on gypsy caravans and canal barges, with a zodiac symbol on the roof.

The Phantom V was used regularly by Lennon until 1969 (Lennon also owned a slightly less conspicuous all-white Phantom V). Having used it, pre-paint change, to collect his MBE with his bandmates in 1965, he then used it again in 1969 to return his MBE to the Palace, in protest against, among other things, the Vietnam War. 

The car was shipped to the USA in 1970 when Lennon moved there and was loaned out to ferry other rock stars around such as The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and The Moody Blues. In 1977, after a period in storage, it was donated by billionaire Jim Pattison to the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. 

‘The Great Eight Phantoms’ – a Rolls-Royce Exhibition, will take place at Bonhams international flagship saleroom and galleries in New Bond Street, London, from 29 July to the 2 August. 

The next Phantom is announced for the exhibition of 8 Phantoms, ready for the launch of the new model.

• SIR MALCOLM CAMPBELL’S PHANTOM II’ WILL BE THIRD GREAT PHANTOM TO JOIN EXHIBITION
• #GreatPhantoms

Today, Rolls-Royce has announced the Mayfair location for ‘The Great Eight Phantoms’ - A Rolls-Royce Exhibition. The exhibition will take place at Bonhams on Bond Street, London, the heart of the luxury world. Rolls-Royce also announced that the third Great Phantom to join the exhibition will be Sir Malcolm Campbell’s Phantom II Continental.

Need for speed: Sir Malcolm Campbell’s Phantom II

At the height of his pursuit of a new land speed record in the 1930’s, Sir Malcolm Campbell began a relationship with Rolls-Royce that would take him to glory and help him celebrate it.

At the end of 1932 Campbell had won prestigious Grand Prix races, broken the land speed world record not once but six times, and had been knighted by King George V. He had nothing left to prove. 

He was the fastest man on land and yet, as restless as ever, he wanted to take a crack at the 300mph barrier, the automotive equivalent of the four-minute mile. 

He believed that the only engine that could power his Blue Bird to this speed was a 36.5L Rolls-Royce R aero engine, which generated a staggering 2,300 horsepower.

On 22 February 1933, Blue Bird's first run with the Rolls-Royce engine set a new world land speed record of 272 miles per hour (438 km/h) at Daytona Beach, Florida. A month later, Campbell celebrated by taking personal delivery of a new Phantom II Continental, registration AGO 1.

The short-wheelbase Continental had been introduced in 1930 as a ‘sportier’ version of the Phantom II, which had debuted a year earlier. The Continental, with its improved balance and springing, was capable of 95mph – modest by Campbell's standards, but positively head-spinning for a car weighing almost two and a half tons.  

The Motor magazine commented that the Phantom II Continental was 'Powerful, docile, delightfully easy to control and a thoroughbred, it behaves in a manner which is difficult to convey without seeming to over-praise.”

Although AGO 1 was bodied by coachbuilders Barker as a 'standardised touring saloon', there were some Bespoke modifications ordered by Campbell. These included a wireless set, fire extinguisher, spotlight, an exhaust pipe specified as nine-inches longer than the norm (probably to create an exhaust note closer to the Blue Bird's roar), a klaxon horn, a Bosch horn and a siren. Clearly this king of speed wanted people to know he was coming through! Even on public roads, Campbell’s fondness for going fast was well known.

And the colour? Pale blue, of course, with darker blue leather trim and a black roof. The pearlescent glow of the bodywork was apparently achieved by Rolls-Royce's use of ground herring scales in the paint. Campbell must have been pleased, for he penned a promotional brochure for the Phantom II entitled ‘The best Rolls-Royce yet produced,’

Bonhams

Bonhams and the Rolls-Royce marque have long been entwined, with some of the most historically significant and luxurious models crossing the block at the international auction house’s sales over the years. Indeed, Bonhams hold the world-auction record for the marque with the sale of ‘The Corgi’ 1912 Silver Ghost at £4,705,000 in 2012.

The Silver Ghost was in production until 1925 and replaced by another legendary model, the New Phantom. In December 2016, Bonhams sold one of the most famous Rolls-Royce Phantoms ever built - the 1926 Rolls-Royce Phantom I, nicknamed ‘The Phantom of Love,’ which sold for £561,500 at the Bond Street Sale. 

Commissioned by Clarence Warren Gasque for his wife Maude, a Woolworth heiress, money was no object. Gasque demanded that the style be French and that the car surpass the luxury of any previous Rolls-Royce sold. 

He certainly had his way, as the car’s painted ceiling, elegant polished satinwood, drinks cabinet, ormolu clock and self-styled coat of arms affixed to the doors combined to create a vehicle more akin to the throne room of Versailles than a motor car. It is, without doubt, one of the very finest examples of art and craftsmanship applied to an automobile, and encapsulates the elegance and style that has come to embody Rolls-Royce.

James Knight, Group Motoring Chairman of Bonhams, commented, ‘‘We are delighted to be the venue for this singular celebration of the Rolls-Royce Phantom, as Bonhams has had a long history with Rolls-Royce. Bonhams has sold some of the most astounding Rolls-Royce motor cars ever created, including ‘The Phantom of Love’ sold in London earlier this year, The ex-Marlene Dietrich Phantom I ‘ and the ex-Jack L. Warner Phantom I Transformal Phaeton.”

‘The Great Eight Phantoms’, a Rolls-Royce Exhibition, will take place at Bonhams international flagship saleroom and galleries in New Bond Street, London from 29 July till 2 August.

The Eight gretest Phantoms to include the car driven by Montgomery of Alamein

• ROLLS-ROYCE ANNOUNCES ‘FIELD MARSHAL MONTGOMERY’S PHANTOM III’ AS THE SECOND GREAT PHANTOM TO JOIN THE EXHIBITION

#GreatPhantoms

At the end of July, ‘The Great Eight Phantoms’, a Rolls-Royce Exhibition, will gather together the greatest Phantoms from the last 92 years in Mayfair, London. 

The Exhibition will also welcome the next generation of this most celebrated luxury item, the new eighth generation Phantom. 

In the lead up to the opening of the Exhibition, Rolls-Royce is announcing which Great Phantoms will journey to London from around the world, telling the stories of these motor cars, their fabled owners and the historical events they witnessed. 

It is with great pleasure that the marque announces today that the Rolls-Royce Phantom III of British Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein will join the Exhibition. 

Monty’s Triple

Although Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein was nicknamed the Spartan General due to his ascetic lifestyle, there was one area in which he demanded the very best – his personal transport. And his preference was for Rolls-Royce. 

During World War Two, the Field Marshal had the use of three Rolls-Royce Phantom IIIs. 

The first of the Phantoms, a 1936 model coachbuilt by Freestone & Webb, was owned by the head of English Talbot Motor Company, Frederick Wilcock, before being requisitioned by the Ministry of War Transport Section. Montgomery used it as his personal transport in the run up to D-Day, and ferried Winston Churchill, General Eisenhower and King George VI to D-Day planning sessions at his base in Southwick House, Hampshire. 

A keen believer in the power of the image, Montgomery used his Rolls-Royce Phantom to communicate permanence, solidity and reliability – a signal to his men that he was there to stay. 

But it is the ‘Butler’ Phantom III, which will be present at the Exhibition in London, which proved to be Montgomery’s favourite. This particular Phantom was commissioned for Alan Samuel Butler, Chairman of the De Havilland Aircraft Company, with bodywork by HJ Mulliner of Chiswick. Its most striking feature was a front-sloping windscreen that made the car 15 per cent more aerodynamically efficient than the standard configuration. The motor car’s slippery nature was also helped by the enclosed spare tyre and swept tail. 

The ‘Butler’ Phantom III was Montgomery’s main official mode of transport for many years visiting such eminent addresses as 10 Downing Street, the War Office on Whitehall, the British Prime Minister’s country residence Chequers, and military operations centres such as Northwood in Hertfordshire and the NATO Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers-Europe in Rocquencourt, near Versailles, France.

The Field Marshal kept the 'Butler' Phantom until 1962, by which time it had also carried the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as taking Monty around the UK to historic meetings, inspections and celebrations. 

The ‘Butler’ Phantom III has recently undergone extensive refurbishment at Rolls-Royce specialist P&A Wood in Essex, England. 

‘The Great Eight Phantoms’ Exhibition will be the first and only opportunity for members of the public to see this amazing Rolls-Royce before it attends the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in the United States in August, after which it will return to its current owner’s private collection. 

‘The Great Eight Phantoms’, a Rolls-Royce Exhibition, will take place in Mayfair, London, at the end of July this year. 

DS brand to commemorate 60th anniversary with a week long celebration.

DS Week kicked off this week in Paris and will run through to 24 May. The DS brand is organising this major event to celebrate the 60^th birthday of the DS and the world launch of the new French automotive brand. 

The brand is welcoming its global network, VIP guests, members of the press and is also inviting the general public to visit the DS Exhibition in the Tuileries garden on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 May. 

Over nearly 4,000 m², visitors will be immersed in the world of DS and can travel in time between the past,present and future.

Fans, meanwhile, will have a unique experience on Sunday 24 May as more than 700 vintage DS vehicles will parade along the Champs-Élysées. These can be admired on Saturday at the historic Linas-Montlhérytrack (near Paris), at the international gathering for the 60^th anniversary of this legendary car. This will be the largest concentration of DS collectors in the world this year.

Launched in 1955, the DS is still one of the most popular French automotive icons of the 20th Century. 

Made popular by its commercial success, as well as its political career, particularly with General De Gaulle, its cinematic appearances and its sporting success, the DS made its mark on the lives of many people in France and spread French know-how around the world.

Building on this exceptional heritage, the ambition of the DS brand, created on 1 June 2014, is to perpetuate the avant-garde spirit of this legendary car and allow the French vehicle market to reconnect with luxury.

Yves Bonnefont, CEO of the DS brand, said; “We are building the DS brand today by drawing our inspiration from the outstanding heritage of the historic DS. The legendary car upholds the values of innovation, excellence and avant-garde – values that we have made our own. 

Today’s DS models combine remarkable styling and technology, comfort and vitality, premium materials and refinement. We aim to perpetuate the story and ensure that these two letters continue to embody French know-how in luxury automobiles around the world and for a long time to come.”

To celebrate the 60^th birthday of the original DS and the launch of the brand, DS has organised ‘DS Week’, a major event at the Tuileries garden in Paris. As the Tuileries garden is next to the Louvre it is the perfect place for the brand’s announcement today that DS is to sponsor the Louvre Museum. 

The Louvre is a true standard of French culture abroad, and the DS brand shares these same values, combining culture and excellence, and also the balance between history and modernity represented by the famous Louvre Pyramid.

DS Week kicked off today and will continue through to Sunday 24 May 2015. For the first four days the brand is welcoming its global network and selected guests, and on Saturday and Sunday will be inviting the general public to visit the DS Exhibition.

Meanwhile, the largest meeting of the year of original DS vehicles will be held on Saturday 23 May at the Linas-Montlhéry race track, attended by more than 700 cars.

These will make the journey to Paris on Sunday 24 May to form a procession along the banks of the Seine and the Avenue des Champs-Elysées to the Place de la Concorde, where they will remain for much of the day. 

This international gathering was organised by Le Monde de la DS, an association of fans supported by the DS brand, Michelin and Total.

DS EXHIBITION IN THE HEART OF PARIS

In 2015, its launch year, the DS brand is organising a fabulous exhibition in the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 May. 

Designed in the style of a Haussmannian boulevard flanked by six shops and cars, the DS Exhibition will immerse the public in the world of DS for a journey through time from 1955 to the near future. Entry to the DS Exhibition is free and unrestricted.

Special events and meetings will be organised at the event. Children will enjoy a colouring experience unlike anything they have ever experienced before, expressing themselves with digital tablets. 

They will colour in a DS 3, customising it to their taste and displaying it in 3D on a holographic pyramid. For adults, DS experts, including designers and upholsterers from the brand’s Styling Centre, will be on hand to talk about their work.

To prolong and share this fantastic experience, the DS Exhibition will also be connected. On arrival, all visitors will receive a device linked to the ‘MyDSweek’ application, allowing them to save their very own souvenirs by downloading content and photos of the event. They also have the option of sharing this on social networks.

THE DS EXHIBITION, A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME FROM 1955 TO THE NEAR FUTURE

Cinema

DS takes centre stage. From the 1950s to the present day, cinema has been fond of the DS. Whether in the starring role or simply as an extra, the DS has appeared in numerous films and series, in France and abroad. 

Excerpts from the film career of the DS will be projected, including the famous scene of the DS losing altitude in Fantomas se déchaîne (Fantomas Strikes Back) by André Hunebelle and the sale of a frozen DS in Cold Fever by the Icelandic director Friðrik Þór Friðriksson. 

The DS will also be shown featuring alongside Jean Dujardin in the movie The Connection and starring in Back to the Future 2 by Robert Zemeckis. The event will be perfect for film lovers.

Photo Gallery

Star for an evening, star for a day, star forever. Honoured by the most famous photographers as well as admiring and passionate amateurs, the DS conquered the world as soon as it was unveiled to the public in 1955. Unusual, elegant, dynamic and refined, this exceptional automobile has been popular with statesmen celebrities, film-makers and rally drivers. 

The Gallery is presenting a selection of its greatest images, including the DS and General de Gaulle, the DS and Romy Schneider, the DS and Brigitte Bardot, the DS and Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, as well as in a number of countries during races and treks. 

There is even a photo of the ‘DS Millipede’, an extraordinary ten-wheeler DS designed by Michelin to carry out truck tyre tests. 

In the Photo Gallery, the public can also pose like the stars in a Studio Harcourt photo booth that has been set up for the occasion. They can take their portrait home with them as a souvenir.

Techno Lab

A range of connectivity options in tune with the digital world, efficient and high-performance engines, smart driving technologies, 3D digital cluster displays, dynamic and safe driving, and spectacular headlights – DS experts work on all these aspects on a daily basis. Drawing on a range of technologies, the Techno Lab will give visitors a first-hand experience of DS.

They will get to find out more about:

• DS LED Vision technology used for the light signatures of DS 3 and New DS 5, featuring lamps combining LED and Xenon technologies with new sequential indicators
• A 3D instrument cluster demonstrator, a replica of the one on the Divine DS concept car
• Two engines that will notably be fitted on New DS 5: BlueHDi 180 and the THP 210
• DS Connect, the DS service offer bringing motorists a connected and seamless automotive experience before, during and after driving

Design

It is difficult to talk about the DS without evoking its avant-garde design. Whether an original DS or one of the models in the current range, a DS is unlike anything else. From 1955, the DS stood out both for its new technologies and its revolutionary and elegant design. Sixty years on, the history of the DS continues.

To illustrate this, some 180 style drawings depicting numerous models, including the 1949 ‘Hippopotamus’ measuring over one metre and weighing in at 23kg, will be exhibited. 

Key names in the DS story will be in the limelight, including Bertoni, Opron, Armand and Dargent, along with current designers at the DS Styling  Centre. The design team will be present throughout the weekend, giving presentations with the aid of digital tablets.

Workshop

In the Workshop, visitors will notice that the DS brand pays the closest attention to the refinement and detailing of its cars. They will discover the sources of inspiration for DS, drawing on excellence in the fields of fine jewellery, saddlery, haute couture and world famous French expertise. 

Embroidery, metalwork, semi-aniline leather and encrusted jewellery all play a part. Strong attention to detail, the choice of premium materials and the personalisation options available combine to lend the brand singular styling cues.

Here visitors will be able to meet with upholsterers from the DS Styling Centre and witness their dexterity in working leather and creating unique upholstery trims. Visitors will also get the chance to configure their own DS and even buy it.

DS Boutique

Whether you are a fan of the DS or simply have an eye for design, in this shop you will find all the lifestyle products designed and created by the brand to extend the DS experience into daily life. 

The DS Boutique will propose a broad range of objects informed by the strong cues of the DS line: heritage, refinement and boldness. Visitors will be able to choose from, among other products, a DS weekend bag, the Spirit watch for men or women, and miniatures of New DS 5 and the Divine DS concept car. 

Also available will be a series of objects created especially for the 60^th birthday of the DS, including a box set with a historic DS and New DS 5 and the ‘DS toujours avant-garde’ book, created by the DS brand and launched to coincide with DS Week. Go to the e-boutique 

https://lifestyle.driveds.com

DS in the street

Throughout the exhibition, the public will get to discover or rediscover the original DS through a selection of vintage models on show, as well as today’s DS models. The streets of Paris will be graced by the DS 19 Cabriolet, DS 21 Prestige and the DS driven by Simon Baker in ‘The Mentalist’. The line-up will feature a 1968 DS 21 Pallas dedicated specially to visitors, who will be able to climb aboard and take home a photo souvenir.

Today’s DS models will also be in the spotlight, with the DS 3, DS 3 Cabrio, DS 4 and New DS 5. 

Visitors will also get an exclusive look at the new ‘1955’ limited editions, with Ink Blue paint (and a black roof on the DS 3 and DS 4), full-grain leather seats, alloy wheels with matt gold centre caps, a gold DS logo on the bonnet, laser engraved DS wing mirrors and a number of personalisation components bearing the words ‘60 years DS 1955’.

The futuristic-looking Numéro 9 concept car will be another star of the show. Unveiled in Beijing in 2012, the Numéro 9 concept car perfectly illustrates the DNA of DS with its forthright focus on creation, unique and instantly recognisable styling, strong emotional content, and outstanding refinement and finish. 

The charismatic body shape reinterprets the shooting brake concept while introducing a new front-end design. It was this front end that served as inspiration for that on New DS 5.

TWO OUTSTANDING DS MODELS AT DS WORLD PARIS

After taking in the DS Exhibition in the Tuileries garden, visitors will be able to continue their immersion in the brand just a few blocks away at 33 rue François 1er, home to the DS World Paris. 

The boutique there will be exhibiting two exceptional original DS models: a 1969 DS Pallas, Charles de Gaulle’s last privately owned car, and a 1960 DS 19 having been owned by Fernand Raynaud, the illustrious French comedian of the 1950s and 1960s.

700 DS AT THE DS 60TH ANNIVERSARY INTERNATIONAL GATHERING

Saturday 23 May 2015 at the Linas-Montlhéry race track

This historic track outside Paris will host the largest annual and international meeting of vintage DS models. Organised by Le Monde de la DS (www.lemondedelads.com - an association created by the collectors' clubs DS Club Révolution 55, Idéale DS France and DS ID Club de France), the gathering has been organised especially to celebrate the 60^th birthday of the legendary car. 

The event is also backed by the ‘Amicale’ federation of Citroën Clubs in France and the federation of international clubs, as well as by the DS brand, Michelin and Total.

700 cars are expected, bringing 1,500 fans from more than 10 countries. The meeting will also be open to the public from 10am to 6pm. Entry for over 12 year olds costs €15. 

The programme includes a concours d'elegance competition and demonstrations on the track.

Sunday 24 May, a procession of 700 DS through Paris

At 7.45am, 700 DS from Linas-Montlhéry will emerge from the Parc de Saint-Cloud and head for the Place de la Concorde in Paris. The procession will pass along the edge of the Seine by the Quai de Javel where this legendary car was born, before heading towards the Grand Palais where, on 6 October 1955, the DS was unveiled to the public at the Salon de Paris.

The highlight of the parade will no doubt be driving down one of the most beautiful avenues in the world, the Champs-Élysées. 

The procession will come to a halt at Place de la Concorde and take up residence there for part of the day. Parisians and tourists alike will be able to admire the famous models at their leisure. In May 2015, the DS brand will proclaim its Parisian roots louder than ever.