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When it came time to replace the aging Silver Wraith in 1959 – an endearingly classic design with underpinnings that dated as far back as the pre-war Wraith – Rolls-Royce decided to revive the legendary Phantom badge, reviving a lineage that had sat dormant since production of the ultra-limited Phantom IV ceased in 1956.

Between 1959 and 1968, a relatively low-volume run of 832 Phantom Vs were produced, making it quite rare and equally desirable. A 6,230 cc 90˚ overhead valve V-8 engine provided the Phantom V with adequate power and, mated exclusively to a four-speed Hydra-Matic automatic transmission, was capable of propelling the more than 5,600 lb. limousine to speeds of over 100 mph, making it an uncommonly fast luxury vehicle for its time.

A stately tourer through and through, the Phantom V was the preferred method of transport for some of the world’s most famous people, with owners ranging from pop culture icons of the day like John Lennon, to European royalty such as Queen Elizabeth II and King Olav V of Norway. A Phantom V was even used as a ceremonial vehicle for the Governor of Hong Kong prior to Britain’s handover of the region to China in 1997, making the Phantom V a pseudo-symbol of the British Empire’s global reach.