Rolls-Royce debuts Pinnacle Travel Phantom in Beijing

Another major car show in the eastern hemisphere, another special edition Rolls-Royce Phantom.To underscore the importance of the Chinese market to Rolls-Royce, the company unveiled the Pinnacle Travel Phantom from its Bespoke Collection at the China motor show in Beijing this week. Meant to showcase Rolls-Royce's popular Bespoke program in this rapidly emerging market, the Pinnacle Travel Phantom takes its cues from the heyday of luxury travel. No, not the era of $39 flights from Vegas to Reno in a Carter-vintage 737, but the era of travel by luxurious cross-continental trains.

This special Phantom features a two-tone color scheme of Madeira red over silver sand. On the inside, Morello red and seashell-colored leather has been used for the seats, roofliner, pillars, door cards, and lambs' wool rugs. Smoke gray stitching serves as a contrast on the seats, meant to evoke the exquisite details of luxury trains.The centerpiece of the Pinnacle Travel Phantom is arguably the marquetry created via 230 individual pieces of wood, using both traditional craftsmanship and laser wood-cutting techniques.

The marquetry displays a stylized image of a cross-continental train speeding across a landscape, with plumes of steam billowing in its wake. This wood veneer motif has been applied to a number of surfaces in the cabin, from the glove box all the way to the rear picnic tables and doors.

The overall result is charming in photos, though Rolls-Royce hasn't coupled this version with any specific cross-continental luxury train like the Orient Express. The result is impressive and tasteful, subtle enough to go almost unnoticed on the outside unless one were to glimpse inside the car. We can't help but think that design themes of this type can be executed in slightly less grand luxury cars with simpler manufacturing techniques without becoming dated, though history has taught us otherwise.

This Phantom has also been optioned with a partition window, a slightly more common feature in markets outside North America, though perhaps here it creates more of an opportunity to showcase the wood veneer art.

Rolls-Royce has made no mention of where this particular car is going after the show, but we have a feeling that there will be no shortage of individuals ready to pick it up. After all, British luxury marques have been not-so-quietly conquering Asia. Rolls-Royce now has 15 dealerships in China alone, and another eight on the way. Its former sibling Bentley is also on a roll, opening dealerships as fast as it can in places like

By Jay Ramey