In a somewhat morbid flourish, Rolls-Royce has decided to imbue the final run of 50 Phantom Coupes and Drophead Coupes with pieces of the assembly line on which they’re assembled. Called the Zenith Edition (cut to boardroom: How do we imply that we’re ending on a high note?) the fifty cars will be outfitted with a special drawer to hold an engraved piece of metal taken from the Goodwood factory’s line. According to Rolls:
On opening a drawer, owners discover a removable polished aluminum case… Within this, sits a single piece of the Phantom Assembly Line at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, England. This remarkable collectors’ piece is completed with the expression of co-ordinates, stating the exact part of the Assembly Line from where the metal was extracted.
It merits mention that a Rolls-Royce assembly line is not, in fact, the Berlin Wall. While the buyers of these cars are surely dedicated Rolls-Royce customers, it’s doubtful that even they will take the time to go into a drawer, open an aluminum case and lovingly fondle a hunk of factory detritus. Much more compelling is the standard refrigerator, able to hold two bottles of capital-C Champagne (we imagine it would regurgitate California sparkling wine or cava) and eight glasses, and a picnic hamper that can be color-matched to the car’s interior or exterior, or inscribed. We recommend “The Rolls-Royce Salmon French Bread Paté.”
The best we can imagine is that one day, on some riviera, a Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe Zenith owner will get a little tipsy on champagne while sitting on the leather-padded tailgate and, with his free hand, will use the commemorative hunk of the Goodwood factory to play catch with his passenger, likely a deposed prince of a European coastal nation. After a few passes, it will be fumbled and dropped into the sea. A good death. A noble death.