A standard-wheelbase Rolls-Royce Phantom starts at
around US$ 450,000 in the United States, and that’s before the customer starts
thinking about bespoke options. So what if we told you a Phantom VIII sold for more than double that
amount this past weekend at a UK auction, simply because it featured an unusual
livery? To be fair, it’s no ordinary painting, as its author is renowned visual
artist Marc Quinn.
Described as the 21st century equivalent of John
Lennon’s psychedelic Phantom V, the modern Phantom art car was born from the
collaboration between Rolls-Royce and the British painter and sculptor. He
elevated the new Phantom to an artwork on wheels, with the livery taking
inspiration from Quinn’s on-going series of iris paintings, named “We Share Our
Chemistry with the Stars.”
The car was sold for £ 888,000 (US$ 1.09
million) as part of a philanthropic event called “Evelina Art for Allergy x
Dine on the Line,” hosted by the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, UK, on September
21. All proceeds from the auction went toward supporting allergy research at
Evelina London Children’s Hospital. The winning bidder of the Phantom
art car is not named, but Rolls-Royce says they are “a valued collector of the
marque.” The owner will even commission Marc Quinn another Phantom art car,
this time featuring the iris of their daughter.
So what should we take away from this, besides the
fact that some people are willing to spend fortunes on Rolls-Royce Phantom art
cars? Well, the most important thing is that the donations from the auction
will be used for a research program “to prevent allergies, to protect against
allergies, and to ultimately cure allergies in children,” according to
Professor Gideon Lack from Evelina London.
