2008 Rolls Royce Phantom

The Phantom DHC, in spite of its two-door convertible configuration, is first and foremost a luxury car. While its mission in life, dynamically, is a quiet and comfortable ride, it's sportier than you may think, up to a point. All the controls are calibrated for fingertips not biceps, and the ride defines the term supple.

At 100 mph, you can't hear the clock in the new Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe. That's because the clock doesn't tick. But you can't hear much of anything else, either, apart from the rustle of wind around the A-pillars. It might be the sportiest Rolls-Royce ever -- faster than a Porsche Boxster to 60 mph and boasting a myriad of detail changes to suspension, steering, and transmission tune designed to sharpen its responses -- but the Phantom Coupe is first and foremost a luxury car.

Its overall look is similar to that of the Phantom limousine, but menacing LED headlights make the convertible all the more sinister as they sit below the optional stainless steel hood. Power comes from the same 6.8-liter V-12 as the four-door, and the 453 hp mill will waft the Drophead up to sixty in just 5.7 seconds.

And as automotive drama goes, there isn't a car on the planet that can match this Rolls. First of all, forget what your eyes are telling you as you gaze upon these images--in the flesh and up close, the Phantom Drophead is much, much bigger than it appears in pictures. It's a shade under nineteen feet long, and it weighs in at a colossal 5776 pounds. The Drophead Coup is based on the massive Phantom sedan, although it is shorter by 9.8 inches. It also weighs about 155 pounds more than the sedan, thanks to extra chassis bracing that makes up for the absent roof.

Under that vast metallic-finished hood, the Drophead employs the Phantom sedan's 453-hp V-12 turning a six-speed automatic.

This mighty V-12 really does suit the Rolls. With 75 percent of engine power available from only 1000 rpm, the car's throttle response is relaxed but potent--0 to 60 mph is achieved in just 5.7 seconds, according to the factory, and the top speed is limited to 149 mph.