Phantom

Some cars are driven; others officiate. The Phantom belongs to the second category: drawn up before a Romanesque church in Gallura, at the gates of a villa above the Pevero or on the quay at Porto Cervo, its presence turns an arrival into a ceremony. Small wonder it is among the most requested cars for weddings — in our guide to choosing the car for your big day we explain why a flagship of this rank changes the way an entire event is perceived.

Sardinia, in turn, offers it exactly the right distances. The transfers between Olbia and the Costa Smeralda, between a villa at Romazzino and a reception in Arzachena, are its habitat: short journeys in which every metre counts and every head turns. Guests on the northern coast can request it through Rolls-Royce rental in Porto Cervo, with delivery directly to the villa or the hotel.

Roughly 130 kilograms of sound-deadening material, double glazing, tyres lined with noise-absorbing foam: the Phantom is built around silence the way a concert hall is. The 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12 registers only as a gentle pressure when you press deeper into the throttle — 0–62 mph in 5.3 seconds, administered by the 8-speed automatic with the composure of a rising tide.

Rear-wheel drive and air suspension deliver that suspended gait that made Goodwood's "magic carpet" proverbial. From the driver's seat the sensation is one of conducting rather than driving: the steering filters, the body isolates, and the coast road towards Baja Sardinia unspools like a film projected beyond the windscreen.

If the Phantom needs no alternative versions, it is because it is itself the summit. Its most distinctive signature is the Gallery: a glass vitrine running the full width of the dashboard, enclosing a commissioned work of art — a concept no other automobile in the world offers.

Then there are the rear-hinged coach doors, which close at the touch of a button, and the Starlight Headliner, a canopy of fibre optics that turns the cabin into a private night sky — every bit as evocative as the real Sardinian firmament on the drive home from dinner at Cala di Volpe. The rest of the category of luxury sedans available in Sardinia is measured from here, from the very top.