Ostensibly, the Phantom Coupe shares most of its underpinnings with the saloon and Drophead. But of the two, it’s the convertible with which it shares most. Its rear-hinged doors are the same, for example, as is the bodywork from the nose to the A-pillars.
From the doors backwards, things are rather different. The aluminium panels are draped over a welded aluminium spaceframe like other Phantoms, but the rear bodywork kicks up behind the driver’s seat, from where an aluminium roof is formed forwards, meeting the steel header rail above the windscreen not entirely smoothly if (as in our test car) the two are the same colour. It works rather better if the windscreen surround and bonnet are finished in brushed steel.
Otherwise, rather like the saloon, the Phantom Coupe is an imposing piece of design; there’s no denying its presence. At 5609mm long, it is only 225mm shorter than the saloon, and at 1592mm and 1987mm respectively, it gives very little away in height or width.
Mechanically, the Coupe’s drivetrain is identical to that of other Phantoms. The 6.75-litre V12 engine makes a solid 453bhp and a not-insubstantial 531lb ft of torque, driving through a six-speed automatic transmission.
Some elements of the suspension have been changed. It’s still by double wishbones at the front and multi-link at the rear, but the spring rates and anti-roll bar thickness have been adjusted to suit the Coupe’s demeanour as a car developed for drivers rather than passengers.
To that end, the steering wheel is also thicker, the steering itself has been slightly adjusted for greater feel and there is a new ‘sport’ button which adjusts the gearbox programme, providing a revvier drive.