
Happy one-hundredth birthday to the Rolls-Royce Phantom. Time to pop the bubbly and have a right, royal, centennial birthday bash.
Which is exactly what Rolls-Royce North America did recently at this year’s annual Rolls-Royce owners’ club gathering in Colorado Springs, Colorado, which I was lucky enough to attend.
Among the 75 Flying Ladies parked on the grassy fairway of the Cheyenne Mountain Resort were six mighty Phantoms, including a trio of so-called Springfield Phantoms. These were cars hand-built between 1925 and 1931, at Rolls’ long-shuttered American factory in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The laid-back event, in the shadow of the towering Colorado Rockies, saw passionate owners from around the country drive–or fly in–to celebrate Rolls-Royce and its remarkable cars.
One such owner was the effervescent–and wonderfully named–Duffy Oyster. He’d shipped his glorious 1931 Springfield Phantom I from his home in Dallas, Texas, but had driven the 800 miles in his beloved, white-and-tan 2011 Phantom Drophead Coupe convertible.
“We just love driving the car. Most of the time we have the top down. Every mile is a special occasion,” Oyster tells us.

The event was also an opportunity for owners to test drive the newest Rolls models just now arriving in the United States, such as the 2025 Cullinan II super-luxe SUV and the oh-so-elegant Ghost II sedan.
During the weekend, I go the chance to sample the Ghost II Extended Wheelbase version–$678,850 nicely-loaded–for a snaking 19-mile drive to the 14,107-foot, snow-capped summit of the nearby Pikes Peak, famous for the annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb car race.
My co-driver for part of the drive was Rolls-Royce North America’s recently-appointed president and CEO, Jon Colbeth, who was getting a rapid immersion in the Rolls-Royce enthusiast culture.

“There’s so much passion among our owners. It’s been remarkable to hear some of the amazing stories behind their cars, and the work they’ve done to keep them alive,” explains Colbeth, who told us that over 70 percent of Rolls-Royce cars built since 1905 are still on the road.
After gazing at all 75 cars on the field, these are the five that I would really have loved to have driven home:

Jon Leimkueler’s 1929 Springfield Phantom 1
This majestic black and red four-door Brewster-bodied roadster was originally built for Louis V. Aronson, who invented the Ronson automatic cigarette lighter in 1910. The Pittsburgh collector bought the Massachusetts-built car in 2012 and meticulously restored it, doing most of the work himself. “It’s really been a labor of love,” he says.

Brad Klein’s 1957 Silver Cloud I
This silver dream machine was one of just 20 two-door Silver Cloud I convertibles built with flowing H.J. Mulliner coachwork. It was reportedly commissioned for Hollywood star Debbie Reynolds who never took delivery. Its first owner was Scottish brewery tycoon William Younger. Los Angeles-based Klein bought the car in 2000 and calls it “a rolling piece of art.”

Dan Connors’ 1988 Corniche II
While over 1,200 Corniche II convertibles were built between 1986 and 1989, Osprey, Florida-based Connors’ stunning metallic blue example, is something special. He tells us that this was Rolls-Royce’s North American show car that was trucked around the country for test drives. A true time capsule, today it shows a mere 4,800 miles on the clock. “It still drives like a new car,” he says.

Sherry Stern’s 1963 Silver Cloud III
Actor Louis Jourdan, suave star of Gigi and the James Bond romp Octopussy, was the first owner of Petaluma, California-based Sherry Stern’s gorgeous white-with-a-blue-top Silver Cloud. Then in 1967 it was snapped-up by Stern’s late brother who, after a few years, simply parked it in a garage, and left it. For 30 years. The rusty heap was then totally restored by Sherry. “I just wrote the checks,” she explains.

Brad Champlin’s 2017 Phantom Drophead Coupe
Gaze deep into the gleaming metallic blue-and-white paintwork on Memphis-based Brad Champlin’s Phantom convertible and the shimmer is remarkable. “It has Swarovski crystals embedded in the paint which really makes it glow,” Champlin tells us. But this is not just a show car. To get to Colorado Springs, he and his wife, Dianne, took the long way via Vancouver. On the return, they planned to visit Wyoming and North Dakota. Total mileage for the trip? Over 6,000.
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