The Phantom V was a large, ultra-exclusive four-door saloon made by Rolls-Royce from 1959 to 1968. Based on the Silver Cloud II, it shared a V8 engine and General Motors Hydramatic automatic gearbox with its smaller sibling. Rolls-Royce assembled the cars' chassis and drivetrains with bodies made to standard designs by coachbuilders H. J. Mulliner, Park Ward, and James Young, former vendors absorbed by Rolls-Royce.The engine was a 6,230 cc 90-degree V8 with twin SU carburetors, coupled to a 4-speed automatic transmission. The car had massive drum brakes and a wheelbase of 3,683 mm. Four speed automatic transmission and power assisted steering were standard.
From 1963 onward the Silver Cloud III's 7% more powerful engine and new front wings incorporating the latter's quad headlamps were fitted.
A total of 516 Phantom V's were made. Famous owners included Queen Elizabeth II and her mother, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. Those owned by Elizabeth II were official state cars, adapted for that purposed with a flag staff and illuminated heraldic shield above the windscreen. Having been retired from active service in 2002, both are now on public display: one in the royal motor museum at Sandringham, and the other in the special garage aboard HMY Britannia in Leith, Edinburgh.
The Governor of Hong Kong used a Rolls-Royce Phantom V for ceremonial occasions. It was removed from Hong Kong by the Royal Navy immediately following the handover to China on 1 July 1997.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi the shah of Iran was another one of the famous people who owned this car. Since his exile, the car is being kept in his royal residence in Tehran and every once in a while it is shown to the public among the other luxurious cars owned by The Shah, including a unique Rolls-Royce Phantom VI.
King Olav V of Norway owned a 1962 limousine as a state car. Yugoslav president, Josip Broz Tito owned a private Rolls-Royce Phantom V.
Then Beatle John Lennon's psychedelic-painted Phantom V, a 1960s counter-culture icon, came from the factory finished in white, with Lennon commissioning the custom paint job atop it.
