Rolls-Royce Dropped a Phantom Into a Swimming Pool to Honor Keith Moon
Rolls-Royce first built a Phantom in 1925, and is still building them 100 years later, with the latest generation, the Phantom VIII, debuting in 2017. To mark the anniversary, the marque put one in a swimming pool.
The pool was Tinside Lido in Plymouth, England, where a Phantom VIII was put on a boat and then taken poolside, where it was lifted off by a crane and then placed into the water atop a platform. The stunt was meant to evoke an apocryphal story from 1972, when Keith Moon, the drummer of the Who, is said to have driven a Rolls-Royce into a pool at a Holiday Inn in Flint, Michigan.
The actual car that went into a pool there was probably a Lincoln Continental—and not because it was driven in, but because the handbrake was not applied and it rolled. Or there was no car in a pool at all, and instead it was a more normal night of 1970s drunken rock star excess, including a food fight and various smaller things being thrown into the pool.
“The drummer knocked out part of his front tooth; at the hospital, doctors could not give him an anaesthetic (due to his inebriation) before removing the remainder of the tooth,” according to a biography of Moon quoted by Autoweek. “Back at the hotel, a melee erupted; fire extinguishers were set off, guests (and objects) thrown into the swimming pool and a piano reportedly destroyed. The chaos ended only when police arrived with guns drawn.”
For a certain generation, the truth doesn’t really matter less than the myth itself: a legendary rock star treating the world’s most luxurious car with such flippancy on his way to dying too young. Rolls-Royce likes the myth for what it adds to its own myth, that Rolls-Royces are the cars of kings and queens and self-indulgent rock stars, too.
Thus, for the 100th anniversary of Phantom, Rolls-Royce delicately recreated the myth, placing a Phantom in pool water in England, with photographers and videographers there to ensure that it wouldn’t be misremembered, like Keith Moon.
-
Image Credit: Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce said the Phantom is actually a retired prototype, and was set to be recycled. It was placed on a boat, and then steered next to the pool, where it was lifted into the water.
-
Image Credit: Rolls-Royce The Phantom being lifted on the crane was almost an event in itself.
“From the Golden Age of Hollywood to the rise of hip-hop, over the last 100 years, music artists have used Phantom to project their identity and challenge convention,” said Chris Brownridge, CEO of Rolls-Royce, in a press release. “Their motor cars often became icons in their own right, with a lasting place in the history of modern music. This enduring connection reminds us that Rolls-Royce and the extraordinary people who are part of the marque’s story are united by one ambition: to make their presence felt.”
-
Image Credit: Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce chose Tinside Lido in as its setting. Built in 1935, the public pool in Plymouth, England, was the site of a photo taken of the Beatles in 1967 when the band was filming Magical Mystery Tour. It later fell into disrepair and was closed in 1992 before being restored and reopened in 2005.
-
Image Credit: Rolls-Royce A platform was lowered into the water before the Phantom, and then the car was placed on top, to make it seem from above that the auto is floating peacefully, as a human might.
-
Image Credit: Rolls-Royce John Lennon showed off his Phantom V in 1967, the year that the Beatles filmed Magical Mystery Tour and also went to Tinside Lido. Lennon ordered the car following ownership of another Rolls-Royce. The Phantom V was painted yellow with various “psychedelic” touches like flowers and swirls. That car is currently on display at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
-
Image Credit: Rolls-Royce Among other notable musicians and celebrities to own Rolls-Royces are Marlene Dietrich, Elvis Presley, Liberace, and Elton John, each often with a flourish. John, for example, bought one of his Rolls-Royces on a whim and added some personal touches.
“In 1973, en route to a concert in Manchester in his white Phantom VI, Sir Elton saw a newer example in a showroom window. He instructed his chauffeur to stop, bought the car, and used it to complete his journey to the venue,” according to Rolls-Royce. “Later, he would update the Phantom with black paintwork, a black leather interior, tinted windows, a television, a video player, and even a fax machine. The most significant addition, however, was a bespoke audio system that was so powerful that the back windscreen had to be strengthened to prevent it from shattering when the volume was turned up.”
Authors
-
Erik Shilling
