We’re all used to seeing the Rolls-Royce Starlight Headliner by now, aren’t we? Well, in pictures, at least. Anyway, check out what the luxury carmaker has done to it in this new time-inspired Phantom Tempus Collection...
Apparently, this is now a Pulsar Headliner, with fiber-optic lighting and intricate embroidery combining to recreate the rare astronomical phenomenon. For those (like us) who are wondering how that relates to time, Pulsars are dense stars found in the farthest reaches of space that “emit electromagnetic radiation in extremely regular pulses.” Essentially a posh clock, then.
There’s more where that came from in the Tempus Collection, too. Rolls-Royce will build 20 examples of these extra-special Phantoms, and each will feature the new Kairos Blue exterior paint. The carmaker says it has been created “to embody the darkness and mystery of space” (woah), and that it uses mica flakes that sparkle like stars when they catch the light. Lovely.
On the inside, there are hundreds of illuminated stars on each door, and the Phantom’s Gallery on the passenger side features a piece of aluminum art known as the ‘Frozen Flow of Time.’ This is all getting very deep. Rolls-Royce has gotten rid of the clock—which it says signifies the owner’s freedom from time and its limitations—and has replaced it with a single billet of aluminum that’s milled to form 100 wavy columns. Pretty much everything in the Tempus Collection has a meaning, so this represents the 100-million-year period of a rotational spin of a pulsar star. Far out, man.
Oh, and to save you having to explain that meaning to everyone you offer a lift to, there’s a little description of the Gallery on an engraved plaque in the glovebox. Although you’ll then be forced to explain why there’s also an Albert Einstein quote in the glovebox. Real catch-22, that.
Final touches for the Tempus include the Spirit of Ecstasy being personalized with a significant date and location of the owner’s choosing, and a hand-painted Pulsar champagne chest that houses four hand-blown crystal champagne flutes and a mother-of-pearl caviar spoon. Of course it does.
Excited by the idea of a time-obsessed Phantom? Apologies, Rolls-Royce says all 20 have already been sold.
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
