The Rolls Royce Black Badge’s Heredity, A Spirit Of Individualism And Iconoclasm

Born from heritage, the Rolls Royce Black Badge’s individualism and iconoclasm is an outright rebellion that pervaded the marque’s 117-year history. 

Capturing this spirit in extremis, the Black Badge series epitomises the desire for self-expression and pushes boundaries that redefine the established convention.

It has been ever since its inception and is still continuing to do so by the unique offer Rolls Royce extends to its contemporary clients.

Rolls Royce Motor Cars’ chief executive officer, Torsten Müller-Ötvös, expressed, “From its very earliest days, Rolls Royce has attracted free spirits, creative minds and those who seek to challenge established conventions. Though from entirely different backgrounds, our founders both refused to be bound by the norms and expectations of early 20th Century society.  Their courage, vision, and willingness to push boundaries made them who they were and our company what it is today. These wonderful historic cars are perfect examples of how that rebellious spirit infuses our brand story and continues in the modern era with our Black Badge products.”

To paint a picture, although clients have an unlimited choice of exterior finishes, one colour above all still steadily exerts a special and powerful allure when applied to the motor cars. Black.

Notably, the colour black has long been associated with power, strength and authority. It is intense and substantial and also speaks of elegance and confidence.

Over the decades, there have been many distinguished examples of bespoke Rolls Royce motor cars finished in black.

Each of the following examples, spanning more than 30 years, has a exclusive place in the marque’s history, and demonstrates how its owner took the all-black theme in a unique direction.

Firstly, the 1933 Phantom II Continental (94MY). Created at the personal request of Henry Royce, designer Ivan Evernden penned an experimental version of it that he dubbed the 26EX.

Designed specifically for long-distance Continental touring, it had a short chassis and close-coupled four-seat saloon body with two spare wheels mounted vertically behind the luggage compartment.

The coachwork, erected by Barker & Co, sat on a sub-frame designed to cope with sustained high speeds and powerful braking forces.

On its first outing, Evernden and Don Carlos de Salamanca drove the car to a concours d’elegance in Biarritz, where it won the Grand Prix d’Honneur.

Following this victory, Rolls Royce decided to launch a ‘series’ model with the same mechanical attributes and overall coachwork dimensions as 26EX. 

As the first official make, 94MY, built in 1933 has a bodywork known as an ‘Owen Fixed Head Coupé’, a specialism of London coachbuilder Gurney Nutting.

Featuring adjustable front bucket seats, twin windscreen wipers and flush-fitting direction indicators behind the side windows, which were all unusual for the period.

At that time, the vast majority of Rolls Royce coachwork was finished in either black, or shades of maroon or blue, so dark as to almost seem black.  

Significantly, this 94MY was ordered in black with special brown leather, piped in light brown, carpets and headlining to tone, and woodwork to be highly polished veneers.

Combining high performance with excellent comfort and a unique personalised finish, if any 1930s Rolls Royce could lay claim to embodying the spirit of today’s Black Badge, it is this one.

Second is the 1960 Phantom V (5AT30). Launched in 1959, it was meant to replace the esteemed Silver Wraith.  

Being a much larger car, it was intended primarily for chauffeur-driven use, and all but a very few bodies were of limousine design. 

Most were finished in black and used either on formal occasions or for private use by members of the wealthy establishment.

One exception was the 5AT30. Delivered in September 1960, its proud owner was HRH, The Duke of Gloucester, third son of King George V and Queen Mary, and uncle to HM Queen Elizabeth II.

Its body was based on coachbuilder James Young’s PV15 design, which today is regarded as among the most elegant on the Phantom V chassis.

His Royal Highness had strong ideas about what he wanted in his Phantom V, with the paint combination of matte black to the horizontal surfaces and gloss black on the vertical planes.

Other Bespoke items include a much smaller-than-standard backlight, prominent fog lamps, door-mounted driving mirrors, sliding shutters to the rear windows and two Stephane Grebel spotlights. 

Whereas, the front of the car is dominated by Lucas R100 headlamps, in place of the usual faired-in headlights.

Besides that, the maker’s ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ mascot was not fitted, instead taking her place was the duke’s own mascot of an eagle in flight.

Interestingly, for the first time in the marque’s history, the chassis card states that the car was supplied with ‘an umbrella in holder’. A standard feature on today’s Rolls Royce motor cars.

Last but not least, the 1965 Phantom V (5VD73). As a gift to himself, John Lennon of the Beatles ordered this brand-new Rolls Royce Phantom V at the time from R. S. Mead of Maidenhead.

The specification was highly personalised. He specified it to be black everywhere, inside and out, including all the brightwork that would normally be finished in chromium plate or stainless steel.

Built by Mulliner Park Ward, it was supplied with all-black gloss paintwork, including the wheel discs and bumpers.

Only the iconic ‘Pantheon’ grille and ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ mascot retained their conventional chrome finish, at the marque's insistence.

Due to its all-black theme, it was one of the first cars in Britain to have blacked-out windows made from darkened, reflective Triplex Deeplight glass. 

Of which it was 3/16-inch thick in the rear doors and 3/4-inch in the rear quarter lights, backlite and division glass.

Then, later on, the car was repainted in a game-changing, vivid psychedelic electric yellow, embellished with flowers, Romany scrolls and signs of the zodiac.

In terms of its interior, it featured black Bedford cord cloth and black nylon rugs in the rear compartment, and black leather in the front.

Furthermore, there were electrical aerials for a radio and a Perdio Portarma television set, and a seven-piece set of black fitted luggage.

Also, legend has it that the car had a record player, radio telephone, fridge, writing table and red mood-lighting.

However, this remains unproven, but could easily have been later additions, likewise, a rear seat that, according to many accounts, could be converted into a pull-out bed.

Overall, it is wholly unique, forever identified with its owner and, in certain quarters, generated its share of controversy, perhaps the perfect encapsulation of the Black Badge spirit.

That said, Rolls Royce’s unquenchable spirit continues to be expressed in new and dynamic ways until today through the ever-evolving Black Badge family.