Rolls drumroll for convertible

Colin Kelly, regional director (Asia Pacific) of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, in Mumbai on Wednesday. (PTI)

Mumbai, May 31: The Rolls-Royce convertible is slated to hit the roads next year.

The two-door, four-seater Phantom-based vehicle will be hand-built at the company's Goodwood factory in the UK from 2007.

The new version will be based on the Rolls-Royce primary model but will draw heavily from the 100EX concept, which appeared at the 2004 Geneva Motor Show to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Rolls-Royce partnership. Only this one will be slightly smaller.

The Rolls-Royce convertible, as well as the 100EX, were both created by the company's former head of exterior design, Marek Djordjevic, at BMW?s Design Works studio in California.

However, the vehicle will go for the standard Phantom's more manageable 6.75-litre V12 instead of the concept?s 9.0-litre V16.

The convertible will also share its aluminum spaceframe chassis with the Phantom. The bold reverse-opening suicide doors come from the 100EX concept car.

Rolls-Royce had appointed Navnit Motors as the first authorised dealer in India in 2005. The firm today opened the first Indian showroom at the Atria Mall in Mumbai. The showroom will display the new-generation Rolls-Royce Phantom.

?The Rolls-Royce has always had a special relationship with India, dating back to the days of the Maharajas. Prior to the opening of the showroom, seven new Phantoms have been already delivered,? said Colin Kelly, regional director (Asia Pacific), Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

At present, there are 259 Rolls-Royce cars on Indian roads, including vintages.

Inspired by the Phantoms of the 1920s and 1930s, the new Rolls-Royce was introduced in 2003 and later brought to India in 2005.