1965 Rolls Royce Phantom V, Oxford Diecast

Sharp!

I have been pleasantly surprised at quite a number of Oxford's various models in the past few years; they are very good value for the money.

@jack-dodds Jack, I agree they are are an excellent value for the money.

I bought the Oxford version in Burgundy/Silver Sand. The real car, registered 989EXP, is (or was) a for-hire wedding car in London, and appeared in "The Crown" series.

Orders & Delivery — Oxford Diecast
I've ordered directly from their website. The shipping charges are extremely reasonable.

They've got a great assortment of HO scale cars too, many American.

I have a fair number of Rolls models but this Oxford Diecast model is one I seem to have overlooked, so when pics were posted here I went looking for one.

The metallic blue looked a little too "sparkly" for my taste, with weak paint fill in the shutlines, and I thought the sand/maroon seemed a slightly cartoon-ish version of the more muted Rolls sand/brown colour scheme, so I settled for a mint and boxed pre-owned model in the "classic formal" Rolls Royce black and silver grey colours. The model came in the post this morning.

It is pretty handsome overall. Nice paint job. The silver paint looks just a touch thick compared with the very crisp black, but it doesn't hide any detail. Front and rear brightwork is excellent.

One disappointing detail - I didn't see it on any of the other pics posted here - is a heavy vertical moulding line on each rear pillar. It may not look desperately bad on the pic below, but when the light catches it at a certain angle it looks pretty glaring. It is actually heavy enough to be felt as a ridge with the finger.

I see no sign of it on the other pics posted here. This silver/black version was the first issue (it included details which were deleted from the later sand/maroon version) and I'm wondering if they maybe corrected the casting after the first release. Ah well, the flaw is invisible from most angles, and I get the wing mirrors and GB sign on the back. Oxford do point out on their website that the later issue comes without mirrors. Seems an odd cost-cutting measure, or maybe there were complaints about them being too delicate?

Just for fun, here are comparison shots with another James Young Phantom V (with slight bodywork differences) done by ATC Models in China. Both attractive in their different ways.

Graeme, I really enjoyed your critic of the Oxford James Young Phantom V. I don't know a lot about specific models of the Rolls Royce brand but I do have several models of them. One of the models I have is of the James Young Phantom VI by TSM models. The body appears to be identical to your Phantom V. The model I have has outside mirrors which are attached on the front doors and the color is silver upper and black lower portions of the body. To my eye, the model is excellent in every way. Question, how many years was this body used?

I have two Phantoms by TSM - the one shown, and an all-black version. Both say Phantom V on the baseplate. I don't have a Phantom VI by TSM so I don't know what the differences might be, or whether TSM simply re-labelled the same model and claimed it as a "new release"! The real cars were pretty much identical, with only minor revisions, including an increase in engine size from 6.2 to 6.5 litres.

The Phantom V was introduced in 1959 and lasted until 1968 (it switched to dual headlamps in 1963). The Phantom VI ran from 1968 until 1990, by which time it was pretty well behind the times, and it was only ever produced in very small numbers (only 300-odd over its lifetime).

Here is some background reading for you.

Rolls-Royce Phantom V & VI

The History of the Rolls Royce Phantom - Oracle Finance

I have two Phantom Vi models - a diecast by Tomica and a resin model of QE2's car by BHM.

BTW Graeme, here's a link to the actual burgundy/silver sand car, should you desire to rent it. No wing mirrors, but Oxford forgot a small rear view on the driver's door.

https://www.ucchire.com/1964-rolls-royce-phantom-v-989-exp  

Thanks Graeme for the information and links. It would appear that very few changes were made over the course of the Phantom's long life.