This custom Rolls-Royce Phantom “Koa” is paint-matched to owner’s 1934 Packard
Jack Boyd Smith Jr. has added this one-off Rolls-Royce Phantom to his impressive collection in Elkhart, Indiana. Having amassed a fortune in the glamorous world of foam and tape production Smith Jr. turned his attention to classic cars and built a hugely-impressive stable in just six years.
“I try to find to find rare and special cars that are maybe one of one or one of two,” says Smith, describing a personal museum that chronologically starts with a 1905 Cadillac Model F and ends with this latest acquisition from Rolls-Royce. In between are rare cars from Ahrens-Fox, Auburn, Austin, Bentley, Chrysler, Ford, Hispano-Suiza, Hudson, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz, Minerva, Packard, Pierce-Arrow, and Studebaker. The new Phantom will join a 1923 Silver Ghost Pall Mall, a 2001 Corniche, a 2011 Phantom III Drophead Coupe, and a 2015 Phantom.
The Phantom Koa gets its name from the copious amounts of Koa wood used throughout its extraordinary interior, inspired by a Smith family heirloom rocking chair. Koa wood is exceptionally hard to procure as it only grows in Hawaii, and can only be harvested from private land. It took Rolls-Royce three years to track down and obtain the wood from a single log.
In the meantime Smith and his wife Laura worked closely with Rolls-Royce on the car’s specification. The extended wheelbase Phantom is trimmed in Dove Grey leather to complement the rich Koa wood and stainless steel on display. The headliner includes 1420 fibre-optic lights that depict the night sky over Cleveland, Ohio on Smith Jr’s day of birth. Rolls-Royce says more than 500 hours of work went into the interior alone. A unique hamper comes complete with hand-made crystal wine glasses and a decanter, plus a 12-piece cutlery set and Wedgwood porcelain plates.
The exterior paintwork was matched to Smith’s 1934 Packard Twelve Coupe and it took more than 40 different tests to exactly match the 87-year-old finish. A Dove Grey hand-painted pinstripe runs the long length of the bodywork, while the initials JBS Jr and LAS adorn the driver and passenger doors respectively.
Smith says that he drives all the cars in his collection regularly, often arriving at his office in one classic, popping out for lunch in another and going home in a third, so you’re likely to see the Koa Phantom on the streets of Elkhart. Failing that you can enjoy the whole JBS Collection online.
