2006 Rolls-Royce 101EX

The Rolls-Royce 101EX explored a more driver-focused interpretation of the Goodwood Phantom through a low-roofed four-seat coupe. Revealed in 2006, the experimental car also introduced a feature that would become one of the marque’s most recognisable Bespoke signatures: the Starlight Headliner.

A coupe experiment after the open 100EX

The distinction between the EX cars begins with their bodies. The earlier 100EX was an open car; 101EX was a fixed-head four-seater, exploring a different relationship between roof, glass and the substantial Phantom architecture. It should not be illustrated with an ordinary production coupe merely because the later model followed its ideas. The experimental car has its own physical identity, presentation history and role in the development of the Goodwood range.

Rolls-Royce: Goodwood-era EX experimental cars

A shorter, lower interpretation of the Phantom

The manufacturer describes the 101EX spaceframe as 240 mm shorter than Phantom VII, with carbon-fibre composite bodywork and a lower roofline. Those choices made the concept more than a decorative roof conversion. They also suggest a useful design reading: the proportions concentrated the Phantom’s presence into a more intimate coupe. That interpretation does not require claiming a measured handling advantage over a production saloon without a comparative test.

Keep the V12 and the V16 stories apart

Rolls-Royce’s experimental-car retrospective identifies the 101EX with a 6.75-litre V12. The famous 9-litre V16 belongs to the earlier 100EX story and to other later experimental or film-car contexts that are frequently confused in captions. A photograph labelled loosely online should not override the manufacturer’s account. This record follows the factory identification of the 2006 show car rather than importing an engine claim from an unrelated exhibit.

Rolls-Royce: Goodwood-era EX experimental cars

The roof became a new kind of craftsmanship

The Starlight Headliner gave 101EX an influence far beyond the number of physical experimental cars built. Fibre-optic points turned the interior roof into a designed night-sky effect, subsequently developed through many personalised commissions. Its importance is therefore both experiential and productive: it opened another surface to individualisation. Later cars with a Starlight Headliner are not copies of 101EX as vehicles; they demonstrate how one experimental feature entered the wider design vocabulary.

Rolls-Royce: 20 cars for 20 Goodwood years

An experimental car is not a customer production run

For a collection file, record the EX designation, first presentation, exterior configuration and documented factory custody or exhibition history. If the car has changed through development or restoration, those states deserve separate dates. Production Phantom Coupes belong to their own programme, while 101EX remains an experimental object. Repeated show appearances do not establish multiple identical chassis, and the number of later Starlight-equipped cars is not a production figure for this experiment.

Specifications and identity reference

Rarity and production scope

This is the documented 101EX experimental-car identity, held as an Archive record outside customer road-production totals. No unpublished development-chassis census is inferred from its exhibition appearances. The production Phantom Coupe is a separate programme, and the 100EX V16 reference is not transferred to this car. The source verifies the physical experiment and its development role, rather than a numbered retail edition.

This is an Archive identity. The experimental or individually named car is not added as extra production on top of its underlying family. Repeated exhibition appearances do not establish additional chassis; the specific scope above governs the count.

What the photograph represents

The fixed-head 101EX experimental coupe at Geneva in 2006. This is not the open-top 100EX or a normal production Phantom Coupe.

Related Rolls-Royce heritage profiles

• 2009 Rolls-Royce 200EX
• 2011 Rolls-Royce 102EX Phantom Experimental Electric

Frequently asked questions

Is 101EX the open-top V16 car?

No. The manufacturer identifies it as the 2006 fixed-head V12 experiment; 100EX was the earlier open-top V16 car.

What did 101EX introduce to the cabin?

The factory identifies it as the first Rolls-Royce with the Starlight Headliner.

What is the production-count boundary for this profile?

This is the documented 101EX experimental-car identity, held as an Archive record outside customer road-production totals. No unpublished development-chassis census is inferred from its exhibition appearances. The production Phantom Coupe is a separate programme, and the 100EX V16 reference is not transferred to this car. The source verifies the physical experiment and its development role, rather than a numbered retail edition.

Sources and further reading

1. Rolls-Royce: Goodwood-era EX experimental cars
2. Rolls-Royce: 20 cars for 20 Goodwood years
3. Rolls-Royce: 2026 experimental-car anniversary

Research checked 18 October 2026. Linked factory announcements, museum records and attributed specialist research support the specifically identified claims. Photographic descriptions identify the illustrated subject. Design analysis and suggested authentication steps are editorial interpretation.