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2018 Rolls-Royce Phantom VIII First Look | It's all new, we swear!

At a well-decorated warehouse just off Hollywood's Sunset Blvd., a gaggle of PR, design, operations, and executives from Rolls-Royce Motor Cars are stoking our excitement for the all-new, 2018 Rolls-Royce Phantom VIII. Along with the normal Rolls-Roycey words like "heritage," "brand," and "bespoke," was a repeated phrase. A phrase that shouldn't be necessary. A phrase eliciting a concept that should be obvious if true. The new car, it said, was "not an evolution" on the current Phantom. That, friends, is exciting to hear. Don't get us wrong, we like the train-engine-bolted-to-a-horseless-carriage look, and the beast's scale and presence on the street. Trouble is, since the car first took to unsmoothing our air with its cathedral-facade front end in 2003, the looks have gotten a little, um, tired. Blame the mercilessness of time. Blame the success of the car, which means they're on every street corner in west Los Angeles. Blame the "imitation-is-the-most-sincere-form-of-flattery" Chrysler 300. Blame the fact that this car's magnetism vaults it into the public eye more frequently than a Kardashian. Whatever the cause, fact is, the Phantom needs a reboot. A subtle evolution a la the last Bentley Continental won't do. The lights are out. We're led through a darkened antechamber into the full-dark of the warehouse. We can see the shape. It's big and has the classic squared off D-pillar. The front, too, has the required grille bigness. It is enviously long. Let's pause. Here at Autoblog, we're known for giving people advice. We take that responsibility seriously, because the results of our evaluations and expertise are often the reason someone has dropped thousands of dollars on a car they're going to live with for many years. We try to keep it on cars and to not to get too preachy on the life coaching. We're going to break that convention now. Here's a life pro tip: The more frequently that someone in a position of power repeats a claim, the more likely it is that that claim is false. The lights click on. The men and women of Rolls-Royce, for whom this project is a true honor, clap in genuine appreciation and reverence for what they've been a part of. And the journalists in the room turn to each other and mouth, "Wait, is this the new one?" If you're casually familiar with the current-gen Phantom, based on seeing them pull into the club as you wait in line, then this new one will likely register as just another Phantom when it hits the streets early next year.

Time to catch up with Jay Leno's Garage, including his Lamborghini Espada restoration

If you're already jealous of the time, effort and money that Jay Leno can devote to his massive car collection, prepare to get a little greener with envy with this latest video from Jay Leno's Garage. Instead of the usual format of discussing a model for about ten minutes and then taking it out for a test drive, this week Leno gives viewers on a tour of over a dozen projects concurrently happening in his stable. The breadth of the vehicles shown and the things being done to them run the entire span of the automotive hobby. At the same time, Jay's shop is working on just a simple restoration of his 1969 Lamborghini Espada (pictured), and at the other side of the building, the team is rebuilding a wood-bodied 1914 Detroit Electric from scratch. He eventually plans to slot a more modern electric drivetrain into it. If bikes are more your interest, there's a freshly completed Brough Superior just waiting for a ride, and if American models are your thing, a Ford Bronco is getting a Coyote V8 installed into it. You have some very specific tastes if you can't watch this clip and start wishing at least one of these vehicles could be in your own garage. Other than the personal projects his mechanics are working on in the shop, Jay gets to have them all, plus plenty more.

Evolutionary Rolls-Royce Phantom replacement captured for first time

I saw a heavily camouflaged car on the road yesterday. I managed to get up close, but even then, I couldn't tell what it was. That's just the way it is sometimes – you don't always know what you're looking at. But there's no such uncertainty with this latest set of spy photos, though. This is very obviously a new Rolls-Royce. And it's huge, most likely the replacement for the long-serving Phantom, and what we're seeing here is surely the long-wheelbase model. It will be joined by a short-wheelbase version, but you'll want to break out your best princess wave to say buh-bye to the slow-selling Phantom Coupe and Drophead convertible. Despite its immense size, our spies claim the Phantom's footprint shouldn't change much with the next-generation model. That said, it will be far, far lighter than the today's nearly 5,900-pound Phantom. Expect a lot of aluminum, and even some carbon fiber when the new sedan debuts. It might end up lighter, but the new Phantom will still be easily identifiable as a Rolls. There's lots and lots of space behind the B-pillar, and like the current car, the C-pillar is expansive and feeds into a short, drooping rear deck. Up front, the current Phantom's overall style is set for a small evolution, with rectangular lights flanking a powerful, polished, rectangular grille. As buyers of $400,000 luxury sedans can usually afford fuel, it shouldn't be a surprise to hear that Rolls will soldier on with a stout V12 engine under the hood. As for rumors of a plug-in hybrid model, if it happens, it won't show up until after the 12-cylinder car's debut. That glitzy event will likely come at a 2017 auto show. European shows like Geneva or Frankfurt are safe bets, but we wouldn't be surprised to see the new Phantom bow at an event more focused on the brand's exceptionally wealthy clientele, like Monterey or even Villa d'Este. Check out the full round of spy images up top.