To survey the impressive bulk and varnished hardwood decking of the Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe for the first time is to wonder whether you should have brought along a first mate and a bos’un. At only a smidgen less than 20ft long and more than 2.6 deadweight tonnes, I’m still not sure whether you park it or moor it.

The first time I encountered the Phantom limousine – the car on which the drophead is based – was on a road on Lord March’s Goodwood estate, where Rolls Royce has its base, and I thought it was a car of overpowering presence. But looks can be deceptive. It is a pussycat to drive: amiable, cosseting, only demanding the driver pay serious attention if the mighty, steel-fist-in-a-velvet-glove performance of its 6.7 litre V12 is released to the full. At that point, it unfurls the spinnaker, so to speak, and really sets up a wash: 62mph comes up from standstill in 5.9 seconds and the surge is relentless towards a top speed of 149mph.