If you're in the market for an ultra-premium luxury sedan, you probably don't care that you could buy four nicely equipped BMW 750i sedans for the price of one V12-powered 2009 Rolls-Royce Phantom. Value isn't a concern in this rarefied segment; rather, buyers want exclusivity and opulence, and they're willing to pay for it in a very big way. The only serious alternative to the Rolls is over at your local Maybach dealer, and if you ask us, those Maybachs look a bit too much like the relatively pedestrian Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Combining a uniquely imposing look and presence with the sumptuous interior appointments you'd expect, the 2009 Rolls-Royce Phantom is truly like nothing else on the road.

Thanks to the stewardship of parent company BMW, the Phantom is outfitted with the expected allotment of current technology, including an iDrive-like control interface. But it's the little things that set the Rolls-Royce apart. The Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament lowers neatly into the imposing chrome grille when the car is locked, saving it from being ripped off by ne'er-do-wells, a fate that has befallen so many of Mercedes' three-pointed stars over the years. The "RR" logos on the wheel hubs stay stationary while the rest of the wheel spins. The power-closing rear doors not only open rearward (Rolls prefers "coach doors" to the more common "suicide" moniker); they also carry Teflon-coated umbrellas. Options include cabin curtains and a trunk-mounted wine cooler and a humidor, as well as a "Starlight Headliner" that utilizes fiber-optic lights to create the illusion of twinkling stars. Hey, if you're already spending in the neighborhood of $400,000 on a car, we'd say another $7,200 for twinkling stars is money well spent.