It takes a lot to impress Geneva’s moneyed set. Hardly surprising, since they live in a city that regularly tops global satisfaction surveys for quality of life. But even the contented crowds of bankers and diplomats feel a pang of inadequacy when the new Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé glides by.

In its sleek, raffish lines lie the embodiment of style and success. If you haven’t got your name on the waiting list for the £298,000 luxury four-seater coupé, then there’s no avoiding the sad truth that you, my Swiss friend, simply haven’t made the grade.

Ironically, despite a global reversal in the world’s financial fortunes, the ultra-rich continue to grow (grotesquely) richer. Rolls-Royce, which was relaunched by BMW, its parent company, in 2003, satisfied 1,010 orders for its Phantom saloon and Phantom Drophead Coupé (convertible to anyone other than R-R) in 2007. This year, the company is on track to exceed that figure by 60%, and that’s without the anticipated impact that the Phantom Coupé grand tourer will have when joining its stablemates in showrooms from September.

Quite deliberately, I drove it from its launch in France across the border into Switzerland and Geneva, convinced that if the Phantom Coupé could capture the interest of this kind of money, then back in the real world, people would probably start dribbling over it. It did not disappoint: it dropped usually superbly indifferent Swiss jaws right around Geneva and its grand lake, from Lausanne to Montreux.

PLAYBOY’S WEAPON

What some of Geneva’s more observant onlookers may have spotted is that, aesthetically, the Phantom Coupé is little more than a hard-top version of the existing Phantom Drophead Coupé, which is itself derived directly from the Phantom saloon. Yet, when you drive the new Coupé, and despite a near-identical mechanical specification to that of its stablemates, it manages to create a character of its own.

You can see why this is a fabulously purposeful car, every inch the playboy’s weapon of choice. From its menacing eyes and huge teeth at the front end, to the closeted rear cabin with its letterbox rear screen, it oozes more power and presence than Sir Alan Sugar in the boardroom. The fact that you can barely see into the car fuels your imagination to figure out what must go on back there, and that only adds to the envy.

But Rolls-Royce has done more than produce a Phantom for Terry-Thomas wannabes. It has also sharpened up the driving experience.

HEAVY STEERING

This, though, is the point at which current Rolls-Royce philosophy and I go our separate ways. The suspension has been stiffened, spoiling what, in other Rolls-Royces is undoubtedly the finest magic-carpet ride in the world; even if it made the car handle like a Ferrari, that would be an unacceptable compromise to force upon a Rolls-Royce. In fact, it still handles like a barge in a stiff breeze. The steering is heavier (but why?), and the brake pedal is firmer because Rolls believes most Phantom Coupé owners will drive their own car, while most Phantom saloon owners will travel in the back and want their chauffeurs to be unnaturally smooth on the middle pedal. And here Rolls has a point.

But where it has lost the plot entirely is in the provision of a sport button on the steering wheel. The fact that you can elect never even to touch it is not the point: it shows that someone in a position of considerable influence at Rolls-Royce does not fully grasp what those two interlocking R characters mean.

SENSE OF OCCASION

This bad-taste button locks out top gear and makes the engine rev higher between changes, though why anyone would want to in such a car eludes me. Surely the Phantom Coupé is about being seen, not blurring by? A sport button on a Rolls-Royce is a B&Q conservatory on the side of a stately home: it may serve some tiny purpose and you may choose never to use it, but it still should not be there. It’s a small point, but it worries me. Next year Rolls-Royce will launch an all-new range of less gigantic, more affordable cars, and I’ll only be slightly surprised if one of them comes with an aerodynamic rear spoiler.

Even so, pushover that I am, none of this stopped me falling for the Phantom more than any other car to fly the Spirit of Ecstasy since I had the privilege of driving the original 1907 Silver Ghost 20 years ago. A Rolls-Royce is more than a set of dynamic abilities presented in an engagingly ostentatious box: sure, it needs to be quiet and comfortable, but more than anything it needs to command a sense of occasion greater than any other car in the world. Judging by the reaction in Geneva, the Phantom Coupé does this as well as any Rolls-Royce in the history of the company.

Vital statistics

ENGINE 6749cc, 12 cylinders

POWER 453bhp @ 5350rpm

TORQUE 531lb ft @ 3500rpm

TRANSMISSION Six-speed auto

FUEL/CO2 18.0mpg / 377g/km

ACCELERATION 0-60mph: 5.6sec

TOP SPEED 155mph

PRICE £298,000

TAX BAND G (£400 for 12 months)

VERDICT Rolls in a smoking jacket

RELEASE DATE September

AND THE RIVALS...

Bentley Brooklands

FOR: Huge performance from inimitable V8 engine, astounding cabin

AGAINST: Ride comfort not good enough, too much wind noise at speed £230,000

Ferrari 612 Scaglietti

FOR:Massive performance, surprisingly roomy interior, impressive comfort

AGAINST:Maranello’s least attractive car, feels cumbersome for a Ferrari £ 217,225