We can appreciate the finer details of a special-edition Rolls-Royce, whether they be gender-specific custom stowage compartments in the doors, a silk-embroidered headliner, or in the case of the Phantom Zenith Collection?the very last two-door Phantoms?whitewall tires.

Now that factory wheels occasionally sport contrasting rim colors, we’d forgotten all about whitewall tires. But here they are, Goodyear Eagles with thin white bands wrapped around polished black 21-inch wheels, the modern equivalent of a 1930s Phantom II. Or a 1970s Lincoln Town Car. Either way, it’s a statement few luxury cars care to make these days.

The Zenith cars, available as a Phantom Coupe or the softtop Phantom Drophead Coupe, have already been claimed by 50 people for what can only be well north of a half-million dollars. That sum buys not only whitewalls, but several other distinctive features. The exterior paint, be it the dark Madiera Red shown here or Nicki Minaj Pink, is topped with an even-glossier-than-usual clearcoat that Rolls-Royce calls “glass.” At the back of both door armrests are metal plates with laser-etched maps, one marking the Rolls factory in Goodwood, England, and another depicting either Geneva, Switzerland, or Villa D’Este, in Italy.

Why those two places" This is pure automotive-journalist trivia?something we’d also forgotten?but the 100EX (Phantom convertible) concept debuted in 2004 at the Concorso d’Eleganza in Villa d&#...