Most automakers do not proudly drive one of their vehicles into a pool of water. It doesn't matter if the vehicle is a budget subcompact or a one-of-a-kind supercar; when most cars and trucks head into a body of water, the results can range from disastrous to tragic. (There are some exceptions, like BYD's recent floating SUV.) And yet here we are in 2025, with Rolls-Royce bragging about driving a Phantom into a swimming pool. What's going on here?

The answer has to do with a particularly ornate part of rock music history involving The Who's Keith Moon. Well, "history" might not be the best choice of words here; "mythology" is probably a better fit, since there's still debate over whether these events actually happened. As Bryan Wawzenek wrote for Ultimate Classic Rock in 2017, Moon reportedly drove a vehicle -- possibly a Rolls-Royce -- into a hotel swimming pool while celebrating his birthday.

Did Moon actually do this? Ultimate Classic Rock cites Moon's bandmates Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, who contended that Moon once drove into an empty swimming pool and drove a different car into a pond. The 1970s were a strange time for rock and roll and motor vehicles, apparently.

This brings us up to the present day, when Rolls-Royce is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Phantom. As part of those celebrations, the marque is looking to remind drivers of its connection to the world of music, with an announcement linking Rolls-Royce to everyone from Pharrell Williams to Marlene Dietrich.

Rolls-Royce travelled to the recently-renovated event space Tinside Lido to -- well, "re-enacting" isn't quite accurate. But they did indeed submerge a phantom in the swimming pool there, an event that made for some eye-catching visuals.

That said, Rolls-Royce did not destroy an existing Phantom, which starts at over $500,000, for the sake of a memorable visual. Instead, their announcement notes that the Phantom used for the shoot was "an Extended body shell -- a retired prototype destined for recycling." That's probably for the best; there's a certain point where rock and roll excess can cross the line into outright excess, after all.