I would guess the benefit of being rich enough to own something like that is the ability to not give a flying phantom about what someone who drives a Prius thinks.

 

I would guess the benefit of being rich enough to own something like that is the ability to not give a flying phantom about what someone who drives a Prius thinks.
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Au contraire. I'd suggest the raison d'être to own a Phantom is about projecting one's self-image and alleged wealth to others; thus what someone who drives a Prius (or anything else) thinks is vitally important to the owner. What other 'benefit' would there be?

 

I'd have thought he would have been "the driver" and perhaps the owner wanted to sit up front for a change.

One should never actually drive one's Royce...

 

You're not far wrong; excess peaked in both the early 1930s and the late 1980s. And again recently.

Those that could afford Bugatti Royales are the same as those that can afford a Phantom today; implausibly richer than hoi polloi.

Whether it's SAFE to lord it over the disadvantaged plebs during these crisis times is a moot point.

 

I would guess the benefit of being rich enough to own something like that is the ability to not give a flying phantom about what someone who drives a Prius thinks.
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You may have a point there.

 

Puzzled by the weird scaffolding windscreen, but nice apart from that.

 

There's one that parks near one of our shared offices. Utterly hideous barge that's the size of an oil tanker.

However given assumed additional cost of the 3 letter numberplate I'm guessing he couldn't give a stuff what anyone thinks.