Rolls Royce, a symbol of wealth and prestige and the preferred automobile of the British Royal family, has taken a hit after issuing a major recall.

Only a handful of cars are affected in Australia, but because they are so expensive, the recalled stock is likely to be worth a lot of money.

But it is the luxury brand's image that will probably feel the most pain.

In a recent promotional video for the next version of the Rolls Royce Phantom, company chief executive Torsten Muller-Otvos describes his customers as very discerning.

"They go for drink cabinets, they go for refrigerators, for humidors, so everything you can imagine, we can deliver that and that is an inherent promise of the brand in itself," he said.

This clientele may not appreciate the inconvenience of the latest recall.

Seventy-four Phantoms sold between 2003 and 2009 have been recalled over a potential oil leak in the power braking system, which may lead to a reduction in power braking assistance.

The mechanical brakes will still work and there have been no reported incidents.

The recall also affects about 36 Ghost sedans sold between 2009 and 2011, because the turbo cooling pump housing may crack, causing engine coolant to leak into the electronics which could, in severe cases, lead to a fire.

It is an apparent hiccup for the automaker, which Mr Muller-Otvos says has done very well in recent years.

"Rolls Royce is the true British success story and we have seen great and tremendous growth over the last years plus 200 per cent since the last two years," he said.

"In the meantime Rolls Royce is one of the major contributors here especially in the south of the UK with over 1,000 people working for Rolls Royce Motor Cars and we can be happy that this company is so successful."

The company is not just a British success story - according to Stephen Corby - the editor of Top Gear Australia Magazine.

"Effectively it is under German ownership and in that time there is a lot of BMW technology in the car now," he said.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 4 minutes 3 seconds 4 m 3 s Rolls Royce recalls cars from discerning clientele ( Timothy McDonald ) Download 1.9 MB

"Definitely for the last 10, 15 years I would say they were fantastically well engineered.

"Before that, it was an English car company and English cars are often built, I wouldn't say in a shoddy fashion, but certainly a haphazard fashion.

"Strange things can happen with English cars but certainly the reputation that Rolls Royce has is pure and handcrafted engineering. The cars are virtually hand-built. Everything in them is amazing.

"The carpet in a Rolls Royce is not like the floor mat in your normal car. It is about six inches thick. You could lie down on it and sleep quite comfortably."

Corby says he is lucky enough to have been able to test-drive a Rolls.

"I drove one of the cars that's been recalled I believe, a Drophead Phantom, and it was probably the most, in some ways the most spectacular car I've ever driven," he said.

"The sense of being in it while you are watching a movie because there is no sound that comes through of an engine, you can't hear anything, you can't feel the bumps in the road as if you're just gliding over everything and all you can see people's faces being contorted with a mixture of shock and joy as they stare at you."

He says there was definite envy in the faces of onlookers as he drove past.

"It is mainly school kids actually that whip their necks around and almost explode, but in a Ferrari people look at you with hatred and in a Rolls Royce they do look at you more with envy," he said.

Reputation at stake

Corby says it is a shock for Rolls Royce to recall so many of its cars and it will almost certainly hurt the company's reputation.

"Car companies generally are very, very cautious about this kind of thing," he said.

"If there is the slightest chance of something going wrong they do do a recall, but generally they'll just concern a certain model whereas this is across their entire range."

He says customers shelling out up to half a million dollars on a car expect better.

"You expect perfection. That is why it is such a surprise, because Rolls Royces are engineered to the nth degree," he said.

"There is probably more engineering in them than the space shuttle, so it is an enormous surprise that they would make a mistake like this or that even that there is a chance of a mistake."

But Corby admits engineering faults can happen to any company.

"I can't think of a car brand that hasn't ever had a recall," he said.

"Ferrari is our latest sports car - the 458 - that had a little, small problem with catching fire which could be really unfortunate if your air-conditioning is not working.

"It affects every brand and you wouldn't think that the engineering put into a Ferrari would be absolutely vast.

"They have had millions and millions of dollars spent on these things but so do Toyota - [they] would spend millions of dollars developing cars and yet they have many, many recalls so it does happen in every field of engineering.

"It is just something that hasn't happened so publicly to Rolls Royce before."