Rolls Royce Ghost Pics Online
Baby Rolls on parade.
By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
CASTING a lovely specter upon the automotive landscape, like an apparition the Rolls-Royce Ghost has finally made its official appearance online.
Not only is the Ghost a bold step into a higher production volume for the marque, the car’s marketing is an even edgier departure from the Royce’s stolid past. With edgy video and imagery that’s set in sunny locales (not rainy Britannia), the new Roller is aimed towards a younger demographic with cash to burn.
Evidence of this new, hipper direction is in a smaller, sportier profile that features narrow c-pillars (or is it d-pillars in this case?) which – gasp! -allow outsiders to see the lucky occupants inside and don’t obscure three lanes of following traffic.
Also, the new car is stuffed full of electronic goodies that bring comfort to a new level of penultimate.
Each corner is suspended by air, articulated by double wishbones up front and a rear multi-link axle. Electronics compute load calculations every 2.5 milliseconds, and Rolls says it can detect if a passenger moves from one side to the other and compensate accordingly. It can also raise or lower the car by an inch to help getting in and out (although we question the usefulness of 25mm adjustment) – Tim Pollard, CAR.
The sedan does feature similar attributes with the BMW 7-Series. By no means a bad thing, but the lower bolster of that rear bench is awfully familiar…
Having oggled at and sat in the 200EX – the Ghost’s almost identical concept – I can report that in touch ‘n feel, the execution is flawlessly perfectionist as any Rolls aficionado would come to expect. That said, with modernity comes some loss of tradition.
The leather (a hallmark of any true Royce) is, for all intents and purposes, supple, sweetly scented, delicate to the touch and very much what you’d find in a BMW 7er. The same is true for the glossy wood.
It’s all very Bavarian – just as the Bentley Continental Flying Spur has that inescapable Audi-feel.
But not to worry, traditionalists, the car’s design remains a beautiful step forward that keeps the marque’s overall “mission statement” well in tact.
Showing in Frankfurt, the new “baby Rolls” will waft onto the world’s boulevards in the autumn of next year.
About the Author: Gunnar Heinrich is publisher of Automobiles De Luxe online and is executive producer of the Automobiles De Luxe Television series on PBS member station CPTV.
Jim | Sep 8, 2009 | Reply
Though not RR’s intent, I’ve considered the Phantom a car to be chauffeured, rather than drive, the Ghost is a return to that line of Rollers that are for the driver.
It’s probably not a surprise that the the rear quarters are similar to those on the new Arnage, as both Rolls and Bentley are mining the same design history. The waterfall grill is a successful interpretation of the the traditional RR grill, though it would be a shame to see the traditional grill disappear as it has on the Mercedes, but there is room for an alternative.
My guess is that prospective buyers will more likely cross shop the Ghost with Mulsanne than the Continental and no one will shop Maybach as usual.
Distiller | Sep 8, 2009 | Reply
Ja, very nice car. Best looking super-lux 4door.
The Mulsanne seems dead from day one, Bentley has a problem.
Re what “Jim” wrote: Second the chauffeur – self driven angle. Which might put the Phantom in a difficult position, as one could argue that the main Phantom version should be the EWB from now on, while the FH Coupe and the DH Coupe should rather have been based on the Ghost …
Gunnar | Sep 8, 2009 | Reply
Distiller,
You raise a good point that the Ghost has a strong likelihood of eating into Phantom sales. That said, if 100 Phantom sales are sacrificed in favor of 500 Ghosts, you can bet that the folks at Goodwood see that as positive trade off.
Jim,
It would be a shame to see the traditional RR temple go the way of the Mercedes grille.
Steve | Sep 19, 2009 | Reply
Being a perfectionist is a problem but like any problem it has a solution. You can always improve your attitude towards things and people by accepting the fact that nothing in this world is fully right or fully wrong. Each person, thing or event has both a postive and negative aspect. What we need to do is focus on the positive aspect and accept the negative aspect the way it is. Definately we need to work on imroving the negative aspect but only as much as it is in our capacity. Rest we can leave as destiny.