Tag Archives: Rolls-Royce

NEW CARS

Rolls-Royce’s Next EV Looks Less Cullinan, More Shooting Brake

Leave a comment

Rolls-Royce is quietly assembling its second all-electric act, a high-sided vehicle (don’t call it an SUV—Goodwood won’t) set to arrive in 2027 alongside the already-on-sale Spectre coupe. And thanks to fresh spy shots from BMW’s winter testing grounds, we’re finally getting a sense of what this ultra-luxury EV is—and just as importantly, what it isn’t.

Forget the Cullinan’s granite-block stance. This new electric Rolls is lower, sleeker, and more streamlined, with a silhouette that leans closer to a luxury wagon than a traditional SUV. The greenhouse is shallower, the roofline smoother, and the whole thing looks as though it was shaped by the wind rather than carved from it. Yet appearances deceive: despite looking lower and leaner, this EV is expected to be even longer than the Cullinan, which already stretches past 5.3 meters. Expect overall length to land somewhere between the Ghost and Phantom sedans—roughly 5.3 to 5.4 meters—because excess is still very much the point.

Rolls-Royce design DNA is unmistakable beneath the camouflage. There’s the long bonnet, the upright nose, and the classic Rolls proportions with short front and long rear overhangs. Rear-hinged coach doors are present and correct, and the tail wears compact, Spectre-inspired taillights. But the real intrigue is up front.

The Pantheon grille remains the visual anchor, as tradition demands, but the lighting treatment around it signals a more experimental Rolls-Royce. Thin LED light strakes sit at the junction of the hood and front bumper, transitioning from angled to vertical as they approach the grille. Below them are vertically stacked headlights—test units for now, but their placement hints strongly at the production design. It’s formal, yes, but also surprisingly modern for a brand that usually treats innovation like a whispered secret.

Inside, expect the most digitally ambitious Rolls-Royce cabin yet. This isn’t a V-12-powered drawing room on wheels, and Rolls knows it. Larger displays and deeper digital customization are likely, though they’ll be carefully wrapped in the brand’s usual excess of leather, wood, and metal craftsmanship. Think cutting-edge tech, but delivered with white gloves.

Under the skin, the new EV should benefit from BMW’s Neue Klasse battery architecture, promising improvements in efficiency and charging capability. Still, physics is undefeated. Given the vehicle’s sheer size and mass, expect real-world range to land somewhere between 300 and 400 miles. Power will come from a twin-motor setup producing north of 500 horsepower, with a Black Badge variant all but guaranteed to push past 600. As with the Spectre, outright speed won’t be the headline—effortless, silent authority will be.

This electric high-rider isn’t expected to immediately replace the Cullinan. The gas-powered SUV continues to sell well in markets that still embrace V-12 excess, particularly the U.S. and the Middle East. That said, another generation of V-12 Cullinan seems unlikely. More plausible is a third EV—an electric Phantom successor—arriving around 2028 to fully usher Rolls-Royce into its battery-powered era.

Competition? There will be plenty of expensive electrons flying around. Bentley’s upcoming “Urban SUV” is due next year, but it’ll be smaller, sportier, and more closely related to the Porsche Cayenne EV than to anything from Goodwood. Jaguar’s forthcoming electric SUV, following its dramatic GT reboot, may end up being the sharper rival. Still, Rolls-Royce isn’t chasing market share—it’s defining its own lane.

As for price, Rolls-Royce etiquette says it’s impolite to ask. But if you insist, expect no change from the usual neighborhood of £350,000. Because if you have to ask, you’re probably not the customer anyway.

Source: AutoExpress

NEW CARS

Rolls-Royce Black Badge Ghost Gamer: The 8-Bit Ultra-Luxury Fever Dream Nobody Saw Coming

Rolls-Royce doesn’t usually dabble in nostalgia—at least not the kind measured in pixels. Yet here we are: the Black Badge Ghost Gamer, a one-off commission that drags Goodwood’s most meticulous craftspeople straight into a late-’70s arcade. Imagine Pac-Man dressed in Salamanca Blue and Diamond Black, fed nothing but truffles and Champagne, and you’re halfway there.

Joshua McCandless, a Bespoke Designer at Rolls-Royce, describes the project as an immersive month-long descent into the 8-bit cosmos. “We wanted the client to feel that the motor car itself was an immersive experience,” he says, “the same thrill they felt when they pressed ‘start’ on an arcade machine for the very first time.” You might raise an eyebrow—until you see the result.

This Ghost doesn’t just lean into retro gaming; it commits. Hard.

Insert Coin: A New Kind of Collectable

In the increasingly bizarre world of luxury collectibles—vintage game cartridges now bring Ferrari-money at auction—Rolls-Royce clients are among the most dedicated. To them, first-generation consoles and arcade cabinets aren’t toys; they’re cultural artifacts worth preserving.

The Ghost Gamer channels that mindset with a feverish dedication. The entire car plays like a deluxe Easter-egg hunt: discoverable details range from obvious to deeply hidden, all tucked into the Ghost’s massive, silent, ultra-cushioned interior. Rolls-Royce didn’t just put gaming references in the car. They turned the car into the game.

Press Start: The Exterior That Glows Like an Arcade Cabinet

From twenty feet away, the two-tone Salamanca Blue over Diamond Black finish already telegraphs the neon glint of a 1980s arcade hall. But get closer, and the real weirdness starts.

A tiny hand-painted creation called the “Cheeky Alien” marches along the coachline—Rolls-Royce’s most traditional design element turned into an 8-bit invader. Each motif is made of 89 individual 3mm pixels, arranged in different explosion colors on either side of the car. If Rolls-Royce ever produced a Space Invaders cabinet, this is the mascot it would use.

Up front, the Illuminated Pantheon Grille glows like the start screen of a coin-op machine. Add black brake calipers and 22-inch forged Black Badge wheels and you get a Ghost that looks ready for a boss fight.

Ready Player One: An Interior That Gamifies Luxury

Inside, the Black and Casden Tan cabin becomes a retro-futurist lounge lit by nostalgia.

The front seats are embroidered with “Player 1” and “Player 2”, while rear passengers get Players 3 and 4. All lettering is rendered in 8-bit font—because of course it is. The Cheeky Alien returns on every headrest, again meticulously assembled from 89 stitched pixels.

But the pièce de résistance sits in the rear: the Waterfall, reimagined as a miniature arcade battle scene. Two stainless-steel flying saucers hover over a hand-painted lunar landscape straight out of 1979 cabinet art. It took two weeks, multiple paint iterations, and a technique grab-bag (traditional brushwork, sponge texturing, airbrush blending) to get the colors and textures period-correct. Rolls-Royce essentially recreated a museum piece… in the back of a $400,000 supersedan.

Hidden surprises lurk everywhere. A metal Cheeky Alien hides inside the picnic table. Another 8-bit engraving lives on the underside of a black chrome air vent. Even the Technical Fibre trim sparkles with silver lacquer like a starfield.

High Score: Lights That Play Their Own Game

Rolls-Royce illumination has always been theatrical, but the Gamer ups the production budget.

The Illuminated Fascia simulates a “Laser Base” backdrop from early arcade shooters, complete with an 85-star gunship that looks like it’s hyperspacing across the dashboard.

Above you, the ‘Pixel Blaster’ Starlight Headliner features 80 hand-placed battlecruisers made from fiber-optic lights. The Shooting Star animation has been reprogrammed to mimic laser blasts that zip across the ceiling. It’s not subtle—but it is spectacular.

Even the door sills get in on the act, displaying PRESS START, LOADING…, LEVEL UP, and INSERT COIN in glowing 8-bit lettering.

Game Over? Not Even Close.

Commissioned by a tech entrepreneur, the Black Badge Ghost Gamer pushes Rolls-Royce’s Bespoke division into territory even they probably didn’t expect to visit. It’s equal parts luxury object and pop-culture time capsule: a multi-million-dollar toy for someone whose childhood joystick has now been replaced by supercomputers and stock options.

It also signals something bigger. If this is what the next generation of collectors wants—cars that speak fluent nostalgia, culture, and personal mythology—then Rolls-Royce is more than prepared to play.

Source: Rolls-Royce

NEW CARS

Rolls-Royce Phantom Centenary: 100 Years of the World’s Greatest Car

There are cars, and then there’s the car. For a century, the Rolls-Royce Phantom has been the four-wheeled equivalent of a crown jewel — a statement not of wealth, but of arrival. Kings, captains of industry, and the occasional movie star have all floated through history in one, cocooned by silence and surrounded by craftsmanship so obsessive it borders on spiritual.

Now, as Phantom celebrates its 100th birthday, Rolls-Royce has done what Rolls-Royce does best — created something quietly staggering. The Phantom Centenary Private Collection, limited to just 25 examples, isn’t merely a commemorative edition. It’s a 2.6-tonne work of art, built not to shout about its heritage, but to whisper it through the shimmer of gold leaf and the soft sigh of a perfectly weighted door.

The Gold Standard

From a distance, the Centenary could be any other Phantom VIII — which is to say, it looks like the road’s natural monarch. But step closer and the details begin to emerge like constellations under moonlight.

The two-tone finish, Super Champagne Crystal over Arctic White, glows with an iridescent depth achieved by blending crushed glass into the paint. Rolls-Royce doubled the usual amount of these particles, because of course they did. The result is a body that doesn’t just reflect light — it refracts it, as if the car itself remembers the golden age of cinema.

Then there’s the Spirit of Ecstasy, reborn in solid 18-carat gold, hallmarked by the London Assay Office and set upon a hand-poured enamel base. The famous “RR” badges gleam in white enamel and 24-carat gold — tiny touches, but when you’re building the world’s most revered luxury object, tiny is everything.

Each disc wheel wears 25 engraved lines, one for every car in the collection. Together, they form 100 — a numerological wink to the Phantom’s century of grace.

A Cabin Written in Thread and Light

Inside, the Centenary transcends the notion of interior design. It’s more like walking into a handcrafted time capsule — one stitched, etched, and marquetried with almost impossible precision.

The rear seats, inspired by the legendary Phantom of Love from 1926, tell Phantom’s story across three layers of textile artistry. The base layer features historic prints — from the marque’s original Conduit Street headquarters to Sir Henry Royce’s own paintings of Southern France. Over that float fine embroideries of past Phantoms and abstract sketches representing seven of its most iconic owners.

It took 12 months, 160,000 stitches, and the expertise of a haute couture atelier to complete — a partnership that blurs the line between fashion and automotive design. Rolls-Royce calls the process “sketching with thread.” In reality, it’s art disguised as upholstery.

Up front, the driver’s quarters are more restrained, but no less poetic. The laser-etched leather features hand-drawn motifs — a rabbit here (a nod to “Roger Rabbit,” the codename for the 2003 revival of Rolls-Royce), a seagull there (a reference to the 1923 Phantom prototype). Even the smallest symbols carry a century’s worth of storytelling.

A Symphony in Wood, Metal, and Gold

Open the rear doors, and you’re greeted by woodwork so complex it borders on madness. Each door tells a story — of Henry Royce’s winter retreat on the French Riviera, his English summer home in West Wittering, or the 4,500-mile Australian trek of the first Goodwood-era Phantom.

To create these panels, Rolls-Royce’s craftspeople combined 3D marquetry, laser etching, 3D ink layering, and 24-carat gold leaf. Roads glint across the surface like strands of sunlight, maps shimmer beneath glassy veneers, and landscapes emerge with topographical accuracy. Some etched details measure just 0.13 millimetres high — small enough to make your jeweller weep.

The story continues across the Anthology Gallery, a sculptural centrepiece of 50 brushed aluminium fins, each engraved with quotes from a century of Phantom’s press acclaim. Light ripples across the fins like champagne fizz — ephemeral, fleeting, perfect.

Under the Skin: The Eternal Heart

Beneath the bonnet, the 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12 remains unchanged — and rightly so. Rolls-Royce doesn’t do “performance upgrades”; it does effortless propulsion. The engine cover is finished in Arctic White with 24-carat gold detailing, because in this car, even the parts you’ll never see are treated like crown jewels.

When the Phantom moves, it does so with the serene authority of an ocean liner. The outside world ceases to exist; inside, you float in the company of 440,000 individual stitches forming a Starlight Headliner that charts Phantom’s history in constellations. Somewhere up there, a mulberry tree, a Bluebird, and a swarm of golden bees tell their own silent story.

Legacy, Distilled

It’s easy to be cynical about cars like this — the price, the opulence, the exclusivity. But to dismiss the Phantom Centenary as excess is to misunderstand what Rolls-Royce is celebrating. This isn’t a vehicle built for status. It’s a monument to human craftsmanship — 40,000 hours of work, distilled into something tactile, timeless, and utterly serene.

As Chris Brownridge, Rolls-Royce CEO, puts it: “This uncompromising work of art reaffirms Phantom’s status as a symbol of ambition, artistic possibility, and historical gravitas.”

That’s the Phantom in a sentence. A car that doesn’t chase trends or time — it simply is. And after 100 years, it remains the yardstick by which everything else is measured.

Rolls-Royce Phantom Centenary Private Collection

  • Production: 25 units worldwide
  • Powertrain: 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12
  • Output: 563 bhp / 900 Nm
  • Transmission: 8-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
  • Price: If you have to ask, you weren’t on the list.

Source: Rolls-Royce