Rolls-Royce to Extend Ghost Family with Coupe and Convertible Concept

BMW Group’s Rolls-Royce, is planning new members in the Ghost family. The new 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost sedan will now have its concept versions or as it likes to call them, “Experimental Cars”, in the near future.

A coupe and cabriolet based on the Ghost are due to join the Ghost lineup, where both will be deemed as “experimental cars” to gauge consumer demand. Autocar reports that the Rolls-Royce chairman Ian Robertson admitted that the company wouldn’t necessarily stick to the Ghost name for all variants, as it has with the Phantom family. This would help the automaker in its plans to revive the names like Carmargue for the coupe and Corniche for the convertible.

Rolls-Royce Ghost review

The new Ghost is fast yet very refined Photo: Richard Newton

English appreciates the exquisite craftsmanship of the Ghost's interior Photo: Andrew Crowley

Rear-hinged 'suicide' doors allow access to the back seats Photo: Andrew Crowley

The Ghost in the Rolls-Royce factory at Goodwood Photo: Andrew Crowley

The Ghost more than lives up to the Rolls-Royce name Photo: Richard Newton

At the finish of the drive I stayed at the wheel of the Ghost for 10 minutes. It's hard to tear yourself away from this car. The facia is such a beautifully judged piece of art deco design that you half expect to find a gorgeous woman swathed in a Mariano Fortuny gown, cocktail glass in hand, in the back seat.

Rolls-Royce calls the switches and instruments "the jewellery" and on the new Ghost they are exquisite. Textures of polished chromium, piano black, cool aluminium, crystal and faux Bakelite rotary switches are so lovely to touch you feel quite pervy running your fingers over them.

There's also reverence and wit. The quadrants for the heater controls are allusions to Seventies dashboards and the heater's blower is controlled by rotary dials with descriptions rather than numbers; Off, Soft, Medium, High and Max. Soft? What manner of breeze is that? Even the matt-black lighting panel recalls the Lucas CAV charging panels on many pre-Second World War cars.

This cabin is almost better than the larger Phantom's – it's partly the captivating details. The symmetry, the bisecting panels and a simple clock with no sub-branding. Or the delightfully thin steering wheel, a precision device, with the cruise control buttons elegantly incorporated within the rim.

The proportions are slightly odd, though, and with wing mirrors as huge as an elephant's ears and the high roof, it feels as if you've inadvertently climbed into a giant's car. The arc of the bonnet means you can't see the front corners and, to the driver, the Spirit of Ecstasy preserves her modesty from the waist down.

There's generous space, but not the austere, drawing-room elegance of the Phantom. Being based on the steel monocoque of owner BMW's 7-series, there are compromises and, as a result, the Ghost feels more like a car than an ethereal conveyance. The transmission tunnel is a continual presence and care is needed to avoid the cant rail along the roof line when alighting. At the wheel, the BMW-derived steering column stalks irritatingly return to the central position. Other jarring notes include cup holders with crude grabbing mechanisms and the clacky, placky electronic park brake, a spectacularly unpleasant surprise.

Rolls Royce Ghost To Spawn 4 New Models

This exquisite Rolls Royce Ghost pictured on the right had such a great response at its debut back in Frankfurt that recent reports state Rolls Royce is now considering making coupe, convertible and long-wheelbase versions of this outstanding sedan.

These new versions are expected to be presented as experimental concepts with an aim to asses the public's viewpoint.

Rolls-Royce from Mansory

Kourosh Mansory loves modifying the most aristocratic British brands – which are all ironically foreign owned these days. We can’t wait to see the official images of his latest work next week at Geneva.

The word ostentatious does not reside in Kourosh Mansory’s vocabulary. The legendary Iranian tuner is nearly ready tol offer an embellished (is that actually possible?) version of the new Rolls-Royce Ghost.

Although BMW would like you to believe the new ‘baby’ Rolls is an apt answer to plutocratic demands for classic Rolls-Royce luxury in a slightly less grandiose package, Mansory doesn’t really buy into this line of thinking. In his mind brazen is better – always.

Rolls Royce Ghost

It’s not very often to hear about a tuning package for a model like Rolls Royce Ghost. But Mansory has prepared something very special for the Geneva Motor Show. Their tuning package combines most precious materials with elaborate performance, individual appearance and stylish interior refinements.