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.

New Rolls-Royce Ghost

Drive gets comfortable in the smallest Rolls-Royce (a lot of) money can buy. By JEZ SPINKS.

Don’t call it a baby Rolls-Royce or, worse, a deluxe BMW 7-Series.

Such references to the all-new Ghost limousine will incur the wrath of the luxury British marque, even if there is a grain of truth to both.

Drive was given a personal tour of the new $695,000 Rolls this week as it arrived in Sydney to be showcased in front of prospective buyers – ahead of its May 2010 local release.

The Ghost is only Rolls-Royce’s second model line, and is smaller than the $1m-plus Phantom range that first went on sale in 2003.

At 5.5 metres long, however, the Ghost is still significantly longer than the BMW 7-Series on which it is based.

It's also more than half a metre longer than Australia's two favourite large cars, the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore.

As well as sitting on a stretched 7-Series platform, the Ghost’s drivetrain comprises a V12 and eight-speed gearbox shared with the $386,000 760i flagship Seven.

However, there are two turbochargers, so power is an "ample" 420kW, while torque is double that of most six-cylinder family cars, at 780Nm.

Rolls-Royce says the engine has also been retuned for more low-end torque, to provide a quieter and more relaxing driving experience in the tradition of the company’s cars.

Despite the emphasis on comfort, the Ghost is still claimed to accelerate from 0-100km/h in less than five seconds, though, despite weighing 2.4 tonnes.