Drivelines

Many motoring buyers are calling the new Ghost an “entry level Rolls-Royce”but experts are saying this is a fabulous oxymoron, like Michael Jackson.

In the past,from 1906 to 1926, the Silver Ghost, Rolls-Royce was the machine which prompted Auto car to call Rolls-Royce the “Best Car in the Word”. The new Ghost will bring that legacy to bear on the luxury-sedan class, although the issue of its competitive set is a thorny one. Its size and performance make it a key rival to the Bentley Continental Flying Spur.

The new Ghost is still about 17 inches shorter than the short-wheelbase Phantom even though it’s nearly as roomy inside. The front seats are regally positioned and padded, giving a commanding view of the road ahead, and there is the choice of individual or coach seating in the rear. Everything is wrapped in leather, either a coarse-grained hide on the door panels or smooth stuff on the armrests and seats. Classic frosted white dials, eyeball vents, organ pulls, and violin-key switches are present and accounted for.

The best story we heard about this car’s development was of the interior engineer who spent two weeks in a sound booth listening to the Ghost’s headrest motors going up and down. He was attempting to correct an “acoustical imbalance” in them, all part of Rolls-Royce’s obsessive focus on the reduction of nose, vibration, and harshness. This kind of thing is what links the new Ghost to its namesake, and to its bigger brother. But whereas the Phantom, by virtue of its scale, seems to have one axle in the Thirties and one in the oughts, this new car feels more completely contemporary. It is incredibly fast and rewarding to drive-sporty, but it does not sacrifice the serenity, calm, and effortlessness that define a Rolls-Royce. The Ghost cossets and insulates, but it also flies.


Alterman, Eddi. "2011 Rolls-Royce Ghost." Car and Drive March & April 2010: 92-93