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CAP Blog > CAP Blog > Martin's Blog
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Dec
16
Written by:
Martin Ward
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
The Ghost name is a part of Rolls-Royce’s history, with its Silver Ghost being a legend in motoring terms. The Silver Ghost was the ultimate motor car and every manufacturer wanted to have a car to match it in all aspects. Very few have ever achieved this; it is a unique name that is so well respected, not just in the motor industry, but in most other industries. Every company wanted their products to be the ‘Rolls-Royce’, whether they were pens, dining suites or washing machines.
 The all new Ghost is hand built alongside the Phantom limousine, Phantom coupe and Phantom convertible at the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars factory in Goodwood. This ultra modern plant is spotlessly clean, quiet and now employs 850 people working two shifts. It is set slightly underground and with a ‘living’ roof, it is almost invisible from the air. The roof is covered in plants and grass so it fits in well with the surrounding fields.
We drove a pre-production Ghost on country lanes and dual carriageways, through small villages and in some heavy traffic. The weather was awful and it rained all the time the drive, which did spoil the experience a bit as you couldn’t really get out and admire the car in its natural habitat, on roads and in the open air. I initially thought that the car would have felt large and clumsy when driving it on narrow lanes and through the villages, but it just felt like any other ordinary car, despite its length of 5.4 metres, and it still turned heads despite the weather conditions.
 The Ghost is powered by a 6.6 litre (6,592cc) V12 48V petrol engine that produces 563bhp. It goes from 0-62mph in 4.9 seconds and has a limited top speed of 155mph; all from a car that weighs 2,360kg. The engine is coupled to a super smooth 8 speed automatic gearbox which Rolls-Royce say manages to achieve 20.8 mpg on the combined cycle.
BMW, the parent company of Rolls-Royce, has provided some of the parts and technology to enable Rolls-Royce to build such a fine motor car and there will always be those who say that the Ghost is a posh BMW, but it is not until you sit in one and drive one that you realise that Rolls-Royce has just taken advantage of BMW’s engineering skills and their robust, efficient and reliable components. The power delivery on the car is fantastic and despite the Ghost’s size, the engine can cope with any situation and it feels as if the amount of power available is just endless. It seemed to be as happy going at 10mph through the villages as it was on the dual carriageway where at 70mph, the engine was hardly ticking over.
 The interior, like any Rolls-Royce, is the ultimate in quality and luxury. It is all just so exquisite and all the materials used are the best of the best. Deciding where the best place to sit is incredibly difficult. The front seats are so comfortable and offer great visibility; the driver’s seat in particular being the best of all worlds as you drive a new Rolls-Royce and are surrounded by all that opulence. However, the rear is equally as good, mainly due to the rear seat being shaped like a sofa that has corners. As you sit in it, you feel yourself being pulled to the edge of the seat where the curve makes you turn slightly inwards and you almost face your fellow rear seat passenger, making it feel more personal and friendly. There is plenty of room for three rear seat passengers, with more than enough leg and headroom. The steering wheel is very much in keeping with the traditional RR design as it is larger in diameter than most other manufacturers’ wheels, but it is much slimmer; not the modern chunky steering wheels we have all become used to. The coach doors are rear opening rear doors, similar in principal to that of the Phantom, making it easier to get in and out, especially for the ladies.
 Each car is hand built on a slow moving production line, with almost all the cars being unique. The customer creates the exact specification, colour and trims at their local Rolls-Royce dealership and configures the car to their personal preference. The car they order is processed into computer generated photographs and these images stay alongside the car on a huge TV screen so that the staff on assembly can see exactly how the car should look when it is finished. By using this system, they can ensure that all the right materials, colours and trims are put into the right car and they can mirror image exactly what they see on the screen with the car they are building.
Every Rolls-Royce model comes with a four year unlimited mileage warranty and free servicing for four years with unlimited mileage.
The cost of the Ghost starts from around £200,000 and I’m sure that many people will not understand why this car costs so much. However, when you think that you are getting a unique Rolls-Royce that will be available in very limited numbers, with outstanding quality and superb engineering, then it becomes a little more understandable. It is a lot of money yes, but what a car.
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