All NEW Rolls Royce G H O S T !..

[rando]

This is a good review if you like reviews where the “reviewer” has no idea what he is talking about.

"Daddy" Doug, as in Dad jokes and juvenile psychology, intentionally puts on this act.

 

[Abbinormal]

I don't know anything about the brand, but I am curious why you feel this way.

Ron, I want to give you a little background on my experience with Rolls-Royce automobiles. They have been a hobby of mine for over 40 years. I am one of those people who is all or nothing when they get involved with a hobby. Some people would call it an obsession, LOL. In the 40 years since I have involved in the hobby, I have read every bit of literature I could get my hands on whether it be books, magazines, company service manuals (now that is some dry reading). It was important to me to learn everything I could about the history of the company and additionally every car that they produced. I also felt ownership was important. I acquired my first RR in 1986, which incidentally was the first one I ever drove. I kept that car for two years before I sold it. A car without AC is just not a fun car to drive in South Alabama in the summer. My second was purchased in 1988 and I still own that car today. I have spent significant time behind the wheel of every model the company produced. As result, I do have a fair amount of experience how each model performs on the road.

As I mentioned earlier, the new cars have absolutely nothing in common with the Rolls-Royce cars produced prior to 2003. Although the Rolls-Royce brand has been in use since 1906, the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars subsidiary of BMW has no direct relationship to Rolls-Royce-branded vehicles produced prior to 2003 other than being a major engine supplier from 1999 to 2003. The Bentley Motors Limited subsidiary of Volkswagen is the direct successor to Rolls-Royce Motors and various other predecessor entities that produced Rolls-Royce cars between the foundation of the company and 2003, when the BMW-controlled entity started producing cars under the Rolls-Royce brand. Rolls- Royce Motors produced the Bentley branded cars from 1931 to the present when it acquired Bentley Motors. In a nutshell, BMW acquired the rights to the Spirit of Ecstasy and the shape of the iconic radiator shell from BMW and a license to use the brand name and intertwined RR logo from Rolls-Royce PLC, which was a subsidiary of the British defense contractor, Vickers.

As the direct successor to Rolls-Royce Motors, Bentley Motors and its parent got all of the hard assets of the company including the factory, the equipment and all the inventory. All BMW got was intellectual property. That is the reason, they agreed to supply engines to Volkswagen for the Silver Seraph line through 2004 since BMW did not have a car to bring to market. BMW did ask Volkswagen to give them a 1905 10 h.p. car and more importantly, chassis number 60551, the most famous RR in the world. Volkswagen denied this request which left BMW what is arguably two of most valuable and famous RR cars in existence. 551 was the 12th RR 40/50 h.p. built. Claude Johnson, the managing director had a Barker Roi-des-Belges Tourer body fitted. The car was finished in a special aluminum paint and all the brightwork was silver plated. Johnson named the car the "Silver Ghost" in reference to how quiet the car ran. This car was kept as a factory demonstrator and was the car that established the company's reputation as the "Best Car In The World". 551 was sold to a private party in 2008. In 1948, RRM required the car and used it for publicity purposes. When Volkswagen acquired all of the assets of the old company, both of these special cars practically disappeared from sight only on very special occasions. A couple of years ago, Volkswagen turned both cars over to English RR Dealer, P&A Wood, who had performed the restoration of 551 in the late 1990's. The cars have been maintained and stored by P&A Wood since then insuring their survival. In late 2019, it was rumored that 551 had been sold to an American collector. The collector's application was denied and the car was declared a national treasure, which meant that it could not leave England without special permission and only for a short period of time. It was also required that the prospective purchaser be a citizen of Britain. In late 2020, P&A Wood brokered a deal for the sale of both the 10 H.P. and 551 to Hong Kong businessman, Sir Michael Kandoorie, the owner of the Peninsula Hotel chain. Sir Michael is a British citizen and the owner of a magnificent collection of historically significant cars including several Rolls-Royces and Bentleys. The car is to remain in England in the capable hands of Paul and Andrew Wood's capable hands and with Sir Michael's ownership the cars will remain visible to collectors for generations.

I am sorry that I rambled. It is a problem I have when talking about these magnificent automobiles. Sir Henry Royce once said "Strive for perfection in everything. Take the best that exists and make it better. If it doesn't exist, create it. Accept nothing nearly right or good enough." This was a creed of the company for its entire existence until its sale. An example of this is the mantra "Accept noting nearly right or good enough". BMW has thrown this out the window in the Goodwood cars. The amount of plastic in the interior of a new Rolls-Royce is mind boggling for me. Items like window trim, air conditioning vents, trim pieces around switches, the vent switches and door handles are made out of chrome plated plastic. In my car, these components are made out of stainless steel. There is no plastic in the interior. The wood in the new cars has a plastic look to it. The wood BMW uses just does't have depth and beauty of the 100 year old Walnut used by the old company. Each piece of wood is a mirror image of the wood across from it. Each piece is individually numbered so that it is ever damaged they could go back to the very lot the veneer came from and make a replacement piece. The new company just doesn't do that. The famed grill is stamped out of metal on a big press rather than being hand made from individual pieces of stainless steel by a select group of craftsman who soldered the pieces together using hand-held gas fired soldering irons. One of the things that amazed me and has been lost is the wonderful smell of a Rolls-Royce interior. I vividly remember sitting in a new 1999 Silver Spur and smelling the same smell I had experienced in the first Silver Shadow I ever saw on a dealers floor in 1970. Its funny, to me because my car still has that same smell. It is a mixture of the aroma of all the materials that make up the interior. The new cars smell just like any other new car to me.

While there are issues in my mind with the new cars, a lot of those issues are intangible and can't be quantified. Yes, they drive well and are comfortable. They are reliable but they lack a lot of the intangibles that made a Rolls-Royce a Rolls-Royce. I also find it interesting that you see advertising for base model cars with a huge list of options that drives the price up. When my car was new, there were only two options available on the car. One was having the top roll of the dash in the same color as the rest of the interior (black was standard) and an outside mirror on the passenger side of the car. The cost of the car in 1979 was $103,000.00 or a hair over $367,000 in today's money. Expensive then and still expensive today. I just don't think the new cars will ever have the value of the cars built by the old company.

I hope this explains my feelings.

 

[Abbinormal]

Do you feel the same way about Bentley and Audi? Just curious.

Bentley Motors is the successor to Rolls-Royce Motors. They have stuck to a lot of the traditions and spirt of the old company. Yes, they have done some things I don't care for such as the Continental GT and the Jetta sharing the same key fob but I would take a Bentley Muslanne with the 6.75 liter V-8 designed by Rolls-Royce in the 1960's over anything coming out of Goodwood.

 

[Abbinormal]

"Daddy" Doug, as in Dad jokes and juvenile psychology, intentionally puts on this act.

It just makes him look like a fool based on the comments he has received.

 

[gds7368]

Ron, I want to give you a little background on my experience with Rolls-Royce automobiles. They have been a hobby of mine for over 40 years. I am one of those people who is all or nothing when they get involved with a hobby. Some people would call it an obsession, LOL. In the 40 years since I have involved in the hobby, I have read every bit of literature I could get my hands on whether it be books, magazines, company service manuals (now that is some dry reading). It was important to me to learn everything I could about the history of the company and additionally every car that they produced. I also felt ownership was important. I acquired my first RR in 1986, which incidentally was the first one I ever drove. I kept that car for two years before I sold it. A car without AC is just not a fun car to drive in South Alabama in the summer. My second was purchased in 1988 and I still own that car today. I have spent significant time behind the wheel of every model the company produced. As result, I do have a fair amount of experience how each model performs on the road.

As I mentioned earlier, the new cars have absolutely nothing in common with the Rolls-Royce cars produced prior to 2003. Although the Rolls-Royce brand has been in use since 1906, the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars subsidiary of BMW has no direct relationship to Rolls-Royce-branded vehicles produced prior to 2003 other than being a major engine supplier from 1999 to 2003. The Bentley Motors Limited subsidiary of Volkswagen is the direct successor to Rolls-Royce Motors and various other predecessor entities that produced Rolls-Royce cars between the foundation of the company and 2003, when the BMW-controlled entity started producing cars under the Rolls-Royce brand. Rolls- Royce Motors produced the Bentley branded cars from 1931 to the present when it acquired Bentley Motors. In a nutshell, BMW acquired the rights to the Spirit of Ecstasy and the shape of the iconic radiator shell from BMW and a license to use the brand name and intertwined RR logo from Rolls-Royce PLC, which was a subsidiary of the British defense contractor, Vickers.

As the direct successor to Rolls-Royce Motors, Bentley Motors and its parent got all of the hard assets of the company including the factory, the equipment and all the inventory. All BMW got was intellectual property. That is the reason, they agreed to supply engines to Volkswagen for the Silver Seraph line through 2004 since BMW did not have a car to bring to market. BMW did ask Volkswagen to give them a 1905 10 h.p. car and more importantly, chassis number 60551, the most famous RR in the world. Volkswagen denied this request which left BMW what is arguably two of most valuable and famous RR cars in existence. 551 was the 12th RR 40/50 h.p. built. Claude Johnson, the managing director had a Barker Roi-des-Belges Tourer body fitted. The car was finished in a special aluminum paint and all the brightwork was silver plated. Johnson named the car the "Silver Ghost" in reference to how quiet the car ran. This car was kept as a factory demonstrator and was the car that established the company's reputation as the "Best Car In The World". 551 was sold to a private party in 2008. In 1948, RRM required the car and used it for publicity purposes. When Volkswagen acquired all of the assets of the old company, both of these special cars practically disappeared from sight only on very special occasions. A couple of years ago, Volkswagen turned both cars over to English RR Dealer, P&A Wood, who had performed the restoration of 551 in the late 1990's. The cars have been maintained and stored by P&A Wood since then insuring their survival. In late 2019, it was rumored that 551 had been sold to an American collector. The collector's application was denied and the car was declared a national treasure, which meant that it could not leave England without special permission and only for a short period of time. It was also required that the prospective purchaser be a citizen of Britain. In late 2020, P&A Wood brokered a deal for the sale of both the 10 H.P. and 551 to Hong Kong businessman, Sir Michael Kandoorie, the owner of the Peninsula Hotel chain. Sir Michael is a British citizen and the owner of a magnificent collection of historically significant cars including several Rolls-Royces and Bentleys. The car is to remain in England in the capable hands of Paul and Andrew Wood's capable hands and with Sir Michael's ownership the cars will remain visible to collectors for generations.

I am sorry that I rambled. It is a problem I have when talking about these magnificent automobiles. Sir Henry Royce once said "Strive for perfection in everything. Take the best that exists and make it better. If it doesn't exist, create it. Accept nothing nearly right or good enough." This was a creed of the company for its entire existence until its sale. An example of this is the mantra "Accept noting nearly right or good enough". BMW has thrown this out the window in the Goodwood cars. The amount of plastic in the interior of a new Rolls-Royce is mind boggling for me. Items like window trim, air conditioning vents, trim pieces around switches, the vent switches and door handles are made out of chrome plated plastic. In my car, these components are made out of stainless steel. There is no plastic in the interior. The wood in the new cars has a plastic look to it. The wood BMW uses just does't have depth and beauty of the 100 year old Walnut used by the old company. Each piece of wood is a mirror image of the wood across from it. Each piece is individually numbered so that it is ever damaged they could go back to the very lot the veneer came from and make a replacement piece. The new company just doesn't do that. The famed grill is stamped out of metal on a big press rather than being hand made from individual pieces of stainless steel by a select group of craftsman who soldered the pieces together using hand-held gas fired soldering irons. One of the things that amazed me and has been lost is the wonderful smell of a Rolls-Royce interior. I vividly remember sitting in a new 1999 Silver Spur and smelling the same smell I had experienced in the first Silver Shadow I ever saw on a dealers floor in 1970. Its funny, to me because my car still has that same smell. It is a mixture of the aroma of all the materials that make up the interior. The new cars smell just like any other new car to me.

While there are issues in my mind with the new cars, a lot of those issues are intangible and can't be quantified. Yes, they drive well and are comfortable. They are reliable but they lack a lot of the intangibles that made a Rolls-Royce a Rolls-Royce. I also find it interesting that you see advertising for base model cars with a huge list of options that drives the price up. When my car was new, there were only two options available on the car. One was having the top roll of the dash in the same color as the rest of the interior (black was standard) and an outside mirror on the passenger side of the car. The cost of the car in 1979 was $103,000.00 or a hair over $367,000 in today's money. Expensive then and still expensive today. I just don't think the new cars will ever have the value of the cars built by the old company.

I hope this explains my feelings.

Wow that's a really well thought out, insightful review. Thank you!

I test drove a Wraith overnight a couple years ago thinking it would be a slam dunk purchase the next day ($100k off list, 18 months old, 4k miles) but I didn't like the way it made me feel while I drove it around.

I daily drive exotic sports cars in the summer because of the performance, not because they make any particular statement. I'd (very happily) drive them in the middle of nowhere just for the fun of it.

This historical strive for excellence by RR would have certainly enlightened my test drive. And "yes" I kinda felt like I was driving an extremely expensive BMW (it even had the same HUD as my 2015 BMW M4).

 

[rando]

It just makes him look like a fool based on the comments he has received.

DD and Mr. James May seem to enjoy some relationship these days beyond both playing entertaining fools successfully and undertaking career transitions. One could spool out any number of adages dealing with the hard truths of making one's first Million(s) and dealings with British cars in that pairing. In good humor, one would hope.

Thank you for that highly informative post on your 40+ year relationship with RR. Evidence continues to mount on the latest generation's utilization of style and substance.

 

[Abbinormal]

DD and Mr. James May seem to enjoy some relationship these days beyond both playing entertaining fools successfully and undertaking career transitions. One could spool out any number of adages dealing with the hard truths of making one's first Million(s) and dealings with British cars in that pairing. In good humor, one would hope.

Thank you for that highly informative post on your 40+ year relationship with RR. Evidence continues to mount on the latest generation's utilization of style and substance.

The is a big difference between James May and Doug Demuro. While May, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond are terribly funny and do wacky things to cars, their reporting on cars are factually correct. As noted, there are more inaccuracies in his report on the Silver Shadow than there are things that are correct. The inaccuracies Demuro spouts could have been avoided with just the smallest amount of research. I don't mind comedy in "reviewing" any product but I expect the details about that product and the time period in which it was built to be accurate whether it be cars or audio equipment.

 

[Barry2013]

The is a big difference between James May and Doug Demuro. While May, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond are terribly funny and do wacky things to cars, their reporting on cars are factually correct. As noted, there are more inaccuracies in his report on the Silver Shadow than there are things that are correct. The inaccuracies Demuro spouts could have been avoided with just the smallest amount of research. I don't mind comedy in "reviewing" any product but I expect the details about that product and the time period in which it was built to be accurate whether it be cars or audio equipment.

Jeremy Clarkson is a very talented and enjoyable journalist.
In addition to his excellent reviews of cars for the Sunday Times he has two other regular columns for that newspaper.
Some time ago he bought a farm in the Cotswolds. one of England's most desirable locations, and he writes regular pieces on the trials and tribulations of being a farmer. He is completely self deprecating about lacking the requisite skills, but invariably interesting and entertaining.
He also has a weekly comment column on issues of the day. Whilst his views do not command universal credit it's invariably a good read.

 

[GertSterlingSilver]

This is a good review if you like reviews where the “reviewer” has no idea what he is talking about. Doug gets way more wrong about this car than he does right. It is the perfect example of where a reviewer fails to do any research on his subject. For instance, he is the only person who considers the Silver Shadow to be ‘the Phantom” of its day. The car that was considered the “Phantom” of its day was actually a Phantom. The ultra rare, even by RR standards and ultra expensive Phantom VI. While the SS was a standard production car and could be found on the floor at any RR dealer, there was nothing standard about a PVI. They were all built by order to the purchaser’s specification. Production time was measured in years compared to months for a Shadow.

Doug goes on to get cosmetic, functional and mechanical details on the car wrong. Honestly, the list of errors is too long to even write down. I honestly don’t know why he didn’t think research was important.

I see, but for us GP's(general public) it's nice to get a taste of the quirks of these luxury vehicles.

 

[Audio_Karma]

In 2030 a all-electric G H O S T is coming !...

 

[Audio_Karma]

WOW !!

 

[Audio_Karma]

The all new W I D E B O D Y Black Badge Wraith W O W !

 

[Audio_Karma]

Black Badge Ghost WOW !

 

[Audio_Karma]

This Ghost looks Amazing in a Midnight Cherry Red color !

I could see myself in the upcoming Ghost EV in a Midnight Cherry Red color !

This color is called Magma Red

 

[Audio_Karma]

Wow !

 

[Audio_Karma]

The new Bespoke Stereo System in the 2023 Phantom is unreal !

 

[Audio_Karma]

How quiet is the Rolls Royce Ghost ?

How quiet is a Rolls Royce? ð¤

www.youtube.com

 

[Ron Resnick]

A dear friend of mine has a Ghost. I love that thing! It is incredibly quiet!

I like sitting in the back so I can drink the scotch out of the bar.

 

[Audio_Karma]

All new 2025 Rolls Royce Ghost Series 2 has the all new gen 3 Air Shocks Suspension found in the new Rolls Royce Spectre and has a much better stereo system now ! WOW!