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Rolls-Royce Black Badge Cullinan 'Blue Shadow' straddles Earth and space

Rolls-Royce has another special edition for stargazing types who might not have the schedules to stay up all night stargazing. Called the Rolls-Royce Black Badge Cullinan "Blue Shadow" Private Collection, its design honors the nebulous area where Earth's atmosphere ends and so-called "outer space" begins. Since the edges of our planetary terrarium blend into space, there's no useful coloring-book-like boundary. The International Aeronautics Federation uses an arbitrary height called the Karman line, which Hungarian engineer and physicist Theodore von Karman decided would be 100 kilometers above Earth because that's around where the last traces of aerodynamic lift petered out, giving way to "astronautics." The Cullinan Blue Shadow is a canvas for artistic representation of the Karman line and what lies beyond. The deep blue exterior color signifies the atmosphere's upper layers where the blackness of space suffuses the blue of our daytime skies. Contrasting satin jewelry in the front fascia suggests the silica and aluminum oxide whitewash applied to the thermal protection tiles on craft like NASA's Space Shuttle. The Spirit of Ecstasy was produced in 3D-printed titanium coated in a blue-tinted lacquer, the base inscribed with "Blue Shadow Private Collection." The Cullinan's 22-inch wheels are also dressed in a lacquer layer for dark translucence. Inside, the starlight headliner's been decorated with an embroidered moon composed of five colors, each color sewn in with a different technique and texture. The headliner's 799 white LEDs and 384 blue LEDs create a field of stars for Luna, Rolls-Royce engineers tweaking the twinkling effect in the LEDs "for an even more enchanting glow." The painted instrument panel and door cards transition from black up high to dark and then light blue below. Six layers of colors combine five blues with a black, providing another kind of twinkle thanks to blue and clear glass particles in the clearcoat. The Private Collection clock comes with blue anodized details and an engraved "Blue Shadow." The artwork created in the seats is a first for Rolls-Royce. Each seat's been perforated more than 75,000 times in a pattern representing the Earth as seen from space.

Rolls-Royce sets sales record in 2021, despite ongoing pandemic

LONDON — Luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce, a unit of Germany's BMW, said on Monday its sales soared 49% to a record high in 2021 despite the global coronavirus pandemic, as demand worldwide for luxury vehicles surged. In an online presentation, Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos said the carmaker sold 5,586 vehicles to customers in more than 50 countries, the largest number in its 117-year history despite all the volatility wrought by the pandemic. "In the luxury sector as a whole, the struggle was not so much focused on attempting to find customers, but rather producing enough product to satisfy huge customer demand," Muller-Otvos said. He said sales hit all-time records in most regions, including China and the Americas. Premium and luxury car sales have been growing more broadly in key global markets such as China and the United States as pandemic travel restrictions have left wealthy consumers with more disposable income. "Covid forced many people to ground, not to travel anymore and for that reason there is quite a lot of wealth accumulated and that is spent on luxury goods," Muller-Otvos told Reuters. "We profited from that development." He said the carmaker's British plant in Goodwood was running at close to maximum capacity and its order books were full well into the third quarter of 2022. "If you order a Rolls-Royce today, you will expect to take delivery of it about a year from now," he said. Luxury British carmaker Bentley, a unit of Volkswagen AG said last week that it had cruised to a record year in 2021 as global sales jumped 31% amid strong demand for high-end vehicles. Last week BMW said it had achieved record sales of over 2.2 million vehicles from its BMW brand in 2021, outstripping 2019 sales despite a global shortage of semiconductor chips. Muller-Otvos said that while the chip shortage was cause for concern, Rolls-Royce's parent BMW had "assured that we could take delivery of all the chips we need to build our cars, so we haven't seen any shortages." Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Rolls-Royce EV likely to take the name Silent Shadow

Rolls-Royce last year trademarked the name Silent Shadow with the German patent office, and that moniker is likely to be applied to the British luxury carmaker's upcoming battery electric vehicle. In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Rolls CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos confirmed that the company is working on a purpose-built EV. While he would not reveal the scheduled launch date, Rolls-Royce has previously said an EV model would arrive before the end of the decade. The Silent Shadow name echoes the Silver Shadow of 1965-1980. Although Rolls-Royce has previously ruled out doing a plug-in hybrid, the German-owned British automaker has been inching toward full-electric vehicles for some time. At the 2011 Geneva auto show, it introduced an electric version of the last-generation Phantom named 102EX. More recently in 2016, it unveiled the stunningly futuristic 103EX concept, which was fully electric. "Electrification fits perfectly with Rolls Royce — it's torquey, it's super-silent," Muller-Otvos said. It's true that, at Rolls-Royce, the sound of the car's engine has never been a selling feature. Instead, the brand has long promised near-silent motoring. Indeed, a 1958 ad for Rolls-Royce by advertising legend David Olgivy, makes a claim to the car's quietness. And that ad has become what many consider to be the most famous auto ad of all time: "At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock." Maybe they'll want to revisit that claim when the Silent Shadow makes its debut. Green Rolls-Royce Automotive History Electric