Rolls Royce Silver Spur Ii 1991 Original 52,000 Miles Garaged Kept Mint Conditio on 2040-cars

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Rolls-Royce planning one or two new models based on the Ghost

Fourteen years after Volkswagen bought Bentley, its English brand has two distinct lines, Mulsanne and Continental - with numerous variants at the Continental's lower price point - an SUV on the way and perhaps a sports car and a Mulsanne convertible, too. In the 14 years since BMW bought Rolls-Royce, its English brand has the Phantom and Ghost - with three variants at the Phantom's much higher price point. Rolls-Royce doesn't chase sales, but the difference in the brand direction helps explain why Bentley has sold more cars in the first six months of this year than Rolls-Royce sold all of last year.
And even though Rolls-Royce isn't solely about the tally, it would still like to improve on the 3,538 cars it sold last year - a sales record that eclipsed a mark set in 1978. To do so its CEO is planning one or two more Ghost-based models beyond the as-yet-unnamed Ghost Coupe due next year, perhaps to be called the Corniche, according to a report in Autocar. A convertible version of the Ghost Coupe is the obvious guess for one of them, and it would get the double-R "closer to 4,000" sales, where the CEO would like to be.
Sales might not be the only part of it, though; the headline of the Autocar piece says the CEO wants the new models because they're "required to give Rolls-Royce a proper identity." If that is accurate, we have no idea what kind of identity Rolls-Royce could be missing that would be served by a wider range of cars in the Ghost range, which by their place in the brand's own lineup are admittedly not the most opulent carriages on the planet.

Rolls-Royce Phantom Oribe has a pottery theme and high-fashion interior

Rolls-Royce has developed quite a busy business with its Bespoke division. It creates specially customized one-off models for particularly wealthy clients. The latest is the Rolls-Royce Phantom Oribe, and it's one of the prettier and more interesting ones. The car was commissioned by a Japanese entrepreneur who collects old pottery from Japan called Oribe. That pottery often features green and white glazing, which provided the inspiration for the name and the color scheme of the Phantom. This particular Phantom was also a collaboration between Rolls-Royce and the French designer fashion brand Hermes, which provided all of the interior leather and canvas. That interior is really the highlight of the car. Most surfaces feature green and white leather to match the exterior. But the headliner and rear armrests receive a canvas fabric Hermes uses on some of its handbags. Walnut wood veneers decorate the doors, rear seat tables and dashboard. A unique touch is the lack of metal speaker grates. Instead, Rolls-Royce drilled out holes in the wood trim over the speakers. Additionally, the dashboard features an equine themed pattern that was hand painted. It was inspired by a particular style of scarves offered by Hermes. Both the car and fashion companies' logos appear on the glovebox door. This car is of course a one-off, so you won't see any more of them. Of course if you have the undoubtedly massive amounts of money to commission a Bespoke Rolls-Royce, you could probably request certain aspects of it on your own special car. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Rolls-Royce electric airplane smashes record, hits 387.4 mph

Just two months after its maiden flight, Rolls-Royce's "Spirit of Innovation" has hit a top speed of 387.4 mph, tentatively smashing the speed record for electric airplanes, Gizmodo has reported. It also claimed the top speed of 345.4 MPH over a 3 kilometer (1.86 mile) course and lowest time to a 3,000 meter (9,843 feet) altitude (202 seconds). The records have yet to be certified, but if the 345.5 mph speed stands, it would beat the current record of 213 mph — held by a Siemens-powered Extra 330LE — by an impressive 132 mph.  Rolls-Royce (the aviation, not the car company), conducted the tests on November 16 as part of its ACCEL (accelerating electrification of flight) project. To have the records certified, it's submitting the trials to the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), the body in charge of world aviation records. If confirmed, the speeds would be pretty impressive considering that the plane only made its maiden flight in September — suggesting that with more time, it could go even faster. 51690212450_7e8bcb3ad8_k View 12 Photos The Spirit of Innovation is an old-school "tail-dragger" airplane (steering at the rear) with the canopy pushed way back, and looks as fast as it goes. It's powered by a 400 kW (535 HP), 750 volt motor. Rolls-Royce said it uses the "most power-dense propulsion battery pack ever assembled in aerospace," with 6,480 cells.  As Engadget detailed in an explainer, electric airplanes aren't practical since current batteries are 50 times less energy dense than jet fuel. However, they do hold some promise for very short trips, like a 30 minute jaunt between Vancouver and Victoria in Canada. And unlike non-turbocharged ICE engines, electric motors retain full power as an airplane climbs, making them ideal for time-to-altitude record attempts — as the Spirit of Innovation has just shown.  Green Rolls-Royce