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Hearse based on Rolls-Royce Ghost called the Ghoster, may be too on-the-nose

If you want to roll in a Rolls-Royce even after the very end, an Italian company called Biemme Special Cars has turned the Ghost into one of the world's most luxurious hearses. It keeps the sedan's distinctive rear-hinged doors and luxurious cabin and adds a huge coffin compartment. While it's relatively difficult to make an elegant-looking hearse, the Ghost-based model — which is oddly known as the Ghoster — features a pretty sleek design. It's almost identical to the regular-production Ghost from the tip of the front bumper to the upper part of the windshield. Beyond that, it features an upward-sloping roof panel painted in the same color as the hood, huge side windows with a bright frame, and a seriously long wheelbase. Biemme explains that it expanded the Ghost's body using a tubular structure that's covered with steel panels. The passenger compartment looks like it's standard Ghost fare, so what you get largely depends on the boxes you tick when you configure the car. Wood interior trim, leather upholstery, and other opulences comes standard, and Biemme notes that a 1,300-watt sound system is available ... because you need that in a hearse? Maybe to play something by Ray Parker Jr.? The list of options also includes a built-in drink cooler, the Starlight headliner, internet connectivity, and LED interior lighting, while the rear doors can be ordered with curtains. Biemme separated the passenger and coffin compartments with a shatter-proof divider. It then added a power-operated platform and LED lighting, while the same type of wood trim and leather upholstery used in the passenger compartment adds a finishing touch to the design. There are no hearse-specific mechanical modifications. Power comes from a 6.7-liter V12 that's twin-turbocharged to 563 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque, so the Ghoster should offer decent acceleration in spite of what we imagine is a not-inconsequential amount of weight added by the hearse conversion.  Biemme hasn't announced pricing for the Ghoster. For context, the standard Rolls-Royce Ghost starts at approximately $350,000. Featured Gallery Rolls-Royce Ghost-based Ghoster hearse Aftermarket Rolls-Royce Wagon Luxury

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.

Buyers flipping a Rolls-Royce Spectre won't be tolerated, company says

The act of flipping cars — that is, buying a limited or highly desirable model and then reselling it for big profit — wonÂ’t go unnoticed, or be tolerated, by Rolls-Royce. Specifically referring to the new Rolls Spectre — the first electric car from the brand — Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos told Car Dealer that any customer who sells or try to sell one will be blacklisted for life if he attempts to buy another from a dealer. Speaking at the launch of the new car in California, he said: ‘I can tell you we are really sanitizing the need to prove who you are, what you want to do with the car – you need to qualify for a car and then you might get a slot for an order.” But those who violate the policy and resell the vehicle at a higher price are “going immediately on a blacklist and this is it – you will never ever have the chance to acquire again.Â’ The super-luxe Spectre is to open its order books soon with deliveries to start in the autumn. Base price in the UK is about $425,000. The response from some dealers in Britain, who say the inflated price resales are legal, was resentment at Rolls. London dealer Tom Hartle, known for selling secondhand Rolls-Royce models, said that he has already agreed to collect GBP50,000 ($65,000) premiums for two Spectres. He said he will have a Spectre for sale at his used-car dealership "within two weeks of it being launched.” ”I do not think it is fair for carmakers to tell customers who have spent close to half a million pounds on a car what they can do with it,” he told Car Dealer. Last year, General Motors said it would ban flippers "from placing future sold orders or reservations if the vehicle is resold within the first 12 months of ownership." Those high-demand products were the Corvette Z06, the Cadillac Escalade-V, and the GMC Hummer EV. And years ago, Ford famously sued wrestler and actor John Cena, who flipped a Ford GT in violation of his purchase contract. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. At Rolls, the company maintains that it has paid close attention to SpectreÂ’s specifics while in development. "To do this, “ Muller-Otvos said, “we have conceived the most demanding testing program in Rolls-RoyceÂ’s history. We will cover 2.5 million kilometers – a simulation of more than 400 years of use for a Rolls-Royce, on average – and we will travel to all four corners of the world to push this new motor car to the limit,"