Rolls Royce Corniche Convertible on 2040-cars

Auto blog

5 thoughts on the 2024 Rolls-Royce Spectre

ROCHESTER, Mich. — Dudes associated with Rolls-Royce have said some pretty memorable things. T.E. Lawrence called the cars “above rubies,” while Charles Royce presciently observed — in 1900 no less — “The electric car is perfectly noiseless and clean. There is no smell or vibration. They should become very useful when fixed charging stations can be arranged.”  IÂ’m not into jewelry, so the 2024 Rolls-Royce Spectre is definitely better than rubies, and itÂ’s an EV with a lot of character and purpose. Chuck and Tom were right. This luxury grand tourer is one of the best cars IÂ’ve ever driven — as it should be given it starts at $422,750 — but it also succeeds as an EV.  HereÂ’s five thoughts as to why. 1. ItÂ’s dressed impeccably My test car has a striking two-tone exterior of Arctic White and Midnight Black, recalling a signature cue of great Rollers of the past. A spokesman said two-tone paint dates to the 1920s, notably on the Phantom V, then took off during the coachbuilt cars in the ‘30s. By the 1950s, the paint scheme had become a Rolls-Royce calling card. It looks like the Spectre is wearing a tuxedo. Upon arriving for my drive at Meadow Brook Hall, a century-old mansion with a history almost as deep as Rolls, I was asked if I had a preference. There was a pink car, a pretty blue one and some others. I pointed at this one immediately. Furthering the coachbuilt vibe, you get in and out of the car via two huge rear-opening doors. Like on other Rolls-Royces, they can open and close themselves. 2. What an interior Naturally, itÂ’s a beautiful cabin. The wood, chrome and leather look and feel rich. The one I tested has a gorgeous blue interior with a navy blue backdrop and sky blue accenting along the top of the dash. A sliver and white clock is set in the middle of the instrument panel. The seats are two-tone blue with the RR crest embroidered in the headliners. ThereÂ’s a fair amount of room in the backseat, and my knees didn't even touch the seat in front of me.  The turn-by-turn navigation is outstanding. There's a camera in the middle of the dashboard with arrows telling you which way to go. It's not distracting because the aesthetic of the SpectreÂ’s dashboard is so simple, yet elegant. It's a quiet cabin — more serene than the Cullinan — and stoutly keeps the outside world at bay. Look up and youÂ’re greeted by the Starry Night Sky. Look down and note the plush carpet. I encourage you to drive barefoot. 3.

Rolls-Royce brings Pebble Beach 2019 Collection to Monterey

Rolls-Royce brought 13 Bespoke Commissions to Monterey Car Week, each of them only available to guests attending car week. Among the pride, said to be inspired by the resurgent natural landscape of Pebble Beach after years of natural disasters, are a single Phantom, four Cullinans, four Dawns, two Ghosts, and two Wraiths. The Phantom gets the most modest treatment, attired — as usual — for business in a Black Diamond and Gold Bespoke exterior. The interior highlight is the Phantom Gallery, which turns a swath of the instrument panel into a canvas for personalized art. The four Cullinan SUVs begin to taste the rainbow, drenched in the luxury maker's iced finish, which Rolls-Royce says is one of its most popular offerings. The ice finish entails a mildly paradoxical combination of a matte color with an elegant shine, and on the quartet of Cullinans comes in Burnout Grey, Black Green, Iced Gunmetal, and Galilea Blue. Outside the collection but just as interesting from a color perspective, Rolls-Royce showed a bespoke Cullinan in Fux Orange, the paint named after a collector who asked Rolls-Royce to color-match a woman's wrap he bought in Miami. The Ghost, Wraith, and Dawn go all the way with color as part of a Pastel Collection, their "painter's palette of colors" keyed off the riot of ground cover and wildflowers newly returned to the Monterey Peninsula. They include three Black Badge Commissions, the aim to show that Black Badge need not mean somber or dowdy. Rolls-Royce did the same thing last year with its Paradiso Black Badge Collection in Quail Blue.  This year's Ghost Black Badge comes in the new color Light Green Solid over a black interior livened up by Serenity Green splashes. The Wraith wears Semaphore Yellow over a Selby Grey and Lemon cabin speckled by the Black Badge Starlight Headliner. The Dawn shows off Coral Solid on its bodywork and Aero Cowling, made pristine by seven coats of paint and more than nine hours of hand polishing. The interior gets Arctic White and Sunset leather, evoking the "blooming northern California hills and valleys." Every one of the Black Badge Commissions will feature a "Pebble Beach 2019" treadplate, and the hardtops all get Black Badge Starlight Headliners. Anyone who is keen to put money down has one more day to get to Monterey.

The Rolls-Royce of cocktails is a coddling ride for your tastebuds

In our last installment of the irregular and irreverent series on drinks loosely connected to – or named after – automobiles, we sipped a Speedway Cocktail, a drink that was as exciting (and dangerous) as the early Indy 500. This time, we're stirring a Rolls-Royce Cocktail with a silver spoon. And, as always, enjoy cocktails (and reading about them) while you're not behind the wheel. If the rumors we hear are correct, Rolls-Royce will be unveiling an all-new Phantom this summer. The arrival of a flagship Roller isn't quite as rare as the coronation of a new member of the British Royal Family, but is tres recherche nonetheless. Since the nameplate's founding nearly 100 years ago, this will be only the eighth generation of Phantom to be delivered into the greedy hands of the world's vilest oligarchs. If you're one of the .01 percent, this is cause for a drink, and what better cocktail to raise in toast than one named for the brand itself? (For us 99.99 percenters, the answer is easy: Molotov.) As you might expect, the Rolls-Royce cocktail is kind of a classied-up version of an upscale iteration of an already elegant drink, conjugated from the classic (gin) martini and it well-married brother, the Martinez. "It's basically a very wet martini," says Paul Hletko, founder of FEW Spirits, an Evanston, Illinois gin and whiskey distillery acronymically (and winkingly) named for local maven Frances Elizabeth Willard, who helped found the Women's Christian Temperance Union – one of the forces behind Prohibition. "Two-to-one is a fantastic ratio of gin to vermouth that really lets the vermouth shine, and then having that split between dry and sweet vermouths gives you fantastic and rich complexity, with that little bit of Benedictine being that really nice herbal add," Hletko told us. It all sounds intriguingly botanical, and the drink itself has a reputation as being a favorite among bartenders, a coupe brimming with insider insight. "In the history of drinking there are many cocktails made with vermouth and gin," says legendary mixologist Charles Schumann from Schumann's Gastronomie in Munich.