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2022 Rolls-Royce Ghost Black Badge | Ecstasy in the shadows

Every now and again, something hits my driveway that absolutely stumps me. It can be tricky enough to come up with something to write about the fifth Hyundai Sonata or third Jeep Wrangler I’ve driven in the space of 18 months, but something like the 2022 Rolls-Royce Ghost Black Badge presents a very different conundrum: What can I possibly say to the person who has a half million dollars to spend on their next ride? I rounded up there but not by much. Before tax, tags and your driverÂ’s salary, this Ghost checks in at $484,950. Of that, $43,850 goes to Black Badge, which, when boiled down to its purest essence, is an enthusiastÂ’s equipment package with some rather dramatic aesthetic components. Rolls-RoyceÂ’s reputation is that of a builder of cars meant to be driven in rather than driven, but Ghost is the de facto “driverÂ’s” four-door in the lineup, and Black Badge is as close to an antidote to that cliche as youÂ’ll find in the company's portfolio. While it is a performance model, Black Badge doesn't completely blow the doors off the Ghost's already-impressive baseline performance. It benefits from an additional 29 horsepower and 57 pound-feet of torque (for a total of 583 hp and 663 lb-ft, respectively) and retuned air springs that “alleviate body roll under more assertive cornering.” The brakes were also tweaked for more immediate response and shorter pedal travel, but the clamps themselves are identical to a standard GhostÂ’s. Put another way, Black Badge is a performance package that happens to cost more than some performance cars. Welcome to tier 0 of car ownership. ThatÂ’s a hollow greeting, of course. Rolls-Royce sold a grand total of 5,586 (ahem) motor cars in 2021, and not one of them is among my permanent collection. YouÂ’re shocked, I know. Statistically, weÂ’re quite likely to be in the same boat. IÂ’m living vicariously through the Rolls-Royce marketing budget and youÂ’re living vicariously through me. Too bad. IÂ’m pretty boring. So boring that the best outing I could come up with was a jaunt to a lake cottage just 30 miles or so north of Detroit proper. Given this carÂ’s price point, youÂ’d be forgiven for insisting that the Ghost had better be able to do just about anything one might expect from modern four-wheeled transportation, but realistically, the person who can afford to be chauffeured in a Black Badge can likely call on other forms of transit should the weather take a turn for the worse.

Rolls-Royce Ghost Series II headed to Geneva

Rolls-Royce is not a brand that replaces its vehicles with any great frequency. It expands its lineup, sure: what started with just the Phantom saloon has since grown to include extended wheelbase models, coupes and convertibles, not to mention the addition of the Ghost, followed by the Ghost EWB and the Wraith fastback. What Rolls does to keep its models fresh, however, is spruce them up with a Series II.
The Phantom family underwent just such a treatment a couple of years ago, and now Goodwood appears to be preparing to do the same with the Ghost. At least, that is, going by this teaser image it released with only the line, "After five years as the cornerstone of Rolls-Royce's sustainable growth success worldwide, this mid-life update is a showcase for the most recent technological advances from Rolls-Royce enrobed in a considered exterior design revision."
The arrival of the Ghost Series II at the Geneva Motor Show this year would put it significantly ahead of schedule for when Rolls updated the Phantom. That model arrived in 2003 and was followed by the Series II in 2012, giving the original a nine-year run virtually unchanged. The Ghost, however, only reached production in 2010, so introducing a Series II now would shorten that lifecycle to just four years.

2018 Rolls-Royce Phantom spied on the inside

The Grey-Poupon set has a new digital reality in store for 2018. Or at least its drivers will. Today we've captured the next-generation Rolls-Royce Phantom during testing, and decadent sedan will feature a digital instrument panel. These photos show large screens in front of the driver and on top of the center stack – a marked change from the traditional dials. This digital cluster is among a slew of changes that will dramatically update the Phantom. It will also run on a new aluminum platform, which will underpin all Rollers from 2018. The coupe and Drophead coupe will also be killed off with the outgoing seventh generation, which has run for 13 years. Rolls-Royce said from the start the new ultra-luxury sedan would feature significant updates. In a statement, chief executive Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes called it "a contemporary and beautiful Phantom enhanced with cutting-edge technologies and design innovations." Still, the eighth Phantom will look like, well, a Phantom. Despite the "enhanced ... design innovations" Mueller-Oetvoes is pitching, the exterior styling looks largely evolutionary. We're expecting another Roller staple, the traditional V12, to provide the usual mustard-hauling power. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2018 Rolls-Royce Phantom View 10 Photos Image Credit: CarPix Design/Style Spy Photos Rolls-Royce Technology Infotainment Luxury Sedan rolls-royce phantom