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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.

A car writer's year in new vehicles [w/video]

Christmas is only a week away. The New Year is just around the corner. As 2014 draws to a close, I'm not the only one taking stock of the year that's we're almost shut of. Depending on who you are or what you do, the end of the year can bring to mind tax bills, school semesters or scheduling dental appointments. For me, for the last eight or nine years, at least a small part of this transitory time is occupied with recalling the cars I've driven over the preceding 12 months. Since I started writing about and reviewing cars in 2006, I've done an uneven job of tracking every vehicle I've been in, each year. Last year I made a resolution to be better about it, and the result is a spreadsheet with model names, dates, notes and some basic facts and figures. Armed with this basic data and a yen for year-end stories, I figured it would be interesting to parse the figures and quantify my year in cars in a way I'd never done before. The results are, well, they're a little bizarre, honestly. And I think they'll affect how I approach this gig in 2015. {C} My tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015 it'll be as high as 73. Let me give you a tiny bit of background about how automotive journalists typically get cars to test. There are basically two pools of vehicles I drive on a regular basis: media fleet vehicles and those available on "first drive" programs. The latter group is pretty self-explanatory. Journalists are gathered in one location (sometimes local, sometimes far-flung) with a new model(s), there's usually a day of driving, then we report back to you with our impressions. Media fleet vehicles are different. These are distributed to publications and individual journalists far and wide, and the test period goes from a few days to a week or more. Whereas first drives almost always result in a piece of review content, fleet loans only sometimes do. Other times they serve to give context about brands, segments, technology and the like, to editors and writers. So, adding up the loans I've had out of the press fleet and things I've driven at events, my tally for the year is 68 cars, as of this writing. Before the calendar flips to 2015, it'll be as high as 73. At one of the buff books like Car and Driver or Motor Trend, reviewers might rotate through five cars a week, or more. I know that number sounds high, but as best I can tell, it's pretty average for the full-time professionals in this business.

Bespoke Rolls-Royce auction is a chance to support the fight against AIDS

Rolls-Royce is showing off a new bespoke Phantom at Art Basel in Miami Beach, Florida, and its special red exterior highlights its bigger purpose: charity. In collaboration with artist Mickalene Thomas, Rolls-Royce will auction the car, a unique wrap, and a one-off art work as a fundraiser for the fight against AIDS. The red Phantom has a bespoke Magma Red paint job overlaid with a layer with tiny particles of crystal. Inside, the Phantom has Brilliant Arctic White bespoke leather with Mugello Red piping and accents. A Mugello Red headliner is a unique take on the Shooting Starlight headliner, which debuted in the Rolls-Royce Cullinan Black Badge, and R-R has dubbed the dashboard design, 'Red Regatta Sails.' It features layered Mugello Red leather behind a piece of glass across the instrument panel. Final touches include a door scuff plate that denotes "115 Years of Rolls-Royce" and "Special Commission."   Interestingly, the Phantom is technically a starting point. R-R paired up with contemporary artist Thomas to add an even more exclusive and unique touch. Thomas will create 'an original work of art inspired by the Red Phantom for the collector' and a custom wrap for the exterior of the Phantom based on the artwork.  The car will be globally unveiled at a gala this week and will be open for bidding between December 4–13 at Sothebys.com. All proceeds, after auction fees and costs, will go to (RED), which was created by Bono and Bobby Shriver in 2006 to fund the fight against AIDS. The contributions go to a program in Africa that specifically focuses on countries where there is a high concentration of mother-to-child HIV transmission. This is not the first time a Rolls-Royce has helped support an AIDS charity. In 2007, a Phantom Drophead Coupe raised more than $1.6 million for the Elton John AIDS Foundation.