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On this Rolls Ghost, diamonds are forever in the paint

Diamonds, the hardest rocks in the world, are found in everything from jewelry to tools – and now automotive paint. Rolls-Royce, a company happy to help paying customers indulge in one-of-a-kind, specially customized cars, has produced a long-wheelbase Ghost with a paint job featuring 1,000 crushed diamonds. It's called "Elegance," which seems like a pretty fitting name. One thing is for sure, the paint is dazzling in these photos. So the two months Rolls-Royce spent testing diamond paint finishes seem to have paid off. The rest of the car is a bit more run-of-the-mill Rolls-Royce, which is to say still pretty custom. It has hand-painted coachlines in red and black along the flanks, and the 21-inch wheels have matching red pinstripes. The color scheme is continued inside. Up front, everything is black, from the leather seats to the wool carpets. The sea of black is punctuated by red stitching and piping on the seats, as well as open-pore oak wood trim on the dash. In the back, the seats are a lighter gray leather with the same red stitching and piping. Our favorite part, though, is the plaid upholstery that lines the space in the front seats into which the rear tray tables fold. The car will be on display at the Geneva Motor Show alongside a few other older Rolls-Royce Bespoke models. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Rolls-Royce planning plug-in hybrid

Rolls-Royce is not the first marque you'd think of when it comes to environmentally friendly transportation. Its cars are big - often the size of SUVs - and pack ginormous twelve-cylinder engines displacing over six and a half liters. Those upright Parthenon grilles can't be very aerodynamic, either. But the way the wind is blowing these days, Goodwood will have to get with the program sooner or later.
It developed an electric version of the Phantom a couple of years ago called the 102EX and showed it to customers around the world. But people weren't interested, so Rolls-Royce killed the program. Not to be deterred, however, Rolls is now said to be working on a plug-in hybrid that would countermand some of the shortcomings - like range and recharging times - that killed the 102EX.
The technology would apparently be borrowed from parent company BMW which is developing it for the X5 eDrive and allow Rolls-Royce to reduce its carbon footprint and offer a more environmentally friendly mode of transportation to those who don't want to skimp on the luxury and prestige.

Rolls-Royce teases Wraith debut in Geneva

Rolls-Royce is headed to the 2013 Geneva Motor Show with a new addition to its lineup: the Wraith. The ultra-luxury automaker says it plans to start deliveries by the fourth quarter of this year, though details are scarce at the moment. The automaker has contented itself with saying the Wraith will the "most dynamic, powerful and beautiful Rolls-Royce in the company's history." We hear it will be the most modest, too.
Rolls-Royce first began using the Wraith nameplate in 1938. The original car used a tweaked version of the 4.3-liter inline six-cylinder found in the company's 25/30, but its real claim to fame came from the fact that it boasted speed-variable hydraulic dampers. Capable of reaching speeds of up to 85 miles per hour, Rolls-Royce only built 492 examples of the vehicle's chassis.
You can look for the new Wraith to bow at the Geneva Motor Show in March. In the interim, check out the shockingly bare press release below and get ready for a spate of teasers to follow.