“The first Goodwood Ghost was a response to a whole new generation of clients, both in age and attitude,” said Torsten Müller-Ötvös, chief executive of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. “These men and women asked us for a slightly smaller, less ostentatious means to own a Rolls-Royce.”
The result was the best-selling vehicle in Rolls’ nearly 120-year history as a luxury auto maker.
And now, the British automaker has unveiled the successor to its most successful car, the new Ghost, a car that Rolls-Royce says is “precisely tailored to its clients, that appears perfect in its simplicity, that is underpinned by remarkable substance, that is less but better.”
Turns out that was no small task since buyers of the original Ghost were of two driving cultures — those who drove the cars themselves (primarily in the United States and Europe) and those who rode in the back seat while someone else drove (primarily in Asia).
“To create a new product that would resonate with our Ghost clients for the next 10 years meant we had to listen carefully to their demands,” Müller-Ötvös explained. “Today we set new standards in customer centricity.
“The only components that we carried over from the first Goodwood Ghost were the Spirit of Ecstasy and umbrellas. Everything else was designed, crafted and engineered from the ground up. The result is the most technologically advanced Rolls-Royce yet.”
The new Ghost is built on an aluminum spaceframe and offers all-wheel drive and all-wheel steering. Rolls’ designers call the styling “Post Opulence” and say it is marked by “reduction and substance.”
The car is powered by a twin-turbocharged 6.75-liter V12 positioned behind the front axle so the car achieves 50/50 weight distribution. The engine produces 563 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque.
Among other features is a seamless upper body shell from the A-pillar rearward, achieved, says Rolls, by having “four craftsmen hand weld the body together simultaneously to ensure a perfectly continuous seam.”
The suspension system features the first use of an upper wishbone damper placed above the front suspension to achieve a “magic carpet” ride. Forward-facing cameras “read the road ahead” and prepare the suspension system and the car’s transmission for changes in road surfaces. The system also uses GPS data “to pre-select the
optimum gear for upcoming corners.”
For drivers 
For those being driven
The Ghost also has doors that open and close under their own power and a 1,300-watt audio system as part of its interior features.
Pricing was not announced, but the current model starts at $311,900.
