2022 Rolls-Royce Wraith Reviews

In fact, sales were up an amazing 31 per cent, with a total of 3538 cars sold globally during the year.The previous record of 3347 cars was set in 1978 during the Silver Shadow II era.Strong sales growth was reported across the globe, with notable results seen in Asia Pacific (up 47 per cent), North America (up 17 per cent) and the Middle East (up 23 per cent). China and the United States were the most significant individual markets.The United Kingdom performed well, reporting 30 per cent growth in the year. In Continental Europe, Germany and Russia were the largest growth markets, each more than doubling sales compared to 2010."We had an outstanding year in 2011 and we should take a moment to reflect on this Great British success story," said Torsten Muller, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars."Our business is in excellent shape. We are developing our dealer network, moving into new markets like South America, expanding our manufacturing operation in West Sussex to meet global demand and have plans to develop our product range."At the core of this extraordinary success is a dedicated, committed and, above all, passionate workforce." The company's portfolio includes the pinnacle Phantom family products and the more recently-launched Ghost range.Interest in Ghost  including Ghost Extended Wheelbase, launched to wide acclaim in April accounted for the lion's share of 2011 growth.2011 also marked a record for the Rolls-Royce Bespoke personalisation programme, a service with Rolls-Royce's legendary hand-craftsmanship and attention to detail at its core.Nearly every Phantom family model leaving the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood came with some element of bespoke personalisation, from unique paint colours, interior detailing and embroidery, to exquisite whole vehicle designs including champagne sets, humidors and picnic sets.Last September, Rolls-Royce announced plans to expand its manufacturing plant at Goodwood, with over 1000 people employed on site.This will help the company meet further growth in worldwide sales and satisfy demand for highly personalised Ghost and Phantom models. Expansion work will begin in February.

The McLaren MP4-12C tops the list of Dad's dream cars.

The newest stretched Roller is testing in England after its public unveiling at the New York motor show. It's the Ghost, which is headed for the same sort of model stretch as the larger Phantom flagship, starting with a long-wheelbase model and eventually including a coupe and convertible.

The show includes artworks and objects that tell the story of motoring pioneer Lord John Montagu - editor of The Car Illustrated magazine, his secretary and mistress, Eleanor Thornton, and the sculptures of her that led to the Spirit. The first Rolls-Royces did not have radiator mascots, but many owners commissioned their own to decorate their cars. Montagu had Charles Sykes create one for his Silver Ghost, and the sculptor modelled The Whisper -- a figurine of Eleanor Thornton in fluttering drapery, with her finger to her lips symbolising the secret affair. It was one of the more dignified personal mascots of the day. By 1910 Rolls-Royce had become concerned that many owners were mounting vulgar mascots to their cars, and managing director Claude Johnson commissioned Sykes to design a mascot that could be "the spirit of the Rolls-Royce". Sykes again used Eleanor as the inspiration for the figure that was first known as the Spirit of Speed and later became the Spirit of Ecstasy, which has since decorated nearly every Rolls-Royce. (Notable exceptions are Queen Elizabeth's mascot of St George slaying a dragon, and the late Princess Margaret, who chose a Pegasus.) However, Eleanor did not live long enough to see how enduring her image became. She was killed in 1915 when the ship on which she and Lord Montagu were sailing to India was torpedoed by a German submarine. Montagu survived and is said to have grieved in secret for the rest of life. The exhibition at Palace House - the Montagu family home - will feature The Whisper and other Spirit of Ecstasy figurines, and special edition covers created by Sykes for The Car Illustrated magazine, among other items. The mascot - which is also nicknamed Ellie in her Nightie - has been through many changes over the years, several of which were prompted by the lowering height of the cars. A kneeling version was produced briefly in the 1930s, but was later replaced by a smaller standing mascot. In the US she was made to bow a little lower to better protect the car bonnets. On recent cars, the Spirit is spring loaded and retracts into the bonnet to deter thieves.

China is clearly on top of the car world in 2011.

The English company - now a division of BMW - will use the one-off Phantom 102EX to see how customers respond to a fully electric-powered car, and will take it on a tour of Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America.  It will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show on March 1."We have engineered the world's first battery electric vehicle for the ultra-luxury segment," chief executive Torsten Muller-Otvos says in a statement."With this vehicle, we begin an exploration into alternative drive-trains, seeking clarity on which alternative technologies may be suitable to drive Rolls-Royce motor cars of the future."The company wants to ascertain how long the car can drive between re-charges and how it operates in extreme weather conditions, but there are no plans yet to develop a production version."I must be convinced that any alternative drive-train we choose for the future delivers an authentic Rolls-Royce experience," Muller-Otvos says."It must be a technology that is right for our customers, our brand and which sets us on a sound footing for a sustainable future."

The British super-luxury brand confirms the Ghost, which arrived last year as a four-door limousine, will be stretched into both a coupe and convertible to copy the lineup of the flagship Phantom.  There are no details yet, but Rolls-Royce chairman Ian Robertson hints to Carsguide that a drophead coupe based on the Ghost could be seen later this year. "There is likely to be an entry to the model line-up. I think you will see some Rolls-Royce derivates this year that move in that direction. A derivative," Robertson says. Rolls-Royce brought the convertible first when it stretched the Phantom line, before going on to the drophead coupe, but Robertson refuses to be drawn on the way the Ghost will be stretched.  "You'll have to wait and see," he says. The smaller, less-expensive Ghost - priced from $645,000 in Australia - has been a huge hit for Rolls-Royce and helped the company to sales of 2711 cars in 2010. This was a new record and more than double the previous record of  1212 cars in 2009. "Ghost is doing phenominally well. The Ghost has done the job it was supposed to," says Robertson.  "The interesting thing is that Phantom is holding up as well."  The top selling models in the Phantom range are the four-door cars, including the extended-wheelbase limousine that lists from $1.25 million without the bespoke customising done by almost all owners. Rolls-Royce says almost every Phantom had some sort of custom work in 2011, from something as simple as a special paint colour to kick panels inside the doors to full custom wood interiors with major entertainment packages. "The bespoke operation requires non-normal processes. If you use the normal process it does not happen," says Robertson, who predicts the bespoke business to grown considerable in 2011 with the Ghost.

"We found it in 1958, 50 miles (80km) west of Charleville rusted out in a paddock," says owner David McPhee, 80, of Brisbane. My wife said to buy it for parts but when we discovered how old it was it became a project on its own. It cost 40 (about $64 in today's currency) and we thought that was too much." McPhee won't say how much it's worth now, but Rollers of this vintage sell at auction for between $500,000 and $1 million. "I put 30 years of my life into it. I haven't put all that work into it just to sell it. No way," he says. The Derby-built 1100 series Silver Ghost, nicknamed "Quicksilver", is one of only 90 made. It is powered by a 7.5-litre, side-valve six-cylinder undersquare engine with 114mm by 120mm bore and stroke, one Rolls expanding carburettor and an output of about 35kW. Bosch electric start was fitted by the owner in 1920 because the big engine was too hard to crank start. McPhee says the three-speed crashbox gearbox guarantees a top speed of 105km/h. "For a 1990 motor car that's quite something," McPhee says. Rolls used the same slow-revving engine from 1906 to 1926 with little modification. The former civil engineer has done most of the mechanical restoration work, including building an air fuel pump. When he rescued it from outback oblivion, the car had a rusted four-door body, its third round of coachwork. McPhee's research found a Grosvenor two-seater body on a Rolls with chassis number 1126, just four more than his Roller, so he decided to replicate that body style. The coachwork was completed by a Gold Coast company in 1988. Before that McPhee used to drive it up and down his semi-rural street with just the chassis. "Without a body it went like a bloody rocket," he says. The body is made of aluminium, steel kauri wood from brewery beer barrels and it rides on metal leaf springs with drum brakes only on the rear wheels. Although it has primitive mechanicals, there is remarkably little changed from current cars with the same arrangements of pedals. However, cold-starting the antique machine is a process that takes time and patience. Before the driver gets in, they turn on the master switch on the battery located on the right-hand running board, then switch on the fuel cock behind the spare wheel. The driver gets in through the left-hand door because there is no right door as access is barred by the handbrake and gear shift. Once inside, the driver selects a rich fuel mixture on a control on the footwell, works a device like a bicycle pump to prime the fuel pump, turns on the magneto, coil and battery, retards the spark on a steering-wheel-mounted control, sets the governor control on the other side of the steering wheel to a fast idle and then either gets a friend to manually crank the vehicle from the front or hits the starter button. "It's a reliable system," says McPhee. True to his word, it springs into life immediately and purrs as quietly and smoothly as many of today's modern engines. Its muted rumblings are further dampened by the complex exhaust system which includes a large primary expansion chamber between the header pipes and the muffler. McPhee says he takes the car for regular runs and drove it from the top to the bottom of the British Isles in 2007. He claims he get about 17.6 litres per 100km, thanks to the 1740kg "lightweight" body and short chassis. * You can see McPhee's Roller at the Speed + Style + Beauty classic car show from January 12 to 16 at the old Metro Ford site in Ann St, Fortitude Valley.

Then again, the open-air Phantom was revealed at Pebble Beach in California, the scene of America's most cashed-up annual car show. The Concours d'Elegance judging at Pebble, on the 18th fairway of one of the country's most-famous golf courses, usually draws a collection of restored classics with a total pricetag beyond $250 million. The special Phantom was created to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Pebble Beach classic and was re-worked from a Phantom Drophead Coupe, a convertible with a starting price of $1.35 million in Australia. The Bespoke department at Rolls-Royce in England went all the way on the car, starting with a special one-off Bespoke exterior colour called Stillwater Blue as a tribute to Stillwater Cove on the Monterey Peninsula. The car's navy blue soft-top is lined with cashmere and upholstered in a cream-coloured leather interior. Interior wood fittings combine cross-banded Santos Pallisander veneer with a silver pinstripe inlay. The car has special teak decking for the roof tonneau and luggage compartment, which is loaded with a fitted champagne set to take advantage of the refrigerated cabined beneath the floor in the boot. The final Bespoke touches are an enamelled plaque on the dash with special Concours logs on the tread plates and embroidered on the seats.

You could be forgiven for thinking it's a luxury yacht, however these are features of a limited edition Rolls-Royce.  The Phantom Drophead Coupe has received the bespoke additions to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the legendary Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in Carmel, California. The car was unveiled at the event by Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos and chief designer Ian Cameron, and was sold within minutes.  The exterior paintwork is a tribute to Stillwater Cove on the Monterey Peninsula. It also features a navy blue soft top lined with cashmere and interior wood fittings cross-banded Santos Pallisander veneer contrasted with a silver pinstripe inlay. Handcrafted oiled teak decking is used for the roof tonneau and also in the luggage compartment flooring with a refrigerated cabinet underneath. Further Bespoke cues include an enamelled plaque on the dash, Concours logos on the tread plates and embroidery on each seat.  Price? If you have to ask, you can't afford it. Besides, Rolls is simply not discussing it.