First Drive with the mighty 2011 Rolls-Royce Ghost -

Presence is also the inspiration behind the Phantom’s smaller stablemate, the Rolls-Royce Ghost, which uses such cues as a stand-up grille and coach-style doors to set it apart from other luxury cars in its class.


And, of course, the car’s cabin gives off a luxurious aura that comes from the finest woods, wools and leathers assembled with the pride of English craftsmanship.

The new Ghost’s Phantom-like presence derives from the car’s substantial dimensions. It rides on a 129.7-in. wheelbase and measures 212.6 in. in overall length. The car is 76.7 in. across the beam and stands 61.0 in. tall. Even with these generous proportions, it looks svelte when parked beside the more senior Rolls.

Despite the similarities to the Phantom, the Ghost has a personality all its own, due largely to its underpinnings, which are courtesy of the 7 Series from parent company BMW.

This lineage gives the Ghost a unique blend of a limousine’s body with a driver’s spirit.

The motivating force behind this athletic drive is a 6.6-liter direct-injection twin-turbo V-12 making 563 bhp and 575 lb.-ft. of torque.

This silky smooth engine is mated to an equally seamless 8-speed ZF automatic transmission driving the rear wheels. While the Ghost tips the scales at a robust 5445 lb., you wouldn’t know it when you depress the accelerator. The factory reports a 0–60-mph time of 4.8 seconds. Top speed is electronically limited to 155 mph.

Not only is the car swift, it is fluid in operation. The car’s steering is light and communicative and it drives much smaller than its dimensions would suggest. The Ghost is easy to hustle down the road quickly and yet at the same time, it handles and rides with a unique, almost inexplicable isolation from the world around you. It is extremely quiet inside and yet, with the steering wheel in hand, you don’t feel separated from the task before you. Looking down the massive hood ahead, it’s as if you’re seated at a finely tuned grand piano.

Turn-in is precise, there’s little body roll to speak of and the standard 19-in. wheels and tires offer plenty of grip. The brake pedal feel is also quite good, with a linear action that is easy to modulate. Again, the car’s BMW pedigree shines through when it comes to vehicle dynamics. And yet, when you sit in the passenger seat or in the back, the experience is eerily similar to being driven around in the Phantom. Obviously Rolls-Royce has its DNA down pat. This is a car you can equally enjoy driving or being driven in.

It is also a car in which to be seen. The unique styling, coach-style doors and in some models, the two-tone paint scheme with an aluminum-colored hood offset from the rest of the body, are sure to draw a crowd. Inside, there’s room for five, plenty of plush carpeting, supple leather and wood veneer along with such classic touches as the organ-stop vent pulls and door-mounted umbrellas.

Rolls-Royce encourages customers to take advantage of the bespoke nature of its build process, allowing buyers to select the woods, paints and leathers used to finish the car. A tour of the factory confirms that much of the car is handbuilt, although I was disappointed to learn that no longer are the radiator shells crafted in-house and signed by a single artisan, but rather come from a supplier.

Along with this old-world approach to final assembly is the use of modern features such as navigation, a high-end sound system, adaptive cruise control and a nifty head-up display that in European models actually reads speed limit signs for you.

The Rolls-Royce Ghost will capitalize on the exclusivity of the larger Phantom, while broadening the brand’s appeal to a slightly bigger market with an MSRP of about $245,000 when it goes on sale in April.