More than 10 years have passed since Rolls-Royce introduced the Ghost as a more affordable alternative to the flagship Phantom. Well, maybe “affordable” is not the right term since you’re still looking at roughly $300,000 before adding any options. While the Cullinan is all the rage these days among one-percenters, a part of the elite is not ready to jump on the SUV bandwagon yet.
People in the market for a luxury sedan not willing to plunk down half a million dollars for a Phantom are eager to find out what the new Ghost has in tow for 2021. Rolls-Royce had an unusually comprehensive teaser campaign for the next-generation model, revealing some juicy details. For example, we already know the “next generation” 6.75-liter V12 engine will pump out 563 horsepower and 850 Newton-meters (627 pound-feet) of torque. While the amount of horsepower remains the same, torque is up by a considerable 70 Nm (52 lb-ft).
Much like the Phantom and Cullinan, the new Ghost is expected to ride on the company’s Architecture of Luxury platform developed specifically for Rolls-Royce rather than being a BMW-derived platform. From one of the teasers released in recent days, we learned the lavish sedan will boast laser headlights illuminating the road up ahead by as much as 600 meters (nearly 2,000 feet). RR says it’s twice the range of an LED headlight while providing ten times the intensity of a conventional light source.
As with every Rolls-Royce ever, the real magic is inside the cabin where the Ghost benefits from more than 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of sound-absorbing materials to enable a nearly-silent experience. The makers of the Starlight Headliner will kick things up a notch by offering an illuminated dashboard with 152 LEDs on the passenger side to light up the Ghost’s nameplate and a constellation of more than 850 stars.
We’re expecting the styling to be evolutionary both inside and out considering people shopping in this segment tend to like things a certain way and therefore Rolls-Royce doesn’t want to rock the boat. A possible increase in size should make the interior even roomier than before by providing stellar legroom for rear passengers.
Although it will significantly undercut the Phantom, the new Ghost will still remain pretty much in a league of its own taking into account the Bentley Flying Spur costs less than $250,000. A new Mercedes-Maybach S-Class with a V12 engine is coming, but it’s hard to imagine it will get close to the Phantom’s exorbitant price tag. What does Rolls-Royce offer for the extra money? We’ll discover later today.
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