You may have seen some of these before. Rich guys like to show off you know. Regardless, these ultimate garages still stir the soul in a way only serious car enthusiasts can truly appreciate. There's a 25 page string on Luxury4play.com if you want to see more.
At the swank "Rusnak Jaguar Reveals - A Night of Luxury" event at Universal Studios back lot on Saturday, we rubbed elbows with Miss California, Natasha Henstridge (Species), some actress from Desperate Housewives (not one of the wives) and even good ol' Scott Baio of Happy Days' Chachi fame. There were complimentary cocktails from Effen Vodka and Courvoisier as well as Maddalena wines to make things interesting for the well-heeled masses as they carefully negotiated the cobblestone streets. A cigar lounge welcomed those who wanted to puff on the free stogies from Cigars by Chivas. And at the end of the night, this "California chic" attired crowd enjoyed the Kevan Hall fashion show.
Yes, a fashion show. At first, we, too, thought that this seemed an odd thing to pair with a luxury car reveal. But then it made sense. Much like designer fashions, luxury cars connote high-quality and the best there is to be had. To own these items shows the world that not only do you have a well-padded bank account but that you possess exquisite taste. So it was no wonder that after each reveal of the 2010 Jaguar XJ, Porsche Panamera and the Rolls-Royce Ghost, party guests swarmed the luxo-cars for their chance to get in the driver seat; well, except the Ghost, whose doors remained locked. It was difficult to get close enough to the cars to even sniff their sumptuous leather interior, let alone check our reflection in their windows.
In any case, it was a fun albeit surreal way to see how enthusiastic the other half gets over cars.
More pictures after the jump.
Continue reading Rusnak Jaguar's Night of Luxurious Reveals.
Rolls-Royce appears to have caught the same disease as Aston Martin. And that is generally a good thing.
We like to think of this ailment as The Ramones Syndrome. Named for the early punk band, the disease is characterized by pleasant repetition in all endeavors. The Ramones had essentially one song, but it was a fun song. Likewise, Rolls and Aston have essentially one stunning look each that is applied to everything both companies do.
The so-called baby Rolls is basically a less grotesquely huge version of the Phantom, with a bit less severity.
Continue reading 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show: Rolls-Royce Ghost.
As a follow-up to the video "test drive" posted in mid-August, Rolls-Royce released full specs and photos of the 2010 Ghost over the weekend. The Ghost is the new entry-level Roller, and it will be in the booth at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show next week.
Although styled like a Phantom, right down to its reverse-opening (83-degree) rear doors, the 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost is much closer in size to a BMW 750Li. It's 212.6 inches long and rides on a 129.7-inch wheelbase. Compare that to the Phantom's overall length of 229.7 inches and 140.6-inch wheelbase. The 750Li is 205.3 inches long with a 126.4-inch wheelbase.
As noted before, the Ghost uses a new and more powerful 6.6-liter V12 good for 563 horsepower and 575 pound-feet of torque, along with an 8-speed automatic transmission. Sixty mph should come up in 4.7 seconds, says Rolls-Royce, while top speed is electronically set at 155 mph.
More photos and details after the jump.
Continue reading Frankfurt Preview: 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost.
The final production version of the 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost will arrive at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show next month, but this preview video produced by Rolls-Royce shows you all there is to know about this new "smaller" Rolls-Royce.
Have you been wondering how much horsepower the new Rolls-Royce Ghost will have? How about its 0-60-mph time? Or maybe its top speed interests you?
Now you can rest easy, as Rolls-Royce has decided to let a few more details loose on its upcoming "small" sedan. Its new 6.6-liter V12 engine will produce 563 horsepower and 575 pound-feet of torque. They used to call numbers like that "ample"; now they have changed to "significant."
All that power is sent to the rear wheels through an eight-speed ZF transmission. The result is a 0-60-mph time of 4.7 seconds and an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph.
The final production version will be shown at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show in September, with U.S. deliveries scheduled for early next year.
2009 Shanghai Auto Show: Rolls-Royce Ghost
Although summer is the season of lemonade stands and classic neighborhood garage sales, you usually don't have the opportunity to buy old Bentley parts - at least where I grew up.
Bentley is changing this with its sales fair from September 26-27 at a warehouse in Cheshire, England, where the British marque will clear out its inventory of Rolls-Royce and Bentley parts. Supposedly the automaker has held over 55,000 part lines for all Bentley models from 1955 to the present, as well as parts from Rolls-Royce cars built in Crewe from 1955-2002 - adding up for a total of 7 million parts.
The September sales fair allows Bentley to make space for parts and accessories for its upcoming Continental Supersports and all-new Bentley model that's ready to debut this August in Pebble Beach.
Interested Bentley owners are encouraged to R.S.V.P. to heritage.event@bentley.co.uk by August 21.
Make the jump for the detailed press release.
Continue reading Summer Garage Sale: Bentley Part and Accessory Sales Fair.
Prior to today's announcement at the Shanghai Auto Show, the Rolls-Royce Ghost was called everything from the "baby Phantom" to RR4 to 200EX. Now it has a proper name from the Rolls-Royce history books, one that makes it sound all wispy and athletic.
Don't be fooled, though, this sedan still measures 212-inches nose-to-tail, a good 7-inches longer than a Mercedes-Benz S Class, and it will use a 6.6-liter, turbocharged V12 under its hood. Production is expected to start at Goodwood later this year.
After showing the 200EX concept in Geneva, Rolls-Royce is now trickling out details on the production version of its upcoming sedan.
Power will come from an all-new turbocharged 6.6-liter V12 with over 500-horsepower. The engine is unique to Rolls-Royce and will use an eight-speed automatic transmission from ZF.
According to Rolls-Royce CEO Tom Purves, "RR4 will deliver an authentic Rolls-Royce experience to owners, so expect peerless comfort and build quality. However, we have consciously engineered this car to be more involving and dynamic for those owners around the world that will wish to drive it themselves."
We have seen the Rolls Royce 200EX concept in the big, blocky metallic flesh and, trust us on this one, it ain't no "baby Roller." This BMW 7 Series-based V12-powered sedan is big, real big.
In fact, we'll bet it'll look big next to anything except maybe the Rolls-Royce Phantom -- a car that the 200EX resembles quite a lot. -- Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit
Read our full story on the Rolls-Royce 200EX concept.
We've been calling it the RR4, but now it's official, sort of. The Rolls Royce 200EX will make its world debut at the 2009 Geneva Auto Show. A concept version of the production sedan due this fall, the 200EX will serve as an entry-level offering against the likes of the Bentley Continental Flying Spur and Mercedes-Benz S-Class
"There will be some very minor difference, but what you see in Geneva is for all intents and purposes what we'll be bringing to Frankfurt later in the year," says Rolls-Royce's newly installed CEO, Tom Purves, referring to plans to show its new model at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show in September.
Looks like the new addition to the Rolls-Royce family will continue to use a healthy dose of BMW technology. This prototype of the RR4, as it's known internally, shows off an iDrive-like device and a sizable display screen on the dash.
Also note there's no sign of a console-mounted transmission lever, so one of those stalks sticking out from the steering wheel controls the shifts.
Not everything is so high-tech though. Check out those chrome vent pulls in the dash. It doesn't get much more old school than that.
Blame the mainstream media if you will, but with all that talk of recession, disappearing jobs and a falling stock market, you would think 2008 was a terrible year for everybody.
Well, not quite everybody. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars reported today that it sold a record 1,212 cars in 2008. Nearly half were Phantom sedans, the "screw you plebs" on wheels that carries a base price of $340,000. The rest were Phantom coupes and convertibles, slightly smaller cars that carry slightly larger price tags in the $400,000 range.
You might be glad to know that the U.S. was once again the largest market for Rolls Royce followed by the U.K., United Arab Emirates, China and Russia.
With Porsche, Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Ferrari, Land Rover and Rolls-Royce, Nissan and Infiniti being no-shows at the NAIAS, that gives the Chinese automakers a better chance to display their products. Formally these vehicles have been delegated to pretty much second-class floor space in the basement of Cobo Hall, better known as Michigan Hall.
Not anymore, as there is now some prime real estate now available up on the main floor. Two Chinese brands moving up to the "show" are BYD Auto and Brilliance.
Related stories here and here.
Holy Wafability Batman!
Inspired by driving an electric-powered Mini, Tom Perves, the CEO of Rolls-Royce, now wants to offer an electric-powered RR Phantom. Imagine that: The Big Cheese behind arguably one of the largest cars on the planet being inspired by one of the smallest cars on the planet!
Okay, this idea almost (not quite, but almost) makes the hybrid Lexus LS600h seem to make sense.
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