The new Rolls-Royce Ghost offers 563bhp from its 6.75-litre V12

Meet the all-new Rolls-Royce Ghost, the second generation of the British Rolls-Royce Motor Cars whose parent company is BMW the most successful automaker. The Rolls-Royce Ghost is a full-sized luxury car manufactured by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. The “Ghost” nameplate, named in honour of the Silver Ghost, a car first produced in 1906, was announced in April 2009 at the Auto Shanghai show.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars say it launched the Ghost in 2009 in response to younger customers who wanted a model that was slightly ‘smaller’ and less ‘ostentatious’. It went on to become the biggest-selling model in the company’s 116-year history. The Ghost has been a phenomenal success story for Rolls-Royce. Introduced ten years ago as a brand-new concept for the marque, the car has since become the most successful model in the company’s 116-year history. From the start, the Ghost was designed to be driven rather than chauffeured like the flagship Phantom and it introduced the brand to an altogether different set of customers

This new Rolls-Royce Ghost version is completely new from the ground up, switching to Rolls’ new aluminum space frame architecture that also underpins the latest Phantom and Cullinan SUV. Despite buyers’ initial wishes for a smaller model, the new Ghost is larger than the car it replaces. Overall length has grown by 89mm, now measuring 5,635mm, while its width has increased by 30mm to 1,978mm.

The Ghost gets all-wheel steering for the first time, which is designed to help reduce the car’s turning circle and make it more maneuverable. To improve ride quality there’s also a new suspension set-up: the Planar Suspension System. It comprises an upper wishbone damper unit – the first of its kind – above the front suspension assembly to deliver an even smoother ride, Rolls claims. It works alongside cameras in the windscreen that read the road surface and adjust the suspension accordingly.

For instance, the hand-welded aluminum body structure appears as one fluid canvas, uninterrupted by shut lines to recall the coachbuilt Silver Dawn and Silver Cloud. The architecture has also allowed the Ghost’s width to expand by 30mm and, for the first time, the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot is not surrounded by panel lines but is positioned alone, almost floating, on the bonnet. These are subtle changes but together really alter your perception of the car.