The tour of the Roller factories starts off in Unterhallerau, Germany where the frame and body are constructed and then shipped to Dingolfing for primer and paint and it's shipped again to the dedicated facility in Goodwood for final assembly and custom detailing. That Goodwood facility employs about 450 workers ranging regular assembly staff to experts in sewing and woodwork. Take a look for yourself

[National Geographic]

The folks obsessed with luxury from Goodwood have released and confirmed some specs on the new model set to be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September along with a new shot of the door crease in the teaser photo above. Does that line look familiar? It should — we've seen it already in the RR4 concept.

In addition to the already-stated-above power numbers and the door crease, the Ghost will have an electronically governed top speed of 155 MPH and will be equipped with an 8-speed automatic ZF gearbox. 8 speed? That's ludicrous! We love it. Full press release below:

ROLLS-ROYCE MOTOR CARS CONFIRMS GHOST FIGURES

21 July 2009, Goodwood

* Engine power output of 563 bhp / 420 kW / 570 PS @ 5250 rpm
* 0-60mph in 4.7 seconds / 0-100 km/h in 4.9 seconds*
* Top speed of 155 mph / 250 km/h (electronically governed)
* Maximum torque 780 Nm / 575 lb ft @ 1500 rpm

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has confirmed headline performance figures for Ghost, their new model which will be unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show in September.

The Ghost will be powered by a brand new 6.6 litre turbo charged V12 engine unique to Rolls-Royce. This engine will produce 563 bhp, delivering a 0-60 mph time of 4.7 seconds and a governed top speed of 155 mph. The engine is combined with an 8-speed automatic ZF gearbox.

Rolls-Royce Director of Engineering, Helmut Riedl said, "First and foremost Ghost is a Rolls-Royce. This means that despite its extraordinary performance figures it has been engineered for effortless composure and refined power delivery. This is illustrated by the significant levels of low down torque available which makes pulling away very smooth and for an exceptionally relaxed driving experience.

Riedl continues, "Rolls-Royce power is entirely different to anything else in the automotive world. It is delivered free from stress and exertion but at the same time must engage the driver. Ghost is about fingertip control while still enjoying a dynamic connection with the road. Equally passengers need to be cosseted from the physical sensations of acceleration, braking and cornering. Our chassis set up keeps Ghost stable and flat, preventing it from wallowing or pitching in the corners or imposing undesirable forces on those inside."

Rolls-Royce has already confirmed that the Ghost will ride on an intelligent four corner air suspension system using multi link aluminium front and rear axles. The fully integrated system allows each of the Ghost's dynamic handling systems to work together in harmony, providing the optimum levels of refinement and comfort at all times.

The vehicle acoustics also play a vital role in creating the authentic Rolls-Royce environment. Naturally engine, exhaust and even tyre noise have been engineered to be inaudible as far as possible, both internally and externally.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Chief Executive Officer, Tom Purves, said, "Ghost is not about a single superlative but rather a careful blend of attributes. A Rolls-Royce should carry its power with grace, agility and refinement and this is never achieved by a focus on outright performance. Mastery comes in creating a balance and having driven the Ghost again recently I can say confidently that our engineering team has achieved this in fine style."

Customer deliveries of Ghost in the UK and Europe will begin late in 2009 with pricing from £165,000 excluding taxes and delivery charges. Customer deliveries in other markets including the USA and Asia Pacific region will begin from the second quarter 2010.

A full technical specification will be released later in the year.

The stretched Rolls Royce Silver Seraph along with other Jackson memorabilia will be up for bid by Julien's Auctions at the Beverley Hills Hilton. The dark blue Seraph wears an interior which looks to have been pulled directly from the Palace of Versailles and seats five, seven if you must include the front cabin passengers.

The car fits in perfectly with the unintentionally creepy portrait of the Prince of Pop the wider auction paints — especially the larger-than-life Superman figure and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves sculpture. Price guidance puts the car at $140,000 - $160,000, don't spend too much time investigating the upholstery. [The Gaurdian]

Take this Rolls Royce Phantom for example, spotted in the UK with it's look-at-me paint scheme of black and gold. How's that for a smack in the face of the ailing global economy. Apparently owned by a day-trading young chav in south London, this black and gold Phantom is said to be the only one in the whuurld of its kind.

If you can start to re-chew your lunch from the sight of the Rolls, take a peak at his equally ostentatious Range Rover with bonus octo-exhaust. As if the obnoxious black and gold stripes and cheap chrome accents weren't enough, he's applied cheap playboy bunny stickers on the number plates. This man truly knows how to outfit his rides.

According to the old adage, money can't buy taste, but it can buy more Sam Sparro!

[via Pistonheads]

Well, not really. But if Nick Hogan did have one, this is totally the Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe he'd drive. In fact, we bet he has a poster of this exact car on his jail cell wall right now. We'd also say the odds are high on this Phantom sticking out like a sore thumb at the Pebble Beach Concours.


(Thanks to J.F. Musial for the tip!)

Hey, there's even a little TV in the back, so you can watch as you sip champagne through a straw while your driver pulls off 9 second quarters. We love how even the fuel cell is covered in leather — how properly British. The owner of this monster hasn't yet been determined, but we suspect he wears a monocle etched with racing stripes. [SouthFloridaStangs and Pistonheads]

Princess Margaret's Phantom IV was a gift from Queen Elizabeth II, who had just purchased herself a Rolls Royce Phantom IV Hooper landaulette; she wanted Margaret to have a Phantom IV H.J. Mulliner limousine, just like her first one. How sweet. No word on what kind of mileage the big Rolls limo gets, but with that back seat it sure would make a sweet summer road trip ride.
[Bentleyspotting.com]

With this car, it's easy to draw comparison to Aristotle's model of the tragic hero. The tragic flaws are not in its character but in its history. It is not for lack of greatness but for the existence of those flaws that this car will never win the Concourse d'elegances. That, among many reasons, is why we offer it a place in our garage, with no questions as to its veracity.

Such glorious things rarely start life in such a perfected state, and thus is true for this Phantom. The 1925 Phantom 1 was originally bodied and sold as a Hooper Cabriolet to one Mrs. Hugh Dillman of Detroit, MI. Amusingly enough, it seems the car never left England before it again changed hands and was purchased by the Raja of Nanpara. It was at this point that the Rolls discovered its true fate at the hand of the Belgian coach builder Jonckheere Carrossiers. The car was rebodied in the entirely fabulous hand crafted aero-coupe livery you see today. The work won many awards, including its first concourse entry in le Prix de Cannes, where it won top honors. The details of this car go on for miles and we'll take time to point out only a few highlights.

The automobile was fitted with a six cylinder, 7.66L OHV inline six engine and a four speed manual transmission. The body was completely hand fabricated to include round doors, split-opening half-moon windows, twin sunroofs, bespoke luggage and a stabilizing fin at the rear. All told, the luxurious automobile was quiet enough to hold a conversation at speed and would easily travel at 100 mph.

As with all stories in this form, tragedy strikes early in the tale. Though vast sums had be spent on the car, it changed hands repeatedly within the 1940s and 1950s. It was eventually purchased by an American, Max Obie, when in near-derelict condition. He covered it with over six pounds of gold dust paint and used it as a traveling sideshow; any schmoe with a dollar could pay to marvel at its bastardized glory. And then it was lost to time.


In 1991, the car again emerged from its historical haze by way of international auto auction. The Phantom 1 Jonckheere Coupe was purchase by a private Japanese collector and stashed away for time to pass it by yet again. Here is where the story both diverges and follows the model of tragedy. Instead of descending into obscurity, the Petersen Museum convinced the collector to relinquish ownership and it became ward of the institution. It was promptly restored to is original glory and shown in the 2005 Concourse D'Elegance, where the final tragedy occurred. Because of the lack of provenance, the fates (and the judging committee) would not allow a best in class to be bestowed upon this lustrous wonder. The best it would do is the Lucius Beebe Trophy, awarded to the finest Rolls entered into the show.

With all that, we'll lay the choice with you. Whether tis nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fate, and in doing so rank among the members of Jalopnik Fantasy Garage, or failing that, be cast off into the abyss yet again.

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The Jalopnik Fantasy Garage:
Porsche 959 | 1978 Aston Martin V8 Vantage | Honda 1300 Coupe 9 | 1931 Daimler Double Six 50 Corsica Drophead Coupe | Ferrari 288 GTO | Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 | 1970 Buick GSX 455 | First Generation BMW M Coupe | Bugatti Veyron 16.4 | Ford GT | Citroen SM | Porsche 928 | Jensen FF | DeTomaso Vallelunga | Audi Quattro S1 | Buick GNX | Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R | Honorary Fantasy Garager: The LS1 Powered Rotus | Lamborghini LM002 | Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe | Ferrari 250 GTO | Bentley Speed Six | Talbot-Lago T150C SS Figoni et Falaschi Raindrop/Teardrop Coupe | Porsche 917 | Audi RS4 Avant | Lamborghini Miura | Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 | BMW E39 M5 | Jaguar E-type | Mercedes-Benz 300 SL | Dodge Charger/Challenger R/T | Toyota 2000GT | Facel Vega HK500 | Voisin C28 Aerosport | Bugatti Type 41 Royale | McLaren F1 | Maserati Bora | Continental MK II | Tucker 48 | Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato | BMW 507

Plastic surgery is never cheap, and this is no exception. Putting a Rolls nose on a Chevy seems to have had an impressive price tag. Rumors place it in the neighborhood of $150,000. But what's above the bottom line on that total? A $23,000 572 cubic-inch supercharged Merlin marine engine, for one thing. And those flashy TIS 30s run up to about $20 large. Candy-apple paint chipped in $12,000, and the air bag suspension another $7,000. Those are some hefty numbers, and we haven't even heard about the sound system or quite probably opulent interior yet. We believe the proper term in this case is not "creative," but dayum!

The writing was on the wall early for the RUF RT12. Its early inception and lack of respectable progeny placed it high on the list of potential candidates for the ax. Apparently, prodigious power and fancy paint jobs do not an ongoing fantasy make.

Progeny, it seems, rang the death knell of the ultraluxe Rolls Royce Phantom, as well. Perhaps a bit too much Swabish blood flows through its once proud British heart to allow it to stay in the garage. Perhaps that whiff of aristocratic excess overcomes its elegant craftsmanship. Regardless, it suffers the same fate as its Germanic compatriot.

And so, we've winnowed it down to 39 of the rarest, or most beautiful, or most lovable cars on the planet. And we're working up a special Friday JFG treat to heal the wounds you've all inflicted on each other during the past week's melees.

The Jalopnik Fantasy Garage, As it Stands Today:
1978 Aston Martin V8 Vantage | Honda 1300 Coupe 9 | 1931 Daimler Double Six 50 Corsica Drophead Coupe | Ferrari 288 GTO | Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 | 1970 Buick GSX 455 | First Generation BMW M Coupe | Bugatti Veyron 16.4 | Ford GT | Citroen SM | Porsche 928 | Jensen FF | DeTomaso Vallelunga | Audi Quattro S1 | Buick GNX | Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R | Honorary Fantasy Garager: The LS1 Powered Rotus | Lamborghini LM002 | Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe | Ferrari 250 GTO | Bentley Speed Six | Talbot-Lago T150C SS Figoni et Falaschi Raindrop/Teardrop Coupe | Porsche 917 | Audi RS4 Avant | Lamborghini Miura | Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 | BMW E39 M5 | Jaguar E-type | Mercedes-Benz 300 SL | Dodge Charger/Challenger R/T | Toyota 2000GT | Facel Vega HK500 | Voisin C28 Aerosport | Bugatti Type 41 Royale | McLaren F1 | Maserati Bora | Continental MK II | Tucker 48 | Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato | BMW 507

On the inside, Rolls Royce spares nothing, throwing in Smoke Grey seats with contrasting Navy Blue hide, straight-grained East Indian Rosewood veneer on the dash with micro engraved metal and the usual assortment of Rolls goodies. The piece d'resistance is the starlight headliner, which uses fiber-optics to create the illusion of a starry night, marking the first time that H2 limo tech has ended up in Royce. [Sybarites]

The mega-pimps at Rolls-Royce are taking their joint off the block, offering 25 special-edition Phantoms. Every one of the "Phantom Black" models — which are painted in special "Diamond Black" paint — are spoken for. Their 21" alloys would dwarf most other cars, but on the Phantom they look like doughnuts in search of a coffee cup beneath the Goodyear run-flats. The engine's been fitted with gloss-black intake manifolds, and inside there's soft black leather trimmed with seashell piping, black ash wood veneers and special inlays spelling out "Fuck You" in chunks of polished bone reclaimed from middle managers who never made it to retirement.

Rolls Royce Pimp Their Ride...The "Phantom Black" Special Edition [Carscoop]

Related:
Two Doors, No Contortions: The Rolls-Royce 101EX Concept [internal]