롤스로이스가 남아프리카에서 첫 전기 모델인 스펙터의 테스트를 진행하고 있답니다. 롤스로이스의 전기차가 뜨겁거나 차가운 날씨에서도 변함없이 매력적인 퍼포먼스를 갖췄다는 걸 증명하기 위한 이 프로그램은 전 세계의 다양한 도로에서 총 250만 km 주행을 목표로 삼았고 현재 200만 km 가까이 주행했다고 합니다.
50도 C가 넘는 고온의 남아프리카에서부터 영하 수십도C까지 떨어지는 극한의 북유럽에 이르기까지 다양한 환경에서 펼치는 이런 테스트를 통해 전기 장치들의 원활한 작동과 뛰어난 내구성을 검증하고, 양탄자를 타는 듯한 부드러운 승차감을 유지할 수 있다는 걸 증명해 보이고 싶은 것이겠죠. 게다가 많은 주목을 받게 되니 마케팅으로 쓰기에도 안성맞춤인 시도인 듯 합니다.
앞으로 남은 50만 km 정도의 주행에서는 럭셔리 라이프스타일에 초점을 맞출 계획입니다. 롤스로이스 고객 특유의 초호화 상황과 사용 사례에서 테스트됩니다. 글로벌 메가시티의 중심지, 새롭고 역사적인 럭셔리 목적지 주변, 그리고 소유자의 요구, 습관 및 라이프스타일에 부합하는 기타 환경에서 Spectre의 성능을 테스트하게 됩니다.
롤스로이스가 2022년 5월 21일, 이탈리아 빌라 데스테에서 개최되는 세계 최대 클래식 카 전시회 콩코르소 델레간차(Concorso d’Eleganza)에서 ‘보트 테일(Boat Tail)’ 시리즈의 다음 모델을 공개했다.
보트 테일은 롤스로이스 비스포크 프로그램의 정점인 ‘코치빌드’ 모델로, 선박 디자인에 심미안을 가진 최상위 고객 3명을 위해 제작됐다. 3대의 보트 테일은 동일한 차체 구조와 기술을 바탕으로 개인적인 취향을 반영해 완전히 다른 차량으로 탄생했으며, 첫번째 보트 테일은 지난 2021년 공개됐다.
이번에 공개되는 보트 테일은 아버지와 가문에 대한 경의를 표한 특별한 스토리를 담아 낸 것이 특징이다. 진주 관련 사업을 가업으로 운영하고 있는 고객의 취향을 반영해 최고급 소재와 섬세한 장인의 손길로 최고 수준의 절제미, 세련미, 우아함을 부여했다.
진주를 연상시키는 은은하고도 신비로운 외관은 역대 롤스로이스 비스포크 페인트 중 가장 복잡하고 미묘한 색상으로 마무리됐다. 이는 고객의 개인 소장품에서 엄선한 네 개의 진주 조개껍질에서 영감을 받은 것으로, 오이스터와 부드러운 장미 색상이 부드러운 조화를 이룬다. 여기에 백색과 구리색 운모 조각을 더해 빛에 따라 오묘하게 변하는 특별한 질감을 표현해냈다.
차량 전면부에는 단일 알루미늄으로 제작된 판테온 그릴과 로즈 골드로 만들어진 환희의 여신상이 자리잡았다. 보닛은 오직 이번 보트 테일을 위해 특별 개발된 코냑(Cognac) 색상으로 도색됐으며, 미세한 구리색 및 금색 운모 조각과 크리스탈 및 아이스 무광 클리어 코트로 마감해 따스한 온기와 깊이를 더했다. 보트 테일 하단부 역시 로즈 골드 테크니컬 파이버 소재로 제작됐다.
후면 리어 데크에는 나비 모양으로 개폐 가능한 보트 테일 특유의 ‘호스팅 스위트(Hosting suite)’가 자리잡고 있다. 새틴 브러시로 마감 처리된 로얄 월넛 비니어에는 로즈 골드 색상으로 도금된 핀스트라이프 패턴이 들어가 감각적이면서 세련된 모습을 자랑한다. 고객이 직접 선택한 비니어는 세월이 흐를수록 서서히 아름다운 코냑 색으로 변해 멋을 더한다.
실내 공간은 코냑 및 오이스터 색상의 가죽과 로얄 월넛 비니어가 조화를 이루며, 로즈 골드 및 진주 자개 포인트가 곳곳에 적용됐다. 진주 광택 마감으로 완성된 가죽은 넓은 표면과 보트 테일 시트 및 내부 디자인을 더욱 강조한다. 운전석과 조수석 사이에 위치한 센터 터널은 리어 데크와 같은 로즈 골드 핀스트라이프가 더해진 로얄 월넛 비니어로 제작돼 디자인적 통일감과 따뜻한 분위기를 연출한다.
롤스로이스의 상징 중 하나인 센터페시아 시계는 고객이 소장하고 있던 진주 자개로 제작됐으며, 동일한 소재를 컨트롤러와 계기판 다이얼에도 적용해 자동차와 고객, 그리고 가문을 잇는 강력한 시각적 연결을 만들어냈다.
롤스로이스모터카 CEO 토스텐 뮐러 오트보쉬(Torsten Müller-Ötvös)는 “롤스로이스 코치빌드는 고객의 취향과 개성을 표현하는 창의성의 자유를 완전히 새로운 차원으로 끌어올렸다”며, “보트 테일은 롤스로이스의 전통과 뿌리로의 회귀를 의미할 뿐 아니라, 현대 자동차 제조의 한계를 현실로 구현한 혁명이다”라고 말했다.
한편, 롤스로이스는 지난해 공식 출범한 코치빌드 부서를 통해 고객이 차량 콘셉트 설계부터 디자인, 엔지니어링 등 차량 생산 과정에 참여해 특별한 이야기, 역사, 취향, 감성을 담은 세상에 단 하나뿐인 차를 만들 수 있는 프로그램을 제공하고 있다. 보트 테일은 코치빌드 부서가 맡은 첫 번째 프로젝트다.
롤스로이스모터카가 현지 시각으로 5월 12일 팬텀 시리즈 II(Phantom Series II)를 전세계 최초 공개했다.
롤스로이스 팬텀은 1925년 처음 등장한 이래 탁월한 기술력과 시간을 초월하는 디자인, 최고급 럭셔리에 대한 깊은 이해를 바탕으로 ‘세계 최고의 차(The Best Car in the World)’라는 명성을 누려왔다. 이번에 선보이는 팬텀 시리즈 II는 지난 2017년 첫 선을 보인 이후 출시되는 부분변경 모델로, 최소한의 변화를 요구한 고객들의 의견을 반영한 ‘라이트 터치’ 디자인과 최첨단 편의 기능이 탑재된 것이 특징이다.
8세대 팬텀 시리즈 II는 최소한의 변화로 미적 요소를 향상시켰다. 먼저 전면부 판테온 그릴 상단과 주간 주행등 사이에 세련된 수평선을 추가해 신선하면서 모던한 분위기를 연출했으며, 그릴에 섬세하고 기하학적인 변형을 줌으로써 롤스로이스의 상징인 ‘RR’ 배지와 환희의 여신상을 더욱 돋보이게 했다. 여기에 마치 별빛처럼 복잡한 레이저 컷 베젤이 적용된 헤드라이트를 탑재해 어두운 밤에도 압도적인 존재감을 뿜어낸다.
새로운 팬텀은 롤스로이스 특유의 짧은 오버행, 긴 휠베이스, 굵은 C필러는 물론 환희의 여신상에서부터 후면부까지 이어지는 우아한 라인을 그대로 유지했다. 이와 더불어, 전면부 휀더부터 리어 램프까지 이어지는 ‘스플릿-벨트(Split-belt)’ 라인으로 차량의 비율을 강조하고 과감하게 깎아낸 ‘와프트 라인(Waft line)’은 드라마틱한 음영을 만들어 롤스로이스 고유의 ‘매직 카펫 라이드’ 승차감을 시각적으로 표현했다.
차량의 측면을 완성하는 휠 세트는 두 가지 형태로 제공된다. 3D 밀링 기법으로 제작된 스테인리스 스틸 휠을 전체 또는 부분 광택으로 주문하거나 1920년대 롤스로이스의 낭만을 떠올리게 하는 디스크 휠을 선택할 수 있다. 광택 스테인리스 스틸로 제작된 디스크 휠은 블랙 래커로 마감해 마치 지상 위를 비행을 하고 있는 듯한 느낌을 선사한다.
팬텀의 호화로운 실내는 그대로 유지하되, 직접 운전을 선호하는 고객층이 나날이 증가함에 따라 미세하게 두꺼워진 스티어링 휠이 장착됐다. 새로운 스티어링 휠은 차량과 운전자가 연결된 느낌을 강화하면서 더욱 즉각적인 반응을 전달한다.
팬텀 시리즈 II에는 ‘롤스로이스 커넥티드(Rolls-Royce Connected)’ 기능이 탑재된다. 롤스로이스 전용 멤버십 애플리케이션 ‘위스퍼스’와 호환 가능한 롤스로이스 커넥티드는 위스퍼스 내 주소와 정보 등을 차량으로 바로 전송할 수 있다. 뿐만 아니라, 해당 애플리케이션에서 차량 상태, 위치 및 보안 등 각종 정보를 실시간으로 확인할 수 있으며, 버튼 하나만 누르면 원하는 전시장으로 연결되어 차량 관련 서비스나 차량에 대해 쉽고 빠르게 문의할 수 있다.
한편, 롤스로이스는 팬텀 시리즈 II의 출시를 기념하기 위해 비스포크 모델 팬텀 플래티노(Phantom Platino)를 제작했다. 새로운 비스포크 걸작인 팬텀 플래티노는 백금(Platinum)의 은백색 마감에서 이름을 따왔다.
팬텀 플래티노는 소재에 대한 롤스로이스의 탐구 정신이 여실히 드러나는 모델이다. 차량의 뒷좌석과 실내 곳곳은 최고급 가죽이 아닌 두 가지 다른 직물로 마감됐다. 이탈리아 모직 공장에서 생산된 직물은 내구성이 높으면서도 고급스러움을 자랑한다.
비단처럼 부드러운 직물은 팬텀 갤러리와 암레스트, 센터 콘솔 등 승객의 시선이 머무는 곳을 장식한다. 촘촘하고 탄력 있는 대나무 섬유는 압력을 견뎌야 하는 실내 하부 공간에 적용됐다. 환희의 여신상을 추상적으로 재해석한 패턴이 들어간 두 직물은 동일한 색상의 다른 색조를 매치하는 톤온톤(tone on tone) 배색으로 편안하고 아름다운 실내 분위기를 연출한다.
뿐만 아니라, 대시보드에 위치한 시계의 주변부는 3D 프린팅으로 제작된 세라믹으로 장식됐으며, 무광으로 마감된 우드 비니어와 대조를 이뤄 아름다운 색의 조화를 만들어낸다. 또한, 스타라이트 헤드라이너의 별들은 시선을 뒤쪽으로 향하게끔 배치하고 슈팅스타는 아치 모양으로 떨어지도록 특별 제작됐다.
롤스로이스 100주년 기념, 103 EX 컨셉카(ROLLS-ROYCE VISION NEXT 100) 사진 32장 올립니다
과거의 100년을 기념하며 새로운 미래 100년을 준비하는 롤스로이스의 자세네요.
지금 시각으론 부담스러운 것이 사실이지만 미래는 누구도 예측할 수 없죠.
Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
“With the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100 we were mindful not to dwell on the past. We wanted to be as innovative as possible and at the same time transcend the design history of the marque.”
Giles Taylor, Director of Design, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
In a spectacular event at London’s Roundhouse today, the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100 was presented. The car defines the future of luxury mobility. Codenamed 103EX, it is the marque’s first ever pure ‘Vision Vehicle’.
The Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100 presents an intriguing and aesthetically dynamic vision of the future of luxury mobility – a completely personal, effortless and autonomous Rolls-Royce experience, wrapped in a design that ensures a ‘Grand Sanctuary’ for its occupants, and a ‘Grand Arrival’.
The Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100 anticipates the mobility demands of the luxury customer of the future. Brought to life by Rolls-Royce after many months of study and consultation with current patrons of the brand, the car represents their clearly expressed desire for an assurance that the marque’s plans for the future of luxury personal mobility will continue to embody the key attributes that have made Rolls-Royce the preferred marque of the most discerning and powerful patrons in the world for over a Century.
With the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100, the brand provides just such an assurance to its valued customers – present and future. It makes a bold and definitive statement of confidence in a future where Rolls-Royce rejects the notion of anonymous, utilitarian and bland future modes of mobility. Through an intimate understanding of its customers’ thinking and their demands in the future, Rolls-Royce presents an exciting and highly appealing vision of effortless, autonomous, spacious and beautiful luxury mobility, as personal as each individual customer.
Background
This ‘Vision Vehicle’ is one of four announced by the BMW Group in Munich on 7 March 2016, as it launched its centenary celebrations – THE NEXT 100 YEARS. In addition to being the centenary of the BMW Group, 2016 also represents a seminal moment in the history of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.
For Rolls-Royce, the end of production of the seventh generation Phantom – considered by aficionados to be "the best car in the world" – represents the completion of the first phase of the Rolls-Royce brand’s renaissance under BMW Group custodianship. The success of Phantom, Ghost, Wraith and now Dawn serves as the foundation for a bold new chapter.
This highly successful era for the world’s most celebrated luxury brand has been driven by a restless commitment to always looking forward.
In this spirit, the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100 is presented – a truly revolutionary, highly authentic exploration of the future of luxury mobility. It provides a fully authentic look into the potential demands and desires of the wealthy connoisseur of the future.
The Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100 – a vision of the future of luxury mobility
In creating the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100, the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars design team, led by Director of Design Giles Taylor, asked themselves the question, “How can we recast luxury for the next 100 years?” Within that question the team found that they had to address two further questions: “What will a Rolls-Royce owner expect of his or her Rolls-Royce in the coming decades?” and “How do we at Rolls-Royce today envision how we meet those expectations?”. These questions allowed the team to dream of the staggering possibilities for Rolls-Royce’s future.
Rolls-Royce intimately understands its patrons and their likely desires and motivations in the future. It understands that true luxury is deeply personal and that the hallmarks of every Rolls-Royce past and present are key to its future. The designers therefore distilled four key tenets that not only underpin the elegant solution that is the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100, but epitomise the future of luxury mobility as a whole:
The Personal Vision
The Effortless Journey
The Grand Sanctuary
The Grand Arrival
In presenting the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100, the marque has rejected the common notion that the future of personal transport is a utilitarian and functional one. Rolls-Royce has stepped bravely into the future to propose a no-compromise, fully autonomous, coachbuilt, personalised vision to those customers who wish for an emotional attachment to their car. This reasoning led them to the first key tenet: The Personal Vision.
The Personal Vision
The Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100, as presented in London on Thursday 16 June 2016, is but one example of a number of possible personal visions of a Rolls-Royce of the future. Indeed, in an evolution of the Rolls-Royce Bespoke experience of today, the customers’ taste will influence the exact design of his or her Rolls-Royce and how it will be configured.
In the spirit of the great coachbuilt cars of the past, Rolls-Royce will create the chassis of the future, hand-built from the most advanced materials and powered by a zero emissions powertrain. Advanced manufacturing technologies will enable customers to involve themselves even more in the design of the shape, size and silhouette of their personal Rolls-Royce vision. The future customer will commission his or her own concept. Rolls‑Royce will design and manufacture this personal vision of each customer and make every Rolls-Royce a unique Bespoke masterpiece.
In short, the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100 utilises envisioned advances in technology to herald the return to authentic coachbuilding.
The Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100 is the vision of the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars design team, led by Director of Design Giles Taylor. Their deep understanding of the Rolls-Royce customer of the future and the world in which they will live led them to conceive of a motor car that would serve and augment its patron’s lifestyle in every way.
“The Rolls-Royce patron will continue to be a famous figure in the future,” explains Taylor. I envision that the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100 will play a key role in these people’s lives, guiding and conveying them effortlessly through their life’s journey in an exquisite sanctuary where they can reflect in peace ahead of arriving in the grandest style.”
The Effortless Journey, the Grand Sanctuary and the Grand Arrival. The next three tenets and hallmarks of the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100.
The Effortless Journey
For the 105 years since her creation in 1911, the Spirit of Ecstasy, modelled by sculptor and artist Charles Sykes, on Eleanor Thornton, has silently guided every Rolls-Royce and its owner through the momentous events of their lives. She has stood as an elegant presence at some of history’s most notable events.
Today, the ‘Voice of Eleanor’ inhabits the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100, delivering the dream of an effortless future to her owners. Digitally connected to every aspect of her owners’ lives and her surrounding environment, ‘Eleanor’ becomes their virtual assistant and chauffeur, freeing them of all effort and encumbrance. Imbued with her own artificial intelligence, she works intuitively to advise her owners on itineraries, schedules and options before they leave their residence, reminding about appointments and tasks and making suggestions to ease any anticipated impediments.
She ‘brings’ the car around when her passengers are ready to travel and, whilst conveying her charges to their next destination, helpfully but discreetly makes suggestions and recommendations, briefing them ahead of their arrival so they are ready to ‘perform’. And ever vigilant, ‘Eleanor’ safely delivers her passengers to their destination, having already predicted the situation and surroundings that await them.
This Effortless Journey is enhanced by the hallmark Rolls-Royce ‘magic carpet ride’ delivered through a blend of a futuristic, powerful, zero-emission drivetrain and advanced suspension that sees the vehicle almost skim across the road surface. As a V12 combustion engine is most unlikely to exist in the future, one can only surmise how this Rolls-Royce will be powered. A hint may appear in the Grand Sanctuary that is the interior of the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100.
The Grand Sanctuary
“Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.” Coco Chanel
Already prepared by ‘Eleanor’ for the next journey in their event-filled lives, our owners are met by the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100 which awaits their departure. Entering the Grand Sanctuary, our passengers step in unbowed, with consummate grace and dignity, as with the state carriages of old, taking their place on the best seat in the house. Cocooned in the futuristic but handcrafted lounge atmosphere, the coach door and clamshell canopy glide closed to envelop them in uninterrupted silence and luxury.
As one would expect from a Rolls-Royce, the environment of the Grand Sanctuary is crafted from the most precious and contemporary of materials. What is unexpected is the feeling of lightness and simplicity, an effortless elegance.
True to this spirit, the cabin is encircled by the most modern handcrafted fine-line Macassar wood panelling, sweeping across the interior from the coach door, continuing around behind the generous OLED screen and up beside the second passenger to the side of the sofa. This ensures a continuous, beautifully clean and sculptural surface when the screen is extinguished.
The centrepiece of the cabin is the beautiful sofa. The best seat in the house, it is an exquisite, futuristic interpretation of modern furniture design. Clothed in the most opulent fabrics, it gives the impression of floating within the cocoon of the cabin thanks to the artful use of lighting and modern materials.
Inspired by the early regal Rolls-Royces, but also by the ground-breaking work executed on the 2015 Phantom Serenity, the designers used the symbol of ultimate elegance – silk – to clothe the sofa. This most natural and sensual of materials is combined with wool to create a beautifully textured, ivory-coloured luxurious throne upon which our passengers are conveyed, and from which they command.
A final sensual touchpoint within the cabin is the finest one-off deep-pile ivory wool carpet woven especially in London, which our passengers can enjoy as they luxuriate in the ample space created by the removal of the chauffeur.
This sense of space is accentuated as our passengers’ view from their seats is uninterrupted by a cockpit or steering wheel which are now superfluous. From their powerful position within the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100, “All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players…”.
Should they choose to drop their eyes from that world stage for a moment and ask ‘Eleanor’ for visual cues, she will provide them on the transparent OLED screen that dominates the front wall of the cabin. Here our passengers can view information regarding their journey, their destination and the people they are expecting to meet. Or they may simply choose to retreat from the outside world and be entertained by their favourite show for a while.
Or they may just contemplate the finely crafted analogue clock that hovers in a central position above the screen, which serves both as a reminder of Sir Henry Royce’s humble beginnings as an electrical pioneer making electric dynamos, and of time as the ultimate luxury.
“Rolls-Royce design today is the epitome of elegance,” Taylor comments, “and this elegance is achieved through simplicity of design under which lies the technology that makes our patrons experience effortless.”
The Grand Arrival
Certain truths are constant over time. One of these truths is how the powerful have always understood the symbols through which they express their standing. From the lavish chariots of the Roman Emperors to the individually hand built state carriages and cars of Monarchy – such as the coachbuilt Rolls-Royce Phantom IV used during Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation – such fine vehicles have been designed to project the importance of the individual inside to those waiting outside.
Waiting with bated breath for a grand arrival, the crowds were never anything but impressed by the stately arrival of their idol. In the future, Rolls-Royce believes that its powerful patrons will wish to continue projecting their power and status in such a manner.
This truth is reflected in the most dramatic aspect of the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100 – its iconic, imposing and futuristic presence which ensures a Grand Arrival for its occupants. Yet whilst it powerfully expresses the future of luxury, it remains constant to the iconic tropes of any true Rolls-Royce: The Spirit of Ecstasy, the Pantheon grille, the long bonnet and the iconic proportions of the entire vehicle.
The very size of the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100 announces the importance of its precious cargo. At 5.9 metres long and 1.6 metres high, it mirrors the perfect dimensions of today’s Phantom Extended Wheelbase, whilst the ever constant Spirit of Ecstasy grows in stature, harking back to the regal Phantoms of the 1920s. Hand-crafted by the finest European glassmakers of today, she lights the way to the future of luxury. She is poised atop the re-imagined, yet still iconic, Pantheon grille with the red Double-R badge of an experimental Rolls-Royce.
From these timeless icons of Rolls-Royce design flow the graceful, sweeping lines and expressive surfaces that combine to create a completely futuristic vision of a possible Rolls-Royce exterior.
The polished metal of the grille flows up over the nose, around the base of the Spirit of Ecstasy and along the top of the suspended laser-headlight hoops, before narrowing to shoot down the side of the vehicle’s long bonnet, as a dividing line between upper and lower sections of the car. Not stopping at the extremes of the bonnet, this beautiful metal feature creates a beautiful ‘horseshoe’ as it flows along the top edge of the coach door, describes a parabola up and over the pronounced rear shoulder, encircling the rear of the glass canopy and back down the other flank.
This dividing line accentuates the car’s two-tone design scheme. The upper section is entirely comprised of dark glass. It flows fluidly as a daring fastback, creating a glass canopy over the occupants that provides privacy whilst allowing them to contemplate the majesty of the stars in the firmament above as they glide through the night; a window on the world ahead before resolving itself into the bonnet of the car.
The lower section is more dramatic in its design and in what it achieves. Draped in a silk-like ‘Crystal Water’ colour scheme, its surfacing achieves a lightness that belies the vehicle’s size. This is automotive ‘Haute Couture’. From whatever angle the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100 is viewed, it seems to float, whether at rest or in motion.
This lightness is achieved through the paring back of this vehicle to the essence of a Rolls-Royce by the Design team, who were freed from their current constraints by the new propulsion and coach-build technologies now available to them. So, for example, where an engine would once have occupied the entire under-bonnet area of the car, a luggage compartment is positioned just aft of the front wheels.
In conceiving this bold vision of the future of luxury, the designers remain steadfast in their commitment to imbuing every element of the Rolls-Royce experience with effortlessness. The luggage compartment therefore opens automatically following arrival and disembarkation, presenting two Grand Tourer cases. In the case of the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100, the cases are fittingly personalised to CS Rolls and FH Royce.
The newly liberated Pantheon grille is now the unencumbered prow of the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100. It is the front of a fully enclosed and smooth-bottomed hull that echoes the form language of 1920’s Rolls-Royces, with its ‘boat-tail’, and within which the entire accommodation area is located.
Constructed from light yet incredibly strong materials, the hull ‘floats’ above the road surface as it is suspended from the vehicle’s wheels via exposed arms and struts.
The 28-inch tall but narrow wheels upon which the car glides are each hand-built from 65 individual pieces of aluminium, and enclosed to deliver the impression of a futuristic catamaran.
Seen from the side, the coachwork delivers hallmark Rolls-Royce privacy to the occupants as it rises gracefully like a fine cloak over the shoulders at the rear of the car. However, this fine drapery flatters to deceive as this rear shoulder line also imparts an air of powerful but graceful forward motion, accentuated by the rising beltline that thrusts upwards in a manner reminiscent of the great pre-war Rolls-Royces.
Whilst this radical new design language also contributes to an effortless, unruffled journey thanks to improved air flow and reduced air resistance, its unquestioned drama delivers a grand arrival.
Rolls-Royce and the art of the Grand Arrival
In the era of the stately carriage, and even of the early coachbuilt limousine, one was guaranteed an arrival befitting one’s stature. As we have seen, the exterior design and adornment of such conveyances announced one’s importance, as did the luxurious appointment of the interior.
However, one other aspect of such vehicles contributed to their suitability for such occasions: their elevated position, suspended as they were on large wheels. Combined with the high ceiling typical of carriage or limousine, one could normally stand before stepping out in a graceful and dignified manner. Modern aerodynamic considerations meant that even modern limousines’ rooflines had to be lowered, thereby reducing headroom and requiring one to stoop slightly when alighting from one’s vehicle.
Unwilling to accept such stricture and compromise in the future, Giles Taylor and his team set to work to reinstate the Grand Arrival as it should be.
The Grand Arrival of the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100 is first signalled by the Spirit of Ecstasy and Pantheon grille illuminating to cast an ethereal, otherworldly glow from the front of the car. As this vision of the future gracefully sweeps up to its destination, the ethereal glow spreads from the trailing edge of the front wheel arch to the rear of the single coach door, signalling that something momentous is about to happen. As the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100 gracefully comes to a halt, something magnificent occurs.
Hinged on the left of the vehicle, the glass canopy lifts to allow the occupant to stand whilst providing shelter from above and behind. Then, in one effortless movement, the single coach door sweeps open and a step emerges from below the running board. As a final flourish, a red light is projected, carpet-like, from the underside of the step as a welcome.
Thus, as in Botticelli’s ‘The Birth of Venus’, our guest is framed and ready to step gracefully into the limelight and greet their audience.
“The Grand Arrival gesture of the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100 creates a stage for our important passengers as they arrive at their ultimate destination,” comments Taylor. “It is an expression of our intrinsic understanding of the possibilities for a true luxury brand and the desires of its customers.”
The Personal Vision, the Effortless Journey, the Grand Sanctuary and the Grand Arrival. Rolls-Royce’s vision of the next 100 years. Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100. A vision of the future of luxury.
Virtual Vision
Rolls-Royce has also harnessed the power of the virtual space to bring the experience of the Vision NEXT 100 closer to those unable to personally see the vehicle in London.
The Vision 360 CGI experience immerses the viewer in a journey from Goodwood, the Home of Rolls-Royce, through to vision of the future of luxury. Viewers can enjoy and explore the fine detail of Rolls-Royce 103EX, guided by the voice of the original Spirit of Ecstasy, Eleanor Thornton, on YouTube 360°.
-Ends-
Further information:
Photographs of the Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100 will be available from 12.20 BST on Thursday 16 June 2016. They are to be found at www.rolls-royce103EX.com and the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars PressClub.
You can find all our press releases and press kits, as well as a wide selection of high resolution, downloadable photographs and video footage at our media website, PressClub. You can also find the communications team at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars on Twitter and Instagram (RollsRoyceMedia).
Note to editors:
A brief history of Rolls-Royce Coachbuilding: A personal work of art
"Taste", as the 19th century American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson noted, "is the love of beauty, whilst the creation of beauty is art". This could easily be the maxim of Rolls-Royce patrons – many of whom are known to be great collectors of art – as they commission beautiful coachbuilt Rolls-Royces, which are considered to be artworks in their own right.
Historically, Rolls-Royce's patrons demonstrated their excellent taste by commissioning coachbuilders such as Barker, Hooper, Gurney Nutting, Park Ward and James Young to create truly individual Rolls-Royces. These stunning one-off pieces presented deeply personal statements of taste to the world. Indeed, it was one such car, the Silver Ghost of 1907, which first claimed for Rolls-Royce the title of "the best car in the world".
For its first 50 years, Rolls-Royce was inextricably linked to the coachbuilders of the day, but as the passage of time and technology marched on, the marque would eventually join the rest of the motor car industry in designing and building pressed steel bodies, designed to serve as a perfect blank canvas upon which patrons of luxury could express their tastes and lifestyles.
Rolls-Royces, of course, remained at the pinnacle of car manufacture, synonymous with the most pre-eminent men and women of their respective eras.
For example, between 1950 and 1956, Rolls-Royce produced the ultimate in contemporary luxury, the Phantom IV – built exclusively for Royalty and Heads of State. Only 18 of these cars were ever produced. The later Phantom V and VI coachbuilt cars were available to anyone with the money to purchase one. As well as the Heads of State and royal families, Phantoms were the motor car of choice of the newly wealthy.
Futuristic Coachbuilding: A vision of the ‘Future of Luxury’
Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100
The renaissance of the Rolls-Royce brand was confirmed in 2003 with the launch of the seventh generation of Phantom. Since then Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has striven tirelessly to realise an intrinsically forward-looking vision of luxury on behalf of its patrons. Phantom has remained the “best car in the world” ever since, according to aficionados, experts and media alike.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars also redefined the meaning of a true luxury good, from the inside out, through the medium of its Bespoke programme. Completely personalised marquetry, paint colours, leather or material treatments and many other exquisitely designed and crafted touches have resulted in some of the most beautiful one-off Rolls-Royces ever made. Witness the Celestial and Serenity Phantoms of recent years. They are the epitome of what a true luxury good is. Unique, hand-crafted, comfortable, beautiful and above all, rare.
And whilst the only limit to what a Rolls-Royce can become is the customer’s imagination, certain time-bound present-day technology and scientific limitations have to be obeyed. Human imagination has leapt towards the far reaches of the cosmos but our dreams are harnessed by technology and science.
Now however, technologies are emerging that enable Rolls-Royce Motor Cars to lead with its authoritative vision of the future of luxury. The Rolls-Royce VISION NEXT 100 embodies that vision.
초럭셔리카 메이커로 통하는 롤스로이스가 이번 제네바 모터쇼에 고스트의 페이스리프트 모델을 출품했네요
고스트는 팬텀 아랫급이지만 그에 못지 않게 호화롭죠.
이번 페이스리프트를 통해 LED 헤드램프를 달고 범퍼와 보닛에 약간의 변화를 주었네요
세부사항은 아래 더보기를 꾹~ 끝
Tuesday 4 March 2014, Goodwood
Today at the 2014 Geneva Salon, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars unveiled Ghost Series II to the world. Ghost Series II delivers the latest industry-leading technology from Rolls-Royce clad in a subtle re-design. It exudes the timeless yet cool, modern luxury that the car’s customers – the Captains of Industry, entrepreneurs and successful business men and women who are the wealth and job creators in our economies – demand. The launch of Ghost Series II consolidates Ghost’s position as the most popular car in the €200,000+ class, and as a cornerstone of Rolls-Royce’s continuing success.
On unveiling Ghost Series II to a packed hall in Geneva’s Palexpo, Chief Executive Officer of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Torsten Müller-Ötvös said, “The Rolls-Royce Ghost Series II is the ultimate entrepreneur’s business tool. Following the worldwide success of its predecessor, I am confident that this re-designed and updated Rolls-Royce will continue to attract increasing numbers of new customers to the marque, in particular business entrepreneurs seeking an oasis of calm in a frenetic business world.”
Ghost Series II – design evolved
Protecting the popularity of Ghost’s iconic design whilst delivering the latest Rolls-Royce technology to its exacting customers, the subtle re-design of Ghost Series II begins from the front.
Re-sculpted LED headlights encircled by daytime running lights lend Ghost Series II a more dynamic visual signature and blend perfectly with revised surface treatments to the front of the car. A tapered ‘wake channel’ on the bonnet, emanating from the Spirit of Ecstasy, evokes the sight of a jet’s vapour trail or wake of a fast luxury yacht and hints at the car’s dynamism. Subtle re-sculpting of Ghost’s bumpers creates a stronger stance and a sense of extra width and height, whilst the contemporary aesthetic is further enhanced with the addition of chrome inserts to the front air intakes, which now feed more air cooling to the front brakes. In addition, the famous waft line has been re-designed on Ghost Series II to lean further forwards emphasising the car’s effortless dynamism.
“As a design statement, Rolls-Royce Ghost Series II continues to transcend time,” comments Giles Taylor, Director of Design for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. “This is ensured by the deft treatment of features such as the new headlights, the new wake channel on the bonnet and surfacing that lend the car a more dynamic, purposeful stance and hint at the cutting edge technology inside. I am very pleased with the overall sense of design harmony.”
Inside, Ghost Series II delivers on its outward appearance. The ultimate contemporary combination of luxury, technology and connectivity available to the successful entrepreneur on the move today, Ghost Series II’s onboard technology ensures it is an oasis of calm in a busy, connected world where he or she can do business in peace.
Its suite of technologies ensures that both business and leisure time in the car are a super-luxurious effortless experience. On-board Wi-Fi makes Ghost Series II the most connected, luxurious place in which to conduct business on the move, whilst Satellite Aided Transmission (SAT), debuted in Wraith last year, enhances the car’s dynamism – ensuring the car automatically adapts to its surroundings augmenting the drive experience. Updates to navigation systems and the car/user interface ensures accessing Ghost’s features remains an effortless experience, whilst optional Bespoke Audio – the most exhaustively engineered and finest audio system in automotive history – brings new levels of aural satisfaction to passengers.
In short, Ghost remains the ultimate choice for successful entrepreneurs around the world and the calmest place from which to run their successful enterprises on the move.
2012 롤스로이스 고스트 식스센스(GHOST SIX SENSES CONCEPT) 고화질 사진들
GHOST SIX SENSES CONCEPT ELEVATES THE SPIRIT OF ECSTASY TO A NEW LEVEL OF SENSORY INDULGENCE
23.04.2012
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars proudly presents the Ghost Six Senses concept, a highly-bespoke luxury model that encapsulates the richness of experience that comes as standard with any Rolls-Royce and takes it to a new level of sensory indulgence.
Approaching this luxurious Rolls-Royce and opening its coach doors immediately ignites the senses for sight, taste, touch, sound and aroma. And the sense of surprise and delight continues as guests encounter the lavish use of soft, sumptuous leathers, finest veneer detailing and special bespoke enhancements.
“The Ghost Six Senses concept is a luxurious environment designed for the most discerning of individuals,” commented Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Rolls-Royce CEO. “It delights the senses and draws you into somewhere that transcends the interior of a car. Relax for a few moments and you will experience something that is hard to define, but which our customers understand so well.
“It can be likened to an aura, a sense that the stunning hand-made interior embodies something of the heart and soul of each proud craftsperson involved in its creation. That’s a uniquely Rolls-Royce sixth sense that this car presents so elegantly.”
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is the world’s leading luxury goods manufacturer. And while the world of luxury presents many objects of desire that captivate one or more senses, it takes one of these hand-built cars to awaken all five.
Sight
Beautiful and elegant, a Rolls-Royce Ghost is a sign of impeccable taste, a luxury car that is instantly pleasing to the eye. Ghost Six Senses’ pearlescent Carrara White finish complements new forged alloy wheels while eyes are immediately drawn to rich interior detailing upon entry through its coach doors. The deep lustre of the Walnut Burr veneer complete with diagonally-oriented, brown oak cross-banding, are designed to hint at the extraordinary power at the driver’s disposal.
Sound
For more than 100 years the sound of silence has driven the Rolls-Royce brand. But 21st century Ghost and Phantom models also present an auditorium in which the most advanced systems can deliver music in the most impressive fashion. The concept audio system in Ghost Six Senses richly fills the spacious rear cabin thanks to its upgraded amplifier and the inclusion of ‘exciter’ speakers housed in the leather headlining that help raise the centre of sound closer to a passenger’s ear.
Aroma
The finest interior materials create scents that are unique to Rolls-Royce. The rich aroma greeting Ghost Six Senses’ occupants comes from the most supple natural soft grain leather in enveloping, hand-crafted seats, as well as in the car’s leather headlining, with added hints of the woody spice in the walnut veneer.
Taste
Bathed in light from a panoramic sunroof, the rear cabin urges occupants to relax in style. For the ultimate taste experience the most refreshing chilled drinks or vintage champagne can be served from Ghost Six Senses’ coolbox, in flutes featuring a delightful sound-wave etching.
Touch
From cool chrome and sumptuous leather to the finest veneers, a Rolls-Royce is the most tactile way to travel in ultra-luxury. Ghost Six Senses takes this concept further with the inclusion of natural grain leather for the first time. Deep pile lambswool rugs encourage occupants to submerge feet, while opening the boot effortlessly with remote opener, reveals a further lambswool lining to cosset luxury bespoke luggage.
“Ghost Six Senses redefines a simple truth,” added Torsten Müller-Ötvös. “A Rolls-Royce is always so much more than the sum of its beautiful parts.”