Tag Archives: Rolls-Royce

First Look: 2022 Rolls Royce Ghost Black Badge

Who would have thought you could make the Rolls-Royce Ghost look so sinister?

Rolls-Royce revealed a new addition to the Rolls-Royce Ghost line-up in Miami Thursday — the Black Badge — during a North America dealer meeting that saw about 100 retailers meet with the automaker’s top executives. 

The automaker revealed the new model to dealers at the Mad nightclub in the hip and trendy Wynnewood section of Miami, and will do the same for customers later this week.

“We just felt this was very Black Badge,” said Richard Carter, director of communications for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. “It’s very, noir; It’s very alternative; and that’s the essence of Black Badge.”

The Rolls-Royce Ghost Black Badge expands a line-up that began with the Wraith coupe, followed by the Phantom sedan in 2016, the Dawn cabriolet in 2017 and the Cullinan SUV in 2019. The murdered-out Black Badge models now account for more than 27% of Rolls-Royce sales worldwide, including 40% of Cullinan sales.

The darker side of opulence

To realize the Ghost Black Badge’s menacing demeanor, the company uses 100 pounds of the industry’s darkest black paint. The Spirit of Ecstasy and Pantheon Grille are darkened using a chrome electrolyte applied during chrome plating. The new model wears exclusive 21-inch wheels with as many as 44 layers of carbon fiber.

The 2022 Rolls-Royce Ghost Black Badge can be had in more that 44,000 different hues, although most Black Badge customers choose black.

As you’d expect, interior components are darkened including air vents and the wood veneer, along with Black Badge badging and other unique interior touches, although clients are free to specify any number of colors and trim to be used on the car’s interior.

Engineers also contributed, fitting larger air springs to alleviate body roll during assertive cornering. There’s also roughly 29 additional horsepower and a revised transmission to make the Black Badge a bit more athletic. They also reduced brake pedal travel.

A quick turn behind the wheel of pre-production prototypes revealed a car that can be driven more aggressively than your average Ghost. Grip is impressive while cornering, staying firmly planted despite some noticeable body roll. Body motions never become excessive, and rebound over bumps is very well controlled. Yet its agility doesn’t come at the expense of the brand’s legendary comfort.

An idea born in Beverly Hills

The idea of Black Badge occurred in 2014 in Beverly Hills.

“This whole notion of the alter ego of Rolls Royce, the slightly noir, naughty, edgy side of Rolls Royce is something that we were thinking about. We were looking at ways and means of lowering the age profile of our brand,” Carter said.

The Pantheon Grille and Spirit of Ecstasy also receive the Black Badge treatment.

At the time, the brand had one model, the Phantom, and an average buyer’s age of 57. “We were selling one model to a dying set of customers, and there was no future in that,” he said.

At the time, the company was about to release the first-generation Ghost, followed by its two-door spinoff, the Wraith, both of which would attract younger buyers. But the company needed more. They were searching for an idea, but hadn’t settled on anything yet.

Torsten Müller-Ötvös, chief executive officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, was waiting for a car to pick him up at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills when a murdered-out Phantom Coupe pulled up. Ötvös was stunned, and asked the owner why he modified his Phantom.

“He told me over the weekend, that he wants to be a different kind of character,” Ötvös said. “For some of the week, he is friendly and nice. But over the weekend, he wants to be something different. He enjoyed playing a different role; how he was dressed, looked and talked.” 

A couple weeks later, Ötvös had similar experiences particularly in the United States, particularly in California. This led to the creation of Black Badge at a time where murdered-out cars weren’t mainstream.

A surprising success

The Ghost Black Badge is revealed for the first time at the Mad nightclub in Miami.

Initially, executives expected Black Badge models to have a 10%-15% take rate. But they were mistaken. It turned out to be a stunning success, with a far higher take rate. Currently, Black Badge represents 40% of Cullinan sales. Black Badge, along with new models like Ghost, Wraith and Cullinan, have brought the average Rolls-Royce buyer’s age down to 43, quite a large drop in a little less than a decade. 

“We are even younger than Mini as a brand in the BMW Group,” Ötvös said, who then explained that the type of wealthy car buyer has changed. 

“When you look into ultra-high net worth individuals, those people who are our target group worldwide, they became younger and younger over time because the way to generate wealth is very, very different from what it used to be 15-to-20 years ago.”

Rolls-Royce sees its Black Badge line as one that appeals to iconoclasts, a type of buyer that the brand has always attracted, particularly during the pre-World War II years, when all coachwork was custom built.

“Black Badge was the most instrumental piece we had in an all-new brand strategy to massively decrease the average age and illuminate the brand in a significant way,” Ötvös said. 

Mission accomplished.

Rare Rides: The Saudi King’s 1984 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit Cabriolet, a White Whale

The Rare Rides series has featured five Rolls–Royce premium vehicles in past editions, yet none of them had more than two doors. We remedy this oversight today with a four-door Rolls commissioned and owned by the king of Saudi Arabia.

It’s not what you’d call subtle.

Much like the Camargue linked above, the Silver Spirit was one of the few models to carry Rolls-Royce into its more modern era. The Spirit lived a very long life, in its standard wheelbase guise from 1980 to 1997, and long-wheelbase Silver Spur format from 1980 to 2000. The Silver Spirit sustained Rolls through the end of its Vickers ownership and into the VW Group era. It would see replacement by the Silver Seraph, a car full of BMW parts but sold by Volkswagen. A different Rare Rides entry for sure.

The Spirit was the “volume” Rolls-Royce model, and at the time was also marketed as several Bentley models. All of those Bentleys were an Eight but had various trims, engines, and names. The Spirit and Spur were sold through four different series, all bearing a Mark I-IV title as typical with British cars that see updates. Mark I carried the Spirit through 1988 with its traditional 6.75-liter V8 and a sturdy three-speed GM THM400 transmission. Mark II was an important modernization point and included Automatic Ride Control which adjusted the dampers, ABS, and fuel injection. All those modern trappings so foreign to Rolls-Royce traditionalists. 1991 saw the introduction of a four-speed 4L80 transmission used in the civilian Hummer.

Mark III arrived in 1993, and included visual updates like new bumpers and flush composite headlamps, alongside airbags. In addition to the Spirit and Spur, two limited-run models appeared at this time. The Flying Spur had the turbocharged V8 from the Bentley Turbo R and was limited to 134 examples. There was also a high-zoot Silver Dawn, which had electric traction control and heated rear seats. Considered a more subtle car, the front radiator grille height was reduced two inches, and there was a smaller Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament. She’d had her wings clipped.

The Mark IV was renamed New Silver Spirit and New Silver Spur, and introduced in 1996. This final revision was not marketed with any IV branding, as fear of the number is common in China, Japan, and Taiwan. All Mark IV cars were turbocharged, and bumpers became integrated and color-matched. But by then the Spirit and Spur were long due for their BMW-adjacent replacement, and everything looked a bit too gingerbread.

Today’s Rare Ride is one of three custom commissions by Saudi Arabia’s king. Part of the original Mark I run of cars, the king ordered three Spirit cabriolets all at once. The white one was for him, a yellow example was for his eldest daughter, and the third one (with Bentley branding instead) was for a good friend. Interestingly, the customizations were not completed by Rolls-Royce in-house but rather at a Rolls-Royce dealer in Milan, Italy. Checking the result, one might conclude why Rolls didn’t want to do the edits at Crewe. The king didn’t keep his white Spur for long, as it was sold to an owner in France in 1990. It’s in Monaco now and will be auctioned in a couple of weeks where it’s expected to fetch between $60,000 and $90,000.

[Images: Rolls-Royce]