Rolls-Royce Motor Cars debuted Black Badge – its highly successful alter ego – with Wraith and Ghost in 2016, Dawn in 2017 then Cullinan in 2019. Now, a new, Post Opulent expression of Black Badge joins the family. Black Badge Ghost is the most technologically advanced Black Badge motor car yet.
The new Ghost was created to met demand of a group of clients who celebrate minimalism and wanted a Rolls-Royce to be agile, discreet, highly connected and free of any unneeded design. This motor car started a new design conversation – Post Opulence. However, some clients within this group wanted to own a disruptive expression of Ghost by permanently cloaking it in black. Black Badge Ghost reflects these clients’ desires and becomes the dark side of Post Opulence.
To create the darkest black, 100lbs (45kg) of paint is atomized and applied to an electrostatically charged body in white before being oven dried. After that, two layers of clear coat are applied before being hand-polished by a team of four craftsman. At between three and five hours in duration, this operation results in creation of an intensity simply unattainable elsewhere in the automotive industry. It is this depth of darkness that serves as the perfect canvas for clients to add a high-contrast, hand-painted Coachline, which has done much to create the Black Badge ‘black and neon’ aesthetic.
To match this dramatic coachwork, the Spirit of Ecstasy and Pantheon Grille received also special treatment. Instead of simply painting these components, a specific chrome electrolyte is introduced to the traditional chrome plating process that is co-deposited on the stainless-steel substrate, darkening the finish. Its final thickness is just one micrometre that is equal to one hundredth of the width of a human hair. Each of these components is precision-polished by hand to achieve a mirror-black chrome finish before it is fitted to the motor car.
Designed in the Black Badge house style and reserved for Black Badge Ghost, the barrel of each wheel is made up of 22 layers of carbon fibre laid on three axes, then folded back on themselves at the outer edges of the rim, forming a total of 44 layers of carbon fibre for greater strength. A 3D-forged aluminium hub is attached to the rim using aerospace-grade titanium fasteners and finished with the marque’s hallmark Floating Hubcap, making sure that the Double R monogram remains upright at all times. A lightly tinted lacquer protects the finish.
Inside, a complex weave that incorporates a deep diamond pattern rendered in carbon and metallic fibres has been created by the marque’s craftspeople. Multiple wood layers are pressed onto the interior component substrates, using black Bolivar veneer. This forms a dark foundation for the Technical Fibre layers that follow. Leaves woven from resin-coated carbon and contrasting metal-coated thread laid in a diamond pattern are applied by hand to the components in perfect alignment.
The Technical Fibre ‘Waterfall’ section of the individual rear seats features the Black Badge family motif: the mathematical symbol that represents potential infinity known as a Lemniscate. Air vent surrounds on the dashboard and in the rear cabin are darkened using physical vapour deposition. The Post Opulent principles of simplicity was used in the Black Badge Ghost timepiece design: only the tips of the hands and the twelve, three, six and nine o’clock markers are picked out, in a subdued chrome finish, creating a remarkably minimal clock. The timepiece is flanked by the Illuminated Fascia, which displays an ethereal glowing Lemniscate, surrounded by more than 850 stars. Located on the passenger side of the dashboard, the constellation and motif are invisible when the interior lights are off.
Black Badge Ghost uses the Architecture of Luxury, Rolls-Royce’s proprietary all-aluminium spaceframe architecture. It provides extraordinary body stiffness, flexibility and scalability for the car to incorporate all-wheel drive, four-wheel steering and the award-winning Planar Suspension system.
A twin-turbocharged 6.75-litre V12 engine, created a total output of 600PS and 900NM of torque. The powertrain has also received Bespoke transmission and throttle treatments to further boost the engine’s increased power reserves. The ZF eight-speed gear box and both front- and rear-steered axles work to adjust the levels of feedback to the driver, depending on throttle and steering inputs.
The ‘Low’ button situated on the gear selection stalk unlocks Black Badge Ghost’s full suite of technologies. All 900NM of torque is available from just 1700rpm and, once underway in Low Mode, gearshift speeds are increased by 50% when the throttle is depressed to 90%, delivering Black Badge Ghost’s ample power reserves with dramatic immediacy.
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