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Rolls-Royce Ghost gets minor updates for 2013

Befitting a creature called the Ghost, it was there and then it wasn't: Rolls-Royce dropped a few details and a picture of the 2013 Ghost, then removed all trace of it from the corporate site. The Internet can't keep a secret, though, so we have the goss on a carryover sedan with a few upgrades.
Next year's model takes its inspiration and several new tricks from the Ghost Six Senses concept revealed at the Beijing Motor Show earlier this year. The new natural grain leather, cross-banded wood veneers and "exciter" (high-range) speakers come straight from the concept. A new alloy wheel option is also available, but the single press photo doesn't show the same alloys used on the Six Senses car. Not shown in Beijing but on the menu for the coming sedan is Comfort Access, the ability to open the trunk by waving your foot under the rear bumper as long as you have the key on your person. It is the first Rolls-Royce to get the option.
The price gets an upgrade, too, rising $7,050 to $260,750. Part of the increase is in the gas-guzzler tax, which climbed to $2,100 from $1,700 because of a new EPA calculations for fuel economy. As if you'd be worried about gas when you own a Ghost, but just in case, it will return 13 miles per gallon city and 21 mpg highway.

Rolls-Royce Ghost Series II rolls in with some subtle updates [w/video]

Downsizing is a relative term - especially when it comes to a Rolls-Royce. But that's just what the British luxury automaker did with the release of the Ghost in 2010. Sure, it's over seventeen and a half feet long (over eighteen in Extended Wheelbase form), but that's still shorter than the 19 feet the standard Phantom stretches, and that much shorter than the twenty-foot-long Phantom EWB.
The Ghost has now been on the market for four years, high time Rolls gave it a little refresh - and that's just what it's done here in Geneva with the release of the Ghost Series II. It's essentially the same vehicle as the outgoing model, but the Ghost Series II (like the Phantom Series II released in 2012) benefits from a host of minor updates. The styling has been subtly revised, and the sumptuous cabin space has been updated with such features as a new infotainment display, rotary controller and trim.
Although Goodwood hasn't released official output figures, the 6.6-liter twin-turbo V12 (only the second twelve-cylinder engine in Rolls-Royce history) carries over from the existing model. We might hope for some of the power upgrades released for the Wraith or the Ghost V-Specification, but what we know for sure is that it's mated to a Satellite Aided Transmission that uses GPS data to 'read' the road ahead and choose the right gear for the turns coming up. It's a nifty technology pioneered by parent company BMW, and along with the other updates rolled out for the Series II, promises to make the hyper-luxurious driving experience that much more so.

This exploding Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow is angering, mesmerizing

Between Las Vegas and the emirates of the Persian Gulf, we're sure there are Rolls-Royces to be found in the desert all the time. And we don't doubt that, given those locations, one gets torched every so often. There'd probably even be someone in a tuxedo or evening gown running for cover when it happens, too. The thing is that we're seldom if ever there to watch it go down, much less capture it in stunning high-definition, frame-by-frame video when it does.
That's where this four-minute clip by Tyler Shields comes in. The American photographer and filmmaker staged and captured this Silver Shadow being doused in gasoline (or at least what we're supposed to believe is gasoline) and set afire in the Mojave Desert, along with actor Cru Ennis and actress Ana Mulvoy-Ten.
It's heartbreaking but mesmerizing, and you'll want to watch the video for yourself to see which side you fall on. If it's the former, take solace at least in the fact that the Silver Shadow is far from a rare beast. In fact, it remains by far the most prolific Rolls-Royce ever, with over 30,000 made between 1965 and 1980... so we doubt this one will be missed terribly.