1970 Rolls-royce Corniche, Right Hand Drive, Wilton Wool Carpets, Pearl White on 2040-cars

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2021 Rolls-Royce Ghost Extended is a lavish living room on wheels

Rolls-Royce made the second-generation Ghost about 3.5 inches longer than its predecessor. If that's not enough, the British firm just unveiled a long-wheelbase variant named Extended that gains another seven inches. Company boss Torsten Muller-Otvos explained the Ghost Extended was developed for customers who want to be driven during the week, but who prefer to drive themselves on the weekend. His team's challenge was to carve out more space for the rear passengers without compromising the sedan's handling, or significantly altering its proportions. To that end, stylists extended only the rear doors and the sheetmetal around them. Rolls-Royce hasn't released images of the front part of the cabin; it's what's out back that counts. Business-class-like individual Serenity Seats are offered at an extra cost (even the ultra-rich have to tick option boxes), and the BMW-owned company proudly noted it allocated a spectacular amount of resources to developing the perfect in-car champagne cooler. Nestled between the rear seats, it has two operating modes: it chills non-vintage champagne to precisely 6 degrees Celsius, and vintage champagne to exactly 11 degrees. Rear-seat passengers can sit back, sip Dom Perignon Rose that costs as much as a Nissan Sentra, and enjoy more legroom than many people have in their living room. Only the Phantom Extended offers a more spacious cabin, the firm claims. Alternatively, they can work on-the-move thanks in part to the in-car Wi-Fi hotspot. Rolls-Royce made no mechanical changes, meaning the Extended uses the same 6.75-liter V12 as the standard-wheelbase model. It's twin-turbocharged to 563 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque, and it spins the four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission. All-wheel steering comes standard, and one of the most advanced suspension systems in the world ensures the Ghost delivers the Magic Carpet Ride buyers expect. Ghost Extended deliveries will begin during the fourth quarter of 2020. Rolls-Royce hasn't announced pricing information, but the sedan likely costs over $350,000 before options — and champagne — are factored in. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2021 Rolls-Royce Ghost Extended, official images View 10 Photos Rolls-Royce Luxury Sedan

Going mobile: Custom Rolls-Royces inspired by British rock

A rockstar lifestyle and luxury cars go hand-in-hand. To recognize this and to celebrate some of the finest rock music created in Britain, Rolls-Royce will build nine bespoke Wraith models customized in the style of British rock stars. The first four cars in the "Wraith Inspired by British Music" series were unveiled at the Sanderson Hotel in London. The cars have been designed in collaboration with some of the most well-known names in British popular music, and Rolls-Royce says the stars were personally invited to the "Home of Rolls-Royce" in Goodwood, England. The first four cars were created with Roger Daltrey OBE of The Who, Sir Ray Davies of The Kinks and Giles Martin, the son of recently deceased music producer Sir George Martin, famed for the work he did with The Beatles among others. Behind the project is English artist Alistair Morrison, who is working on a series of British rockstar portraits. Daltrey helped to design two cars, first a Who-style Wraith and one fashioned for the band's rock opera "Tommy," with a hood that showcases the sleeve of the famous concept album. However, there is not yet word of a Keith Moon edition Wraith to be delivered into a swimming pool. Cars to be revealed later include a Status Quo Wraith designed with Francis Rossi, a Shirley Bassey Wraith with legendary 007 theme-song touches and a Ronnie Wood car designed to suit the Rolling Stones guitarist.

Ultra-luxury automakers like Bentley and Rolls-Royce need to hurry up with EVs

In the five years that I've worked at Autoblog, I've read a lot of press releases. They're all pretty flowery and self-serving, but the ones that go the extra distance with lavish words and pompous phrasing tend to come from the most luxurious brands, Bentley and Rolls-Royce. And something that they both love talking about is sustainably sourced materials for their vehicles. The descriptions read like they've seen the light about using resources responsibly. That would be great, except for one thing: There's nothing sustainable about multi-ton land yachts with eight or more cylinders. Only one of Bentley's models can be had with fuel economy better than 20 mpg combined when running on gasoline, and guess what, it's not one of the brand's two plug-in hybrids (which are to be commended, but still seem half-hearted when we're talking serious sustainability). And Rolls-Royce is even worse without a single model even hitting 15 mpg combined. These automakers should have at least one EV model apiece. Apparently, there are some coming, but they're still years away, and that frankly shocks and frustrates me for a number of reasons. One of the big ones is that these brands couldn't be better suited to electric propulsion. What makes these cars impressive is their refinement and performance. You can't get much better in either of those categories than with beefy electric motors, which provide nearly silent operation with no gear changes and enormous power and torque ratings. And it's all achievable with a lot less effort than making an 8- or 12-cylinder internal combustion engine quiet and smooth. Sure, battery technology is complicated, and it's expensive and heavy, but all of that is covered by these brand's typical products. They can command prices that would easily absorb the cost of batteries. And the size and weight of current cars mean that loading them up with batteries to achieve range comparable to their gas models wouldn't be a problem, either. Heck, that's the exact strategy being used by GM and Ford to get huge range in their electric trucks. 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo S View 41 Photos And the cost of the EV technology shouldn't even be that great for Bentley or Rolls-Royce, since they're both owned by companies that are leaders in electric car development with existing technology and the ability to spread costs out over various brands.