2015 Rolls-royce Ghost Series Ii Sedan 4d on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Senna director working on biopic about Rolls-Royce founders

Asif Kapadia, the director of the amazing motorsports documentary Senna, has signed on to helm Silver Ghost, a film about the earliest days of Rolls-Royce. Martin Scorsese is among the movie's producers, and Lord Richard Attenborough was involved with the project before his death. Silver Ghost would tell the story of Charles Rolls and Henry Royce at the beginning of the 20th century. Automotive pioneer Lord John Douglas-Scott Montagu and his wife would also have roles. It seems that the film will involve the story of how Montagu's mistress, Eleanor Velasco Thornton, inspired the iconic Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament. "What struck me when I read Silver Ghost was how this true story weaves together the lives of five remarkable people that changed the destiny of the Western world and I am delighted to be working together with the legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese and Anthony Haas to bring it to the screen," Kapadia said in the announcement. "Most of the filming is due to take place in England and the intention is for production to begin later this year," project spokesperson Brigitte Hill told Autoblog. She wouldn't unveil anything about the cast at this stage, understandably. We first heard about Silver Ghost in 2012 when Scorsese and Attenborough were working on it. They reportedly had a script from Goldeneye screenwriter Jeffrey Caine and playwright Sharman Macdonald. Silver Ghost is among several automotive biopics that could arrive in cinemas. A Ferruccio Lamborghini film might start shooting this summer, and Robert De Niro has a Ferrari movie in the works. Leonardo Di Caprio also already has the big-screen rights to a future book about the Volkswagen diesel scandal. That's a huge crop of car movies, and we couldn't be more excited about it. Related Video: X ASIF KAPADIA TO DIRECT FEATURE LENGTH DRAMA SILVER GHOST PRODUCED BY MARTIN SCORSESE & ANTHONY HAAS 29/01/16 from Beaulieu Print this page Add this release to Your Downloads Asif Kapadia is to direct the Martin Scorsese/Anthony Haas produced feature film drama SILVER GHOST. The project will be a co-production between Scorsese's Sikelia Productions and Zuma Productions.

Rolls-Royce might 'enter into fuel cells'

Rolls-Royce released its first series-produced EV, the Spectre, in 2022, and the brand plans to launch additional battery-powered models in the coming years. It's not closing the door to other powertrains, however, and it's notably open to experimenting with hydrogen fuel cells. "Why not? I would say so when the time is right for us, and when the technology is so much advanced, that it is definitely something we would pursue as Rolls-Royce. Why not? We might exit batteries, and we might enter into fuel cells," company boss Torsten Muller-Otvos told British magazine Autocar. He stopped short of revealing whether engineers are currently testing hydrogen fuel cell-powered prototypes. It's too early to tell whether Rolls-Royce would develop a hydrogen fuel cell on its own or whether it would source some of the drivetrain's parts from parent company BMW, which has dabbled in this technology for decades. BMW notably began building an X5-based, hydrogen-powered prototype called iX5 in 2023, and it plans to ultimately funnel the feedback it gathers by testing the model into a production car. Muller-Otvos has already ruled out building a car powered by a hydrogen-burning engine, however. "I think a hydrogen combustion engine is nothing I would in any way look into, because that was tested already years ago. This is not the most efficient way to use hydrogen. If hydrogen will be used in the future, then it's fuel cells. And fuel cells are nothing different from a battery. It is just how you get the energy," he told Autocar, referring to the hydrogen-burning 7 Series prototype tested by BMW in the 2000s. Rolls-Royce, like nearly every brand looking at hydrogen technology, warns that the infrastructure needs to improve before the fuel cell can merge into the mainstream. "You can't obviously have hydrogen charging at home, whereas [with EVs] you have one big advantage, and all of our clients have big garages. There is lots of space at home and there is lots of space in office buildings to install charging," the CEO said. As it stands, Rolls-Royce wants to sell only electric cars by the end of 2030, and it hasn't announced plans to launch a series-produced hydrogen-electric model. It's not unreasonable to assume that this outlook could change during the second half of the 2020s, however.

The Rolls-Royce Cullinan spied in production bodywork again

The Rolls-Royce Phantom is a massive vehicle. It's far larger in person than it appears to be in photos. It rivals the Ford F-150 in overall length and width, and remember this is a sedan. If the same characteristic holds true for the upcoming Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV, as these new spy photos show, this is going to be a luxury apartment on wheels. We've seen photos of the Cullinan before, and this one doesn't appear to be too far removed from that model. The brick-like shape remains, as do all the typical Rolls-Royce touches like the upright grille and suicide doors. Out back, we can see rectangular exhaust tips and a low-opening tailgate. The prototype taillights appear to flow into the tailgate. The overall style is all about clean lines and as creating as few curves as possible. It's probably going to be described as handsome far more than it will be described as pretty. It should be no surprise that the Cullinan is as big as it its. It's supposed to share a platform with the upcoming Phantom replacement. Expect all wheel drive and a turbocharged V12, though a plug-in hybrid variant is rumored to be in the works. Expect lots of aluminum to try and keep the weight down. The prototype looks pretty far along, so look for the final version sometime within the next year or so. Related Video: Featured Gallery Rolls-Royce Cullinan Bodywork Spy Photos View 17 Photos Image Credit: CarPix Spy Photos Rolls-Royce SUV Luxury rolls-royce phantom rolls-royce cullinan