2012 Rolls Royce Ghost Base Sedan 4-door 6.6l on 2040-cars

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Rolls-Royce EV likely to take the name Silent Shadow

Rolls-Royce last year trademarked the name Silent Shadow with the German patent office, and that moniker is likely to be applied to the British luxury carmaker's upcoming battery electric vehicle. In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Rolls CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos confirmed that the company is working on a purpose-built EV. While he would not reveal the scheduled launch date, Rolls-Royce has previously said an EV model would arrive before the end of the decade. The Silent Shadow name echoes the Silver Shadow of 1965-1980. Although Rolls-Royce has previously ruled out doing a plug-in hybrid, the German-owned British automaker has been inching toward full-electric vehicles for some time. At the 2011 Geneva auto show, it introduced an electric version of the last-generation Phantom named 102EX. More recently in 2016, it unveiled the stunningly futuristic 103EX concept, which was fully electric. "Electrification fits perfectly with Rolls Royce — it's torquey, it's super-silent," Muller-Otvos said. It's true that, at Rolls-Royce, the sound of the car's engine has never been a selling feature. Instead, the brand has long promised near-silent motoring. Indeed, a 1958 ad for Rolls-Royce by advertising legend David Olgivy, makes a claim to the car's quietness. And that ad has become what many consider to be the most famous auto ad of all time: "At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock." Maybe they'll want to revisit that claim when the Silent Shadow makes its debut. Green Rolls-Royce Automotive History Electric

Check out some of the coolest Rolls-Royce Bespoke projects of 2023

The vast majority of buyers who order a new Rolls-Royce customize the car to some extent — the sky is the limit, and we're not talking about the one embedded into the headliner. As 2023 draws to a close, the British brand is highlighting some of the coolest requests it received. Rolls-Royce notes its Bespoke department received several unprecedented requests in 2023; one customer even asked for a special scent, and engineers had to develop several new paint processes. One of the highlights is the Phantom Syntopia, which the company labels "the most technically complex Bespoke commission ever undertaken." Created jointly with Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen, it explores a theme called "Weaving Water" with custom details on the hood, the dashboard, and the headliner, which took nearly 700 hours to make. Travel inspired several Rolls-Royce customers in 2023. Three units of the Cullinan Black Badge Lucid Nights were built for the South Korean market and painted in Lime Green, Indy Red and Tucana Purple, respectively, as a tribute to the neon-lit streets of Seoul. Moving closer to the brand's headquarters, the one-off Phantom Cinque Terre features styling cues inspired by some of Italy's most touristic villages and the wine made in that region. The headliner notably incorporates a map of Italy embroidered with no less than 14,338 individual stitches. Limited to 25 units, the Ghost Black Badge Ekleipsis Private Collection features styling cues from the world of astrology. It's finished in a color combination inspired by a total solar eclipse, and its headliner gains an animation that mimics an eclipse and lasts for seven and a half minutes. The dashboard gets a clock whose bezel incorporates a brilliant-cut 0.5-carat diamond — the first in Rolls-Royce's history. Riding in the one-of-one Rose Blossom Phantom should feel like sitting in a summer garden, without the sunburn and the wasps trying to taste your drink. Rolls-Royce embroidered flowers into the dashboard and the headliner, and it added four species of butterfly (Swallowtail, Peacock, Common Blue and Duke of Burgundy) to bring the backdrop to life. The headliner in this car required over 200 hours of work. Some buyers take a more personal approach to customization.

Former Princess Diana Rolls-Royce being auctioned for charity [w/video]

While it isn't that uncommon to see cars belonging to celebrities and dignitaries roll across the auction block these days, this car is a little extra special. This particular 1979 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow was the car that Prince Charles and Princess Diana arrived at the White House in during a visit in 1985. As some added trivia, this was also the visit where Princess Di cut a rug with none other than John Travolta.
Volo Auto Museum will be auctioning off this piece of American and British history on November 9th - exactly 27 years from Princess Di's White House visit. According to the auction listing, this armored Silver Shadow was the official car of the UK's embassy, and it has been valued at around $2 million by the Berman Museum of History. The auction will have no reserve with some of the proceeds going to the Children with Cancer UK charity that Princess Diana started in 1988.
Scroll down for more information about this car and its auction as well as a video showing Prince Charles and Princess Diana arriving at the White House in the car back in 1985.