Rolls-Royce Ghost has spawned a Black Badge version for those brand connoisseurs who appreciate it moving forward and away from conservative notions of luxury – and towards even more luxury, of course.
The car wears 45 kilograms (100 pounds) of deep-black paint applied by hand in multiple layers, coated with two layers of clear lacquer, and polished by hand yet once again. The company claims the shade of black is the darkest to have ever been used on a production car, but should you want something different, you are free to choose from a palette of around 44,000 other hues. The Spirit of Ecstasy and the radiator grille are also blacked out, by the way.
For the new Ghost alone, the designers have made custom 21-inch, carbon-rimmed wheels using 44 layers of carbon fiber to ensure sufficient stability. Carbon fiber found its way into the cabin as well, although black and deep blue leather reign supreme there.
The suspension benefits from upsized air-cushioned chambers that help reduce side swaying, and throttle response becomes sharper in the Black Badge Edition. The 6.75-liter V12 under the hood is the same block as before, but modifications enable it to produce 600 PS (592 hp / 441 kW) and 900 Nm (664 lb-ft) of torque instead of the former 571 PS (563 hp / 420 kW) and 850 Nm (627 lb-ft). The ZF auto transmission has a sports-friendly mode called Low, which changes the engine tune and lets you switch gears up to 50% faster.
As a result, the new Ghost sprints 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 4.7 seconds instead of 4.8. It still reaches its limit at 250 km/h (155 miles per hour), which is probably just as well for a luxury sedan.
Pre-order books are already open. Only the short wheelbase version will be available.