This past December 1st, as part of the Rolls-Royce Year End Celebration put on by Montreal’s Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Québec dealership, the famed British brand offered up the grand premiere of the Ghost Black Badge.
The Black Badge collection is the expression of a unique lifestyle, and a call by Rolls Royce to consumers who are provocative, disruptive and unclassifiable, whose spirit never rests and who take things as far as they can go. It’s these people who change the world. Think Howard Hughes and Muhammad Ali, to name but two examples.
What precisely makes the Black Badge distinct? The Flying Lady is present, further beautifying a design, posture and materials that are largely unchanged, but its dark hue speaks to a desire by its owner to seek out a darker side. The dominant colour is a brilliant black, evoking a proudly blazed path through the nighttime urban jungle. Meanwhile the double R on the prow, either flank and the stern of all Black Badge models is inverted here to create a silver-on-black scheme. Chrome elements such as the front grille, the trunk trim, air intake finishes and exhaust pipes are also brilliantly black.
The carbon-fibre and light-alloy composite wheels, unique in each Ghost Black Badge, are as black as the rest of the chassis. The tint of that black is as sombre and as intense as any ever applied to a car.
At the same time, as Rolls-Royce automobiles are nothing if not bespoke, clients will of course be able to choose the tint of their choice for the exterior, and even specify the desired colour of their Ghost Black Badge’s interior leather upholstery.
Nestled in the dashboard is a new Black Badge clock, accented in orange and ornamented with the Unlimited insignia that previously adorned the famous Phantom Drophead Waterspeed edition, created in 2014 in tribute to the courage of 1930s world on-water speed record-setter Sir Malcolm Campbell.
The Unlimited logo representing the infinite is also stitched into the seats of the Black Badge, the black leather making beautiful music together with the exalting Tailored Purple colour.
In the Ghost Black Badge, the comfort of the rear passengers is assured by the conservation of the famed Magic Carpet Ride architecture designed by Rolls-Royce.
Rolls-Royce engineers took advantage of the flexibility of the 6.6L V12 engine to make of the Ghost Black Badge a more menacing creature. Subtle modifications to the engine emissions system allowed for an increase of 40 HP, for a total kick of over 600 HP, along with an increase of over 40 lb-ft of torque in comparison with the current Ghost version. Furthermore, a revision of the 8-speed automatic transmission confers on the Ghost Black Badge a heightened sense of urgency in the way it harnesses its more-than-considerable power.
Highly exclusive and highly luxurious, the new Ghost Black Badge from Rolls Royce retails at a price point of around $475,000 CDN.
The Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Québec dealership in Montreal, a property of the Holand Leasing Group, is one of the leading retailers of the famed British brand in Canada in terms of sales.
