Speed: Rolls Royce Ghost

Words by Jerris Madison.
Image provided by Rolls Royce.

I’ve never been much of a car person but this Rolls Royce Ghost 2011 has changed my mind.

Zero to 60 mph goes by in 4.7 seconds and if you keep your Allen Edmonds fully planted in the shearling wool carpeting, you’ll reach 120 mph in about 12 seconds. The eight-speed automatic transmission dispatches full-tilt gear changes with the barest perceptible flutter.

The Ghost in all ways is a more measured, more realistic car. It is, first of all, much smaller—17.7 feet in length (17.1 inches shorter), 76.7 inches abeam (down 1.6 inches), 61 inches high (down 3.3 inches) and weighing 5,445 pounds (down 353 pounds).

The 2011 Rolls-Royce Ghost is indeed an historic car: It’s the first small Rolls-Royce launched since the 1949 Silver Dawn. “Small” is a relative term, however. Though 17.1 inches shorter than a Phantom sedan, the 212.6-inch Ghost is still 4.3 inches longer than a Bentley Continental Flying Spur, and weighs a not insubstantial 5450 pounds. This is not a compact econo-Rolls.

The Ghost is fitted with a safety tour de force of airbags, traction and stability controls, even a grouping of cameras that channel a near-360 image of its surroundings for dent-free parking maneuvers. Night vision, a lane-departure warning system, active high-beam headlamps and cruise control are integrated as well.

This $200k+ automobile is worth the price and definitely has the swag. I test drove this amazing automobile and didn’t want to get out of it. It left me feeling accomplished.