Spy Shots: Rolls Royce RR4 - the Baby Rolls
by John Neff on Mar 28th 2008 at 3:31PM 
Click above for high-res spy shots of the Rolls-Royce RR4
We've shown you spy shots before of the upcoming "Baby Rolls", dubbed internally by Rolls Royce as the RR4, but none as good as these. Caught in clear view by KGP photographers, the upcoming "entry level" car by Rolls Royce that's based on the same underpinnings as the next BMW 7-Series looks for all the world like a little Phantom, just wearing less conspicuous consumption on its sleeve. What we have here is a Rolls Royce that should more of a driver's car than the Phantom, a true chauffeur-driven chariot if ever there was one. Like Bentley has its Continental line for the up and coming super rich who care about driving dynamics more than lineage and pedigree, so too will the RR4 reach out to those who don't care about monolithic grilles (it's still got one as you can see through the covering) and 2-inch thick carpeting. We do notice, however, that the RR4 appears to be sporting rear suicide doors, which is a nice touch that links the smaller car with its big bro'. A range of engines have been rumored that include all manner of V12s and V8s, as well as a diesel. Time will tell, but for now we're day dreaming of an epic comparison test between a Bentley Continental Flying Spur and the RR4. Check out more pics in the gallery below.
Gallery: Rolls Royce RR4 - spy shots
[Source: KGP Photographers]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Alex 3:41PM (3/28/2008)
at first glance, i'm not hot on the looks of it. then again, RR has always been excellent at the details. surely RR and daddy co BMW are not going to let this smallest of the Rolls' get out the door looking unappealing.
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DesiAuto 3:40PM (3/28/2008)
Even in spy shots it looks pretty.
BTW, I always liked those all black wheel rims they use with test vehicles. how can I get those?
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Franz 3:51PM (3/28/2008)
You can take almost any wheel to a good powder coating shop and get that flat black look... or almost any other color you'd want.
Moe 3:50PM (3/28/2008)
Despite the decrease in size, I doubt it it will be anything resembling a "driver's car." This is a Rolls after all, and it must first and foremost, carry its occupants around in complete comfort and luxury.
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Andy 5:00PM (3/28/2008)
Agreed... Bentley was meant to be driven. While Rolls Royce was mean to be driven in.
SPG 4:21PM (3/28/2008)
I love it when companies try extra hard to disguise their testers.
This one has bars over the door handles so we can't tell which way the back doors open, the tail lights have been added to with red paint, and a hard plastic nose cover so we can't guess the nose.
In the past I have seen the early 90's Ram with creases pounded into the body, BMW X5's with woodgrain, and we all remember the Prowler tester with the Jeep Wrangler (that was for a diffrent reason though) body and the Prowler nose.
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jamie 4:26PM (3/28/2008)
Well, it worked for Jaguar (downsizing, that is). Not.
I suppose Tata is drooling in the wings to scoop up the leftovers when BMW ditches RR faster than flipping a pancake at IHOP.
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Moe 7:16PM (3/28/2008)
Sure it worked for Jag. Jag, according to its history, is first and foremost a sports car manufacturer. Even now, they prefer to be regarded as a sports car manufacturer that just happens to make sporty sedans (like Maserati).
And why the hell would BMW ditch RR? RR is doing great.
jamie 4:37PM (3/29/2008)
BMW will undoubtedly drop RR when it sees the customers they cultivated for their own crop of vehicles suddenly taking a liking to RR4, thus leaving them thousands of unsold 5 and 7 series on the lot.
Current RR owners will be outraged at even the thought of a Baby Rolls. All the former heritage of exclusivity will be lost. There will be less sales to the upper echelon as a result because they will start looking elsewhere. The Rolls Royce nameplate will be dragged through the mud.
Ford took Jaguar downwind and got an earful from wining enthusiasts who believed that Jaguar should have gone the other direction instead. Jaguar is now a sick puppy looking for a new home in Tata-land.
Rollers will likely succumb to the same fate.
Moe 8:21AM (3/30/2008)
^ Somehow I think all that is highly unlikely. Lets not forget that all the current RRs have various bits and pieces coming out of BMWs already. No one seems to be bothered. Also, the RR4 will be positioned between the 7 and the Phantom which puts it smack in Bentley Continental territory. I doubt it'll cannibalize very many sales from the 7, let alone the 5.
Just take a look at Bentley right now. The Continental fills up the space between the Arnage and the Audi A8. Yet both the A8 and Conti are selling strongly. All three Continental variants are also based on the same chassis as the A8 and Phaeton, and other than a very few purists, no one is crying about the fact that they aren't "proper" Bentleys. So like I said, BMW has no reason to ditch RR unless they get something horribly wrong, which they won't.
jamie 2:03PM (4/05/2008)
I am still rather ticked that Bentley is "just another glorified VW". Okay, I admit that VW has done a marvelous job of retaining the proper image for this brand.
BMW, on the other hand, has already shown its incompetence in this arena. Look what they did for Land Rover. Ford had a better idea. Now its Tata's turn at the wheel. BMW did wonders with the MINI though. That's all they could salvage from the original deal.
I don't have any particular problem with RR sourcing bits and pieces from the BMW parts bin. That just makes good business sense. The 7 series is about as luxurious as BMW should go.
RR is in a class all of its own with no contenders willing to do battle. So what is the point in having a middle of the road ultra luxurious automobile tucked between the two?
Either you are rich enough to afford the real thing, or you are not. Why settle for something less?
Noah 5:10PM (3/28/2008)
A nice big V8 would work well in there. Even a BMW-like turbo V8 would be good.
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FSM 5:18PM (3/28/2008)
If finally have figured out what I don't like about this. The hood slopes downward too much. When I think of RR I think of a gigantic flat expanse of real estate for the hood and front should just abruptly fall to the ground. This is too tapered and reminiscent of a Mercedes.
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pscs 6:16AM (3/29/2008)
is the C-pillar that big or is it just disguised?
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pscs 6:19AM (3/29/2008)
oh by the way, it looks like the BMW 7 Series disguise car is parked next to it in the snow shots.
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Noz 4:48PM (4/02/2008)
Wow...what a pointless freaking car.
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JEM 10:21PM (4/05/2008)
It looks good, at least insofar as we can tell what it looks like. Seems to get rid of the grotesque framing-hammer nose of the Phantom.
As for market space - I'm sure the price will be sufficiently above the 7er properly to differentiate the Roller.
Range Rover - just about everything good about the current Range Rover product line was BMW's doing, but neither BMW nor Ford was forceful enough at kneecapping the unions at Solihull to get manufacturing cost and quality under control.
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