Autoblog

To call Rolls-Royce a small automaker would be an understatement as big as their cars are. Its model line-up, recently expanded to include the Drophead Coupe, consists solely of two derivatives of the Phantom. For the first time in the company's history, production in 2007 capped the 1,000 mark. So when Rolls-Royce confirms a new model, it's a big deal.

Earlier this week at the Detroit show, Rolls-Royce chief Ian Robertson confirmed that the anticipated "baby Rolls", which we saw in spy shots as recently as yesterday, is slated for unveiling in 2010. Code-named RR4, Robertson also announced that the car would receive a brand new engine, presumably because the Phantom's 450-hp V12 doesn't fit. The car is expected to be based on the BMW 7-Series, which explains why the mule seen in yesterday's spy shots was accompanied by BMW's big sedan, slotting in between the Bavarian sedan and the Phantom limo.

While he was at it, Robertson also confirmed that the fixed-roof Phantom coupe previewed by the 101EX concept would begin delivery by this coming summer.

[Source: Inside Line]

Click image for photo gallery

Well, this makes the one I had seem almost pedestrian. I'm talking about the new Rolls-Royce Phantom Tungsten, the latest limited-production saloon from RR's Bespoke Collection. The total number of cars being built is unclear, but it's confirmed that six of them are headed to the Middle East, where they'll be snapped up instantly. If the color scheme looks familiar, it's because it mimics that of the 101EX concept. The Darkest Tungsten paint makes its first appearance ever on a production Roller, and the big boy also wears the same seven-spoke wheels as the concept coupe. Other exterior cues appearing on the Tungsten are a brushed aluminum hood similar to the one available on the Drophead Coupe and cool-looking exposed chrome exhaust outlets.

Inside, you get Smoke Grey leather piped with navy accents, Rosewood veneers, and metallic trim accenting the top of the instrument panel and the thin-rimmed steering wheel. Even the engine gets a dress-up kit. The pièce de résistance is the starlight headliner, which uses hundreds of fiber-optic lights to create a virtual starfield above the backseat passengers. Limo companies already do this in prom night cheesemobiles, though, so maybe next time Rolls can up the ante by incorporating a full planetarium back there. You know, with the Pink Floyd laser light shows and everything. They can maybe call it the Nick Mason Edition. Anyway, I digress. Tungsten owners get a pair of silver keyfobs and a fountain pen in a spiffy matching Rosewood box, too. Cost is unknown, but if you can afford it, you're not even asking about the price, anyway. You're simply calling your man at the Rolls dealer and making it happen.

Thanks for the heads-up, JW!

[Source: Rolls-Royce via Sybarites]

Click image for a photo gallery of the Rolls-Royce 101EX

In his speech on BMW's future plans, CEO Norbert Reithofer mentioned that a Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe is on the way. Today, Rolls-Royce made its official announcement confirming this new addition to the Phantom lineup. If the eye-popping Phantom Drophead Coupe is any indication, the new, enclosed Phantom Coupe should be a dead ringer for the 101EX concept car that previewed it back during the 2006 Geneva show. Power will be identical to the other Phantom models, with 450 horses and 531 lb-ft of torque coming from the car's 6.75L V12. According to Rolls-Royce, the Phantom Coupe will be more driver-oriented than the sedan, with a shorter body and suspension/power tuning that places a slight emphasis on sport compared to its siblings. The Phantom Coupe will complete the Phantom lineup for Rolls-Royce, giving its customers a car for every occasion. It will be priced somewhere between the Phantom and Phantom Drophead Coupe.

This also seems like as good a time as any to inform you that we recently had the 2007 Rolls-Royce Phantom in the Autoblog Garage (that's it at right). Check back on Monday for the full review and photo gallery, and if you need to catch up on the recent vehicles we've had come through, click here to see what you might have missed.

[Source: Rolls-Royce]

These spy shots show a near final version of the Rolls Royce Corniche convertible that's based on the 100 EX Concept that garnered rave reviews at the 2004 Geneva Motor Show. Two design elements on this mule are of particular interest. The first is that the production model will retain the rear-hinged doors of the concept (follow the link for additional pics that show the door in action). The second is the light fixtures and turn signals up front, which are composed of a pair of LED ovals situated above single, round lamps. Winding Road's spy photographer reports that the turn indicators are located within those LED ovals, while the ovals themselves and the lamps provide ample illumination of lesser mortals clogging the road ahead.

The Corniche rides on a slightly shortened Phantom platform (3.9 inches shorter) and uses that car's 6.75L V12 for its earnest motivation. Perhaps we'll rendezvous with the production version at the Paris Motor Show in September.

[Source: Winding Road]

In the face of robust sales that show no signs of slowing, Rolls-Royce continues to expand its global dealer network. Since 2003, that number has risen by 10 to 74. Recently, dealers have set up shop in locations as diverse as Denver and Pakistan.

The company moved almost 800 cars last year, all of them Phantoms in either standard or long-wheelbase guise (because, you know, that standard 19-foot-long car is just too cramped inside). Expectations at Rolls are that it'll meet or surpass that number this year. Beyond that, the coming addition of the 100EX-based convertible (and possibly a 101EX-inspired coupe after that?) should help keep sales lively.

The long-wheelbase car, which is apparently selling well everywhere else, will make it into US showrooms by the end of the year, giving the well-heeled more room to cool their ... uh ... heels.

(Press release after the jump)

[Source: Rolls-Royce]

As expected, Rolls-Royce didn't wait long in Geneva to the wraps off their new coupe concept, the 101EX.

Employing aluminum construction techniques first applied to the company's Phantom sedan, the 101EX boasts similar upright lines, albeit with a cut-down greenhouse and markedly different nose treatment. The two-tone look seen above is actually an effect brought about by the brushed aluminum used on the hood and windshield header (the body is painted in 'dark tungsten'), a trick used on Roller's [very] similar 2004 Geneva convertible concept, the 100EX. When viewed in profile, the 101EX is dominated by its 21" wheels, suicide doors and a c-pillar that could secret half the Tour de France from the driver's vantage.

Word is the interior isn't just the standard forest of fine timbers, hides and turned metals, the 101EX boasts a fiber-optic laden headliner designed to replicate the stars.

More angles of the 101EX can be found after the jump.

[Source: Motor Torque]