Teak decks, big engines, luxurious accommodations, leisurely cruising, lots of chrome...we could just as easily be talking about a modern Rolls-Royce as a motor yacht. So it should come as no surprise that renowned shipbuilder Palmer Johnson turned to Rolls-Royce to collaborate on one of its most ambitious projects, the PJ World Yacht.

The result of Palmer Johnson's acquisition of Flekkefjord & Slipp, a Norwegian builder of exploration vessels, the 82-meter Ice Class mega yacht concept features everything a world traveler could ask for, and then some: a helipad with elevator-equipped hangar, submarine garage and a six-floor interior designed by Italian naval architects Nuvolari-Lenard – including a three-deck master stateroom, swimming pool, gym, spa, home theater...the works.

The yacht even comes equipped with such pirate-defense features as water cannons and thermal imaging cameras, along with an environmentally-friendly diesel-electric propulsion system. Granted, the branch of Rolls-Royce with which Palmer Johnson collaborated on this project has more to do with marine equipment than luxury limousines, but against the backdrop of other automotive-nautical crossovers like BMW's Bavaria Cruiser 55 and Porsche Design's Fearless 28, the PJ Ice Class World Yacht looks like the veritable Rolls-Royce of mega yachts. Have a look at the renderings in the gallery below to see for yourself.



[Source: Palmer Johnson]

Looking for a spectacularly useless way to waste some time? Online car configurators are one of our favorites. You can sit for an hour or more playing with different color combinations and options on a car you're never going to buy, and have absolutely nothing to show for it when you're done. The most alluring are the configurators for the most exclusive European exotica, but typically automakers don't launch these until the car's on the market, or at least has been unveiled in production form. Rolls-Royce, however, has evidently decided to jump the (nickel-plated, mother-of-pearl-handled) gun in putting online a configurator for the 200EX, the concept car that previewed the upcoming Ghost model at the Geneva show this past March.

Labeled the "visualizer", the utility is available for all your distracting, time-wasting needs on the 200EX mini-site. There you can play around with different color and trim choices inside and out, right down to the "silver satin bonnet". Enjoy, but don't come complaining to us when you haven't gotten any work done.




[Source: Rolls-Royce]

Without catching anyone off guard, an exterior stylist for Rolls-Royce disclosed that the company is planning both coupe and convertible variants of its upcoming all-new Ghost sedan. Andreas Thurner, responsible for penning the new four-door, told Autocar that, "...the Ghost was designed in a way to make other body styles... we have to build up a family for the Ghost just as we did for the Phantom." The coupe and cabriolet models have yet to receive any official go-ahead for production, but history is on their side.

Rolls-Royce has confirmed that the new model will receive an "intelligent" four-corner air suspension that will read multiple sensor inputs and make individual load calculations every 2.5 milliseconds. It is reportedly so sensitive that it can detect where passengers are seated and when they move about within the cabin. In addition, the air suspension will raise or lower the vehicle by 25mm (a.k.a. "the lift and kneel" function) to compensate for squat and dive, improve ground clearance, and ease entry for the soon-to-be coddled passengers. Hand-build at the company's Goodwood plant in the U.K., production is set to start later this year.



[Source: Autocar]

What is a brand? Beyond the badge, what separates a Louis Vuitton bag from a purse that might be just as good, but made by someone else? We come to that question on the occasion of the Rolls-Royce Ghost which, in some quarters, is being considered a Rolls only in name. Autoblog got a chance to crawl around the Ghost – not the "baby Rolls," not the "entry-level Rolls" – and see if the car really is what its makers claim it to be: every bit a Rolls-Royce motorcar.



Photos Copyright ©2009 Jonathon Ramsey / Weblogs, Inc.

With seemingly ever luxury automaker under the sun going after BMW's coveted balance between sport and luxury, it's a little ironic that BMW's own uber-luxury marque is the one to focus purely on cushioned comfort. But not everyone wants that out of their Rolls-Royce, or so Hamann is evidently betting. The German tuning firm has tweaked everything from Bimmer crossovers to Ferrari supercars and everything in between, but has now turned its attention to the Rolls-Royce Phantom range.

Few details are available at this point, but from what we can tell, Hamann has treated the Phantom saloon and Drophead Coupe to a set of 23" rims in case the standard 21" wheels weren't big enough, apparently ditching the self-righting emblem hubs in the process. A power boost is also said to be in the mix, bringing the 6.75-liter V12's output up from 460 horsepower to a more stately 535, and torque up from 720 newton-meters (531 lb-ft) to 835 Nm (615 lb-ft). With the electronic limiter removed, the Hamann-tuned Phantoms are said to be good for 300 km/h (187 mph), to be controlled from the plush interior via a specially-crafted sports steering wheel. Click on the thumbnails below to view in our gallery.




[Source: Autoblog.nl]

Gearing up for production of the Silver Ghost, Rolls-Royce recently put out the call for craftspeople good with wood, leather, and paint. If a new MotoringFile report is true, if any of you get the job, you might be making wood veneers not just for the new plutocratic sedan, but for a few special Mini models as well.

Word is that Rolls-Royce will be developing a range of "coachbuilt" factory options, lumped together as options packages for Mini that you can order at your dealer and that would be administered at the Oxford plant. It is also being suggested that the Rolls name will somehow be attached to the special Coopers as well. You can let your Mini dealer know if you're interested in the program, but based on the estimated price of some other special edition Minis, well, be prepared to pay a lot of money.

[Source: MotoringFile | Image: Automoblog.net]

The Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost will not only mean more sales for the company, it will mean more workers. Rolls is adding 300 production workers to the payroll, bringing its Sussex workforce to 900. The majority of new positions will be in the wood, leather and paint shops, but there will be assembly positions opening up as well since the Ghost gets its own line. It might not be the best time to bring a top-end luxury sedan to market, but it is a very good time to apply for a job, and Rolls wants to fill them over the next few months. If you have a luxurious way with wood, leather, or paint (or all three), you can peruse the job openings on the Rolls-Royce site, www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com.

Hot on the heels of Geely's "this is not a Rolls-Royce Phantom" GE, Chinese automaker Hautai is apparently busy working on its own new luxury vehicle, one that would appear to borrow liberally from the Bentley Boys. Huatai Automobile Group, based in Beijing, specializes in SUVs, so this model would represent something of a marked departure for them. HAG reportedly has the capacity to build 200,000 vehicles annually, and they have R&D centers in China, South Korea, and Germany. Last month, the private automaker reported sales up nearly 150 percent from last year.

Still unnamed (allow us to suggest: "This is not a Bentley Continental"), the four-door detailed in these images offers more than a striking resemblance to Bentley's admittedly comely Flying Spur. At the moment, details about the new sedan are about as shallow as the depth of the designers who have penned it, but we'll have more details for you as they become available.



Source: ChinaCarTimes | Images: Che168]

In the introductory videos for the Bertone Mantide, designer Jason Castriota says "There's a reason we introduced the car here," in Shanghai -- and the performance of the Shanghai Motor Show appears to justify that kind of thinking for nearly every automaker there. The show was physically larger than the last one (two years ago), with 600,000 people arrived to view the gleaming wares of 918 cars (602 of them from China) and 582 component makers from all over the world.

Nor did the show skimp on the financial numbers as well: Lifan took $170 million in international orders for its MINI-derived Lifan 320 (pictured), Bentley 15 cars -- including all of its display vehicles -- and expected to close several more deals after the show closed its doors, and Rolls-Royce moved 18 models. China's economy may not be burn like a supernova anymore, but there is still plenty of heat left in it.

[Source: Gasgoo]

With gloved white fingers pointing in their direction, Geely Automobile is in full denial of British accusations. The independent Chinese automaker, which rolled out its luxurious GE model bearing more than slight resemblance to the Rolls-Royce Phantom at the Shanghai Motor Show, seems rather unconcerned. "As it were, they are actually different ... people may feel they are the same at the first glance, but the details are certainly different," Geely spokeswoman Zhang Xiaoshu told AFP.

Keep telling that to the good blokes at Rolls-Royce who are considering legal action against Geely. To most observers in the industry, the production-bound Chinese GE concept clearly borrows the Rolls signature grill, down-sloping rear deck, and the Flying Lady mascot. Unlike the Phantom, the Chinese variant is set to hit the market at a sliver of the cost of the exclusive Rolls. While imitation is often considered the most sincere form of flattery, the British evidently aren't cracking so much as a smile.



[Source: Drive]