The Rolls-Royce Black Badge Ghost is sleek proof that limousines can be subversive
The Rolls-Royce Black Badge Ghost is sleek proof that limousines can be subversive Launched alongside its own NFT, the new Rolls-Royce Ghost Black Badge is a murdered-out vision of future luxury Adam Hay-Nicholls Like former Conservative leader Michael Howard, there's something of the night about the latest derivative of the Rolls-Royce Ghost. Not that the patrons it's aimed at will have any idea who Lord Howard is. The Black Badge is targeted towards the 117-year-old mega-marque's under-40 clientele. Specifically, those who identify as disrupters.
A decade ago, if you'd visited the home of a Rolls-Royce owner and asked the way to the loo, they'd have told you, "Down the hall, past the Monet and left at the Picasso," recalling the floor plan of another Tory peer's penthouse. But now, at least as far as the Black Badge gang goes, it's more likely that the owner's art collection comes in the form of a digital wallet full of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). They reject suits for streetwear and use blockchain not banks.
Underlining this, the Black Badge Ghost's launch has coincided with an NFT commission. A leading artist of the genre, Mason London (AKA Joe Prytherch) has created an animated work which features the new Rolls parked on a West Coast street alongside Spirit Sushi and Ecstasy Records; nods to the car's iconic winged ornament. We're told this may become the most valuable NFT yet (current record: a jaw-dropping £50.5 million).
Why are NFTs changing hands for hundreds of thousands, sometimes tens of millions, of pounds? It's a mystery to this writer. But with the Black Badge Ghost, you can see where the money's been spent. This is a glorious thing, inside, outside, even underneath. The way this big, heavy car rides and handles is nothing short of witchcraft. Twice the weight of a McLaren, it achieves 60mph in just 4.5 seconds. The materials are beyond imagination. How much does it cost? Rolls-Royce won't even tell you – not until it's been fully spec'd up anyway. There is no starting price. That's how bespoke it is.
For the unveiling of this car, GQ was picked up from Central London in a Black Badge Cullinan and driven to a secret destination. It turned out to be an aerodrome in Northamptonshire and we arrived as darkness fell. Inside the hangar, a murder (that seems the right collective description) of Black Badge Ghosts were lit by turquoise spotlights alongside a stealth-looking private helicopter. The hangar doors opened to reveal an illuminated runway. Our trip back to the capital commenced by booting the Ghost down the landing strip. GQ thrust to 144mph before the end of the tarmac necessitated the Rolls' impressive brakes. We then made a more leisurely journey via the Cotswolds and Chilterns, wisps of fog and lashing rain adding to the spectral drama.
At Buckinghamshire's Hellfire Caves (where, in the 18th century, the likes of William Hogarth formed the notorious Hellfire Club and held satanic rituals and orgies), we were met by a chauffeur so that we could experience the rear of the cabin and the champagne that had been chilling in the on-board fridge. On arriving back in the West End, we checked into Fitzrovia's Mandrake hotel, a popular fashion model and rock star hangout, where the lighting is low and the bedsheets are black.
Rolls-Royce is the best in the business at conjuring an atmosphere and curating an experience and it understands its clients like no one else. Its research isn't done via focus groups. Instead, it talks to every customer individually. If you're a Rolls-Royce patron, you are also a consultant designer, technician, marketer and ambassador.
The company revealed a new vision of luxury last year with the "regular" or "silver" Ghost, almost minimalist in its design and craftsmanship, a movement Rolls coined as Post Opulence. The amplified Black Badge shows the dark side of this new way.
Black Badge was first realised in 2016 and was inspired by a trip to Los Angeles. Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös and his chief designer and communications chief were emerging from Beverly Hills' SLS Hotel one evening when a chap pulled up in a Phantom Drophead which had been independently pimped and "murdered out". Introducing himself, Müller-Ötvös said to the driver, "I like it, but why have you done this?" The man – a plastic surgeon – told him he'd wanted a car that gave him an alter-ego. The three motor men then went off to dinner and brainstormed a new more assertive direction for product styling; cars with noir-ish exterior colours contrasting with vivid interiors, firmer cornering and even more grunt (and growl). They had to lobby brand owner BMW, which, after considerable resistance, finally backed down and allowed the Spirit Of Ecstasy to go dark, both literally and metaphorically. "Black Badge", director of communications Richard Carter tells us in all seriousness, "is not a car but a lifestyle." Available across Ghost, Cullinan, Wraith and Dawn (but not Phantom), it now represents nearly 30 per cent of all sales.
Buyers can define their own custom hue or select from 44,000 prét-à-porter colours. Most simply opt for the signature black. Just as catholic priests (in Father Ted's telling, anyway) wear the blackest socks, Rolls boasts the industry's darkest black. The paint weighs 45kg alone. The whole car, unladen with Kardashians and Krug, is a whisker under 2.5 tonnes. There are some weight-saving measures, such as the 21-inch composite wheels. Unique to the Black Badge Ghost, the barrel of each wheel is made up of 44 layers of carbon fibre laid on three axes. A 3-D-forged aluminium hub is finished with the marque's hallmark floating hubcap, ensuring the double-R monogram remains upright at all times.
Inside is an ambiance that treads a very fine line between red-carpet glitz and luxuriant substance. Rolls' aesthetes have, we're told, turned to haute couture for inspiration, in particular the work of Kei Ninomiya, Rick Owens, Yohji Yamamoto and John Varvatos. In terms of peers, Rolls has also compared its work to pioneering sailing yachts Maltese Falcon, Black Pearl and Philippe Starck's Sailing Yacht A.
The dash in our car has aluminium fibres rendered in carbon, known as Technical Weave. The sense of noir is heightened by subduing all the brightwork. Above, this car's Starlight Headliner represents the night's sky over Goodwood, the home of Rolls-Royce, and includes shooting stars. Trust us, your friends will love it. There are seat-back TVs and crystal flutes included with the fizz fridge. If you're a scotch drinker, these things can be provided, of course.
When it comes to performance, the engineers had an interesting challenge: to create a driving personality that matches the Black Badge's visual intent without compromising that famed magic carpet ride. The Ghost's all-aluminium space frame architecture is superb starting point, both stiff in body and flexible in adaptability. This car has four-wheel steer as well as all-wheel drive. It also boasts the genius Rolls-patented Planar suspension system which irons out the dips and bumps. These systems, all on the regular Ghost, have been reengineered for Black Badge, including fitting more voluminous air springs to alleviate body roll under more assertive cornering. Between that and the satellite-aided transmission, this limousine takes roundabouts like a Lotus.
The Ghost's twin-turbocharged 6.75-litre V12 is sufficient in anyone's book, but this one generates an extra 28bhp – a total output of 591 thoroughbreds. Torque is up 50Nm too, to an ambrosial 900 (all of which is available at just 1,700RPM). There's been some transmission and throttle treatments to further enhance power delivery and adjust the levels of driver feedback. The braking bite point has been raised and pedal travel decreased. The regular Ghost's brakes were deemed more than adequate, but a new suite of bold colours is available for the callipers. We were rather taken with turquoise on black.
When the Black Badge range started to appear five years ago, a lot of traditionalists were up in arms that Rolls-Royce was diverting from polished chrome and lacquered walnut. But the bulk of Rolls' global audience is nouveau riche and always has been. A lot of the criticism of bold hues, aggressive wheels and sparkly lights has undercurrents of ageism and racism.
From its very earliest days, Rolls-Royce has attracted creative minds, free spirits and iconoclasts – John Lennon, Elvis and Elton among them. It's worth considering that the company's founders, Charles Rolls and Henry Royce, were the disrupters of their day. Had they been born a century later, maybe they could pass for Silicon Valley bros. Their backgrounds couldn't have been more different (engineer Royce came from nothing, while aristo Rolls wore a white tie spattered with oil, earning him the nickname "Dirty Rolls"), but they were both mightily ambitious and bonded over their love of technology and desire to shake things up. These guys were the Elon Musk and Peter Thiel of yesteryear, and with the Black Badge Ghost their visionary and subversive ways are being celebrated today.
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