Rolls-Royce Motor Cars presented the Home of Rolls-Royce Ghost Extended Wheelbase in Hong Kong for the first time. One of only 25 in the world, the special edition celebrates 10 years of production at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, England since the first car was delivered at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2003.
“Goodwood has been the centre of manufacturing excellence thanks to a unique combination of traditional craftsmanship, cutting-edge technology and world-class Bespoke design. These have been greatly appreciated in the Asia Pacific region over the last 10 years,” said Paul Harris, Rolls- Royce Motor Cars’ Regional Director for Asia Pacific.
“Our considered view is that Rolls-Royce has taken its place as manufacturer of the world’s pinnacle super-luxury goods, an achievement built on the passion and commitment of every craftsperson employed at Goodwood. This beautiful collection is a fitting way to celebrate an extraordinary decade,” he added.
Dan Balmer, General Manager for the Asia Pacific said, “Rolls-Royce Bespoke is the jewel in the crown for the marque and there is a growing trend of customers in Asia Pacific commissioning bespoke features in their car. In Asia Pacific (excluding Mainland China), Rolls-Royce bespoke grew 69% year-on-year. Hong Kong customers have a deep appreciation for Rolls-Royce Bespoke. In the decade since we first established the marque in Hong Kong, we have seen many customers here commissioning bold and unique Rolls-Royce motor cars."
About the Home of Rolls-Royce Collection
On 1 January 2013, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars celebrated 10 years of production at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, England. To mark this latest chapter in the marque’s 109-year history, the very first vehicle of a special collection of Ghost and Phantom family models, conceived and designed by the Rolls-Royce Bespoke team, will be unveiled this month.
The Home of Rolls-Royce Collection celebrates the meticulous design, engineering and craftsmanship employed in the production of every car that leaves Goodwood. A ‘celebration’ motif, presented in hand-crafted marquetry on the front-fascia marks this landmark year in Rolls-Royce history. Using methods akin to the artistry of fine furniture makers, the effect is achieved through a process that marries cutting-edge technology with traditional craftsmanship.
Individual pieces of wood veneer are laser-cut to ensure precision. A craftsperson then painstakingly assembles the 170 sections made up from 11 varieties of woods, ensuring they perfectly express the vision of the marque’s Bespoke design team. A fastidious process of quality control follows, utilising the world’s most accurate measuring tool – the human eye.
In 2012 – a second successive record year for the marque – over 3,500 hand-built Rolls-Royce cars, exclusively created at Goodwood, were exported to all five continents. This is celebrated throughout the collection with a compass motif that expresses the Home of Rolls-Royce’s position as a global centre of manufacturing excellence.
The pattern is also intricately embroidered into the armrests and console lid. Typically 112,533 stitches are applied by precision embroidery machines that make 1,000 individual stitches per minute – however, such is the complexity of the pattern it takes over an hour to finish each individual piece. In total, over 600 metres of thread is used with over 400 pieces of individual leather to create the cosseting interior of a Home of Rolls-Royce motor car.
Co-ordinates engraved into tread plates, the bezel of the Spirit of Ecstasy and umbrella handles further express Goodwood’s place as the only manufacturing centre for the world’s pinnacle super-luxury marque.
A hand-painted coachline, culminating in a half-compass motif completes the exterior. Forming the final stage of a week-long, 22-stage painting process, coachlines are hand-applied by one highly-skilled craftsman using squirrel hair brushes. Normally this takes three hours – however the intricacy of this very special Bespoke design means the time taken to complete the process doubles.
The beauty and craftsmanship of every Home of Rolls-Royce Collection car runs much deeper than the hand polished painted surface of one of the 44,000 available exterior paint colors.
The Ghost Extended Wheelbase provides a refined driving experience. The 563bhp 6.6L V12 heart not only provides effortless acceleration but does so with the refinement of being able of supporting a British one pound coin stood on its edge on top of the running engine, as was originally specified by the Rolls-Royce engineers.
