This is the Rolls-Royce you’ll actually want to drive yourself

The new Ghost II ushers in a modern new era for the heritage marque.

Ben Smithurst

Rolls-Royce Ghost Series II.

3 min read

4:30AMApril 07, 2025.

Updated 12:57PMApril 07, 2025

It’s true that the British and the Germans have not always been best pals, but it’s a shame, because when they work together, the results can be spectacular. Case in point: the Rolls-Royce Ghost Series II. The union between Rolls, that most English institution, and its Teutonic owners, BMW, is not new. But in the two decades since BMW bought Rolls, the British marque has entered a new golden age.

From the partnership’s first model, the statement-making Phantom, to the money-spinning/no-brainer Cullinan SUV and their $1-million-plus EV, the Spectre, it’s been a stunning run. And it makes sense. The marriage plays to each nation’s strengths: Germans are great at the engineering bits; the Poms peerless when it comes to coachwork.

That era also includes the first (modern) Ghost, the predecessor to this one. The Ghost is the marque’s entry-level saloon, even if Rolls’s definition of entry level is, for the Ghost Series II, $680,000, plus what typically turns out to be at least another 10 per cent spent ticking optional extras. The premium Black Badge version bumps that starting number to $800,000. Whichever one you end up picking (the Black Badge is more fun, but less tasteful), you might be buying perhaps the best modern Rolls of them all.

From its superlative engineering – its 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12 engine is a symphony of miracles, the rich, chocolatey emulsion of the eight-cog gearbox, the satellite-assisted transmission – to the inspired pairing of interior tech and almost lunatic opulence, what you get is both predictably luxurious and constantly surprising. In fact, as we waft across the literal Cézanne landscape that is the rosé-ripened launch location of Provence, where Sir Henry Royce himself spent his winters, the only curiosity is that the Ghost Series II apparently thinks it’s a track car.

Rolls-Royce, see, describes this as their “most driver-focused V12 Rolls-Royce ever”, a claim that is true, but also means less the more you think about it. This is because most Rollers throughout history have been sold to buyers who sit in the back, so choosing a car one’s chauffeur will enjoy driving is like hoping the dentist enjoys extracting your wisdom teeth.

The demand for “driver-focused” Rolls-Royces is relatively new, and coincides with a drop in the average age of customers – apparently just 43 in 2024, and falling. The previous Ghost was developed for these new, hands-on owners and launched in 2009, when the average age of a Rolls buyer was above 56.

With about 80 per cent of Rolls buyers now keen to sit behind the wheel themselves, actual engagement with the road is, “a side of Ghost’s character that our clients increasingly and enthusiastically embrace”.

Pah. This is no driver’s car; it’s just a driver’s car compared with other Rolls-Royces, in the same way that your microwave is portable compared with your fridge. Rolls knows this doesn’t matter, of course.

Behind the wheel, this Ghost is unflappable: gliding like a hovercraft over truck and tractor-pitted roads, serene and arrogantly overpowered, its 420kW delivering all available 850Nm of torque from just 1600rpm.

If its Satellite Aided Transmission system – where the Ghost II uses GPS to select the ideal gear with which to fang out of turns – seems unnecessarily complicated, the proof is in the cornering. That system works with Rolls’s Flagbearer camera set-up, which scans the road ahead to anticipate potholes. It’s great.

The reasons we know that Rolls’s pretensions to athleticism don’t really matter to the company are overt in two ways here.

Firstly, so disdainful of sportiness is Rolls in its heart of hearts that its “sport” button, which bumps gearshift speeds by 50 per cent during enthusiastic acceleration, and issues a distinctly non-Rolls-like snap and crackle on overrun, is not actually called “sport”. It’s called “low”.

Second, Rolls has tweaked its famed “flight on land” Planar Suspension System, but the result remains incredible, like a magic carpet. Even with a decent 4.8-second 0-100km/h sprint, which is very handy for a two-and-a-half tonne saloon, no self-respecting driver’s car would ever describe its passage as “flight on land”.

What it is, then, is the full package: that combo of a bit more dynamism and a lot of luxe.

Like the upholstery, which has a pattern pinpricked by 107,000 precise perforations of 0.8-1.2mm in diameter, arranged to replicate the exact shape of some clouds spotted above Rolls-Royce’s Goodwood headquarters.

Every touchpoint is a confirmation of refinement; every detail an opportunity for Rolls to show off.

The Ghost Series II may only be relatively athletic, but when everything else is this good, you’ll be grateful for peace in our time.