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RollsRoyce

ROLLS-ROYCE ‘MAKERS OF THE MARQUE’: ERNEST HIVES

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ERNEST HIVES: 21 APRIL 1886 – 24 APRIL 1965

  • A quick overview of the life and profession of Ernest Hives, born 21 April 1886
  • Pivotal determine within the early days of the marque, driving Rolls-Royce’s success within the nice motor trials of the early twentieth Century, earlier than changing into Chairman of the Board in 1950
  • Fourth in a sequence profiling the principal characters within the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars basis story because the marque celebrates its one hundred and twentieth anniversary in 2024
  • Insights into the folks, personalities and intertwined relationships that indelibly formed the marque’s creation, improvement and lasting legacy
  • Each account underlines and celebrates the important human dimension of ‘the best car in the world’
     

“Even for so gifted an engineer as Henry Royce, there’s a limit to how far theory can take you: there comes a point where someone has to determine whether your design actually works in practice. In the early days of Rolls-Royce, that was Ernest Hives. From humble origins, Hives turned his fascination for motor cars and outstanding self-taught driving skills into a glittering career with Rolls-Royce, first as an experimental test driver, then as one of the ‘works’ team contesting the great motor trials of the day. His observations and hands-on experiences from the road would have been crucial to Royce’s continuous improvement process, making him a key figure in the technical development of the ‘best car in the world’. 
 Andrew Ball, Head of Corporate Relations and Heritage, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

Ernest Walter Hives was born on 21 April 1886 in Reading, Berkshire. In 1898, aged just 12, he began a three-year apprenticeship with a local engineering company that had a sideline dealing in motor cars.

From the outset, the young Hives was captivated by these fascinating new machines. He saw his future in them and, like Henry Royce a generation earlier, he did not allow his humble background and limited formal education to impede his ambitions. He shared Royce’s unending capacity for hard work, putting in long hours and applying what was evidently a similarly lively and enquiring mind. In particular, he would watch and listen to those on the night shift, steadily building his knowledge of the motor cars’ inner workings and operation.

But his was not merely a theoretical interest, and he soon taught himself to drive by moving cars around the garage. We can assume this was with his employers’ blessing since, though still only 14, he quickly graduated to the road, where he taught clients to drive. His combination of technical understanding, an intuitive ‘feel’ for the motor car and outstanding practical skills would shape his career in the years that followed.

That nascent career took a defining turn sometime around 1903 (the precise date is not known) when Hives rendered assistance to a motorist who was having trouble with one of his motor cars (likewise, history does not record whether this was at the Reading garage or out on the open road). What is certain is the motorist’s identity: The Hon. Charles Stewart Rolls.

Whenever and wherever this encounter occurred, Rolls was so impressed that he promptly took Hives on as his personal chauffeur. The young man’s star continued to rise with a swift promotion to the position of mechanic at C S Rolls & Co, the prestigious London motor car dealership established by his new employer at the start of 1903.

But driving remained Hives’ true calling. He left C S Rolls & Co to work first at Owens and then Napier, for whom he drove in the gruelling Scottish Reliability Trials of 1907 and 1908, and also at the 1908 Brooklands meeting, where he sported jockey’s racing colours of yellow and white (which he described as looking like ‘a poached egg’).

In 1908, he made what would be the most pivotal move of his career; taking a job at Rolls-Royce, by now in its fourth year, as an experimental tester. His own account suggests he was less than overjoyed at the prospect, at least initially. “When I got to Derby in 1908 and walked out of the station it was raining hard,” he wrote later. “Looking up Midland Road, it was so drab that I spun a coin to decide whether to go on to Rolls-Royce or catch the next train home.” By such small possibilities, momentary choices and tiny margins for error are careers, lives and historical past itself so typically decided.

Rolls-Royce had created the brand new position of experimental tester following its exhibiting on the 1907 Scottish Reliability Trial. Not that the occasion had gone badly for the fledgling marque, quite the opposite: the 40/50 H.P. – higher generally known as the Silver Ghost – had comprehensively crushed the opposition, together with the Napier pushed by Hives; much more impressively, the punishing 15,000-mile take a look at had been the motor automobile’s first aggressive endurance run. Never one to relaxation on his laurels, nonetheless, Henry Royce noticed this overwhelming success as conclusive proof of the necessity for continued testing to, in his personal phrases, ‘take the best that exists and make it better’.

Hives joined the corporate’s newly fashioned experimental division, and instantly proved a pure at this extremely structured, technically exacting work. His insights into the subtleties of a motor automobile’s efficiency and responses – that it developed a resonance noise at a sure velocity, that the chassis felt both too stiff or not stiff sufficient below cornering, or that the engine appeared to have a ‘flat spot’ at a selected rpm (revolutions per minute) – would have been invaluable to Royce and his design workforce. Indeed, such had been his presents that when the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) introduced its headline 1911 endurance trial from London to Edinburgh and again, Hives was robotically chosen to drive Rolls-Royce’s entry: Silver Ghost 1701.

Designed as an ‘Experimental Speed Car’, 1701 simply gained the occasion, through which entrants accomplished your complete 794-mile journey between the 2 capitals locked in high gear. Under Hives’ knowledgeable dealing with, the automobile averaged nearly 20mph and returned a then unheard‑of gasoline effectivity of over 24mpg – genuinely astonishing figures given the parlous state of Edwardian Britain’s roads, and a testomony to Hives’ abilities, braveness and powers of focus behind the wheel, in addition to Royce’s engineering.

Rolls-Royce adopted up this efficiency by contesting the much more daunting Alpine Trials, held over eight days and a couple of,600km on a few of the highest roads in Europe. After an embarrassing underperformance by a ‘privateer’ automobile in 1912, Managing Director Claude Johnson was wanting to set the document straight and approached the 1913 occasion in sometimes energetic and uncompromising vogue. He assembled an official ‘works’ workforce of three specifically ready Silver Ghosts, every with a hand-picked driver and mechanic, plus a fourth automobile constructed to the identical specification pushed by personal proprietor James Radley. Hives was one of many firm’s high drivers – as confirmed by his being the primary to exceed 100mph in a Silver Ghost – and subsequently an apparent choice for Johnson’s new crack workforce. Piloting the Number Two automobile, accompanied by mechanic George Hancock, he accomplished a near-faultless run (he was docked a single level for stalling on leaving the parking space in Salzburg) that earned him one of many workforce’s three silver medals, in an total efficiency that noticed the Silver Ghosts typically accepted as ‘the fastest, quietest and strongest cars in the event’.

Alongside his racing exploits, Hives continued to make an important contribution to Rolls-Royce’s analysis and improvement efforts as an experimental tester, introducing the primary ‘chassis bump rig’, that would take a look at chassis’ elements to destruction. He additionally undertook the nonetheless probably hazardous work of testing Royce’s newest designs on the open highway. Having settled on France as the perfect place to hold out high-speed highway testing, he made common sorties alongside a route he devised between Paris and Royce’s winter house at Le Canadel, close to Nice. For somebody who had adored motor vehicles since childhood, this will need to have been as near the proper job as it’s attainable to get.

The natural-born expertise and sheer love of driving that Hives first demonstrated as an adolescent by no means left him. Many who knew him spoke of a ‘sixth sense’ he had when driving, seeming to know instinctively if the highway forward was clear and when he may take the quickest line via a nook or wanted to ease off.

As his profession progressed, Hives turned more and more concerned with growing Rolls-Royce’s aero engines in addition to its automotive merchandise. In 1937, he turned a Board Director and General Works Manager; his most vital act was to separate the corporate’s motor automobile (chassis) and aero engine operations into two unbiased entities, which stays the case to this present day.

In 1946, he turned Managing Director, and in 1950, Chairman of the Board: that very same 12 months, he obtained a peerage and, as 1st Baron Hives, accomplished a unprecedented journey from working as Charles Rolls’s chauffeur to main the nice firm his late employer had co-founded nearly 50 years earlier. Yet the person who had doggedly labored his manner up from a Reading storage to the House of Lords at all times remained modest, describing himself with an understatement worthy of Royce’s equally understated self-characterisation as ‘just a mechanic’. Respectfully, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars begs to vary.

RollsRoyce

ROLLS-ROYCE ‘MAKERS OF THE MARQUE’: ELEANOR VELASCO THORNTON

ELEANOR VELASCO THORNTON: 15 APRIL 1880 – 30 DECEMBER 1915

  • A short overview of the life and profession of Eleanor Velasco Thornton, born 15 April 1880
  • Secretary to each Claude Johnson and Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, muse of illustrator and sculptor Charles Sykes and the mannequin for the marque’s iconic Spirit of Ecstasy mascot
  • Third in a collection profiling the principal characters within the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars basis story because the marque celebrates its a hundred and twentieth anniversary in 2024
  • Insights into the individuals, personalities and intertwined relationships that indelibly formed the marque’s creation, growth and lasting legacy
  • Each account underlines and celebrates the important human dimension of ‘the best car in the world’

“Eleanor Thornton has a singular place in Rolls-Royce historical past. She is finest often called the purported mannequin for our Spirit of Ecstasy mascot, however how this happened is a part of a much more complicated and engaging story. Secrets, sacrifices and the ever-present danger of scandal dominated her tragically quick however intense and vibrant life. She was a robust, clever, self‑assured and extremely influential girl in an automotive world that was then virtually solely male-dominated. She additionally performed a pivotal half in a timeless, tangled, deeply human drama that might finally make her, and the art work she impressed, immortal.”
 Andrew Ball, Head of Corporate Communications and Heritage, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

Eleanor Velasco Thornton was born on 15 April in 1880 in Stockwell, south-west London. Little is understood of her adolescence: what’s sure is that because the twentieth Century opened, she was working as assistant to the ebullient and charismatic Claude Johnson, General Secretary of the Automobile Club of Great Britain & Ireland (later the RAC) and soon-to-be enterprise companion of The Hon Charles Stewart Rolls.

Eleanor rented rooms at The Pheasantry on the Kings Road, Chelsea; now a Grade II Listed constructing, its eclectic and flamboyant architectural thrives had been the work of its then proprietor, the artist and inside decorator Amédée Joubert. At that point, it was house to a thriving colony of artists (within the Nineteen Thirties, the basement grew to become a restaurant and consuming membership, the regulars of which included the painters Augustus John and Francis Bacon, the poet Dylan Thomas and legendary actor Humphrey Bogart; it stays a nightclub to today). Amid these bohemian environment, Eleanor lived a exceptional double life: by day, an expert govt assistant; by evening, a life-model for the Pheasantry’s resident artists. One of these for whom she usually posed was a gifted illustrator, Charles Sykes. 

Eleanor’s life modified utterly and irrevocably in 1902. That yr, virtually 100 miles from London, on the sting of the New Forest in Hampshire, John Walter Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, was grappling with a longstanding drawback. He was but to ascend to his future title of 2nd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu; within the interim, for all his impeccable lineage and shining prospects, he was perennially wanting money. By a double misfortune, his life’s nice ardour was the motor automobile, which in these pioneering days was nonetheless very a lot the protect of these with deep pockets. 

Happily, Montagu had a aptitude for journalism, so his impressed answer was to arrange Britain’s first devoted motoring journal, The Car Illustrated. Montagu may deal with the writing, modifying and publishing himself; however for pictures, he wanted an expert illustrator. In a type of odd coincidences that so typically form historical past, the person he employed was Charles Sykes.

Among Montagu’s circle of motoring buddies was Claude Johnson. When, by him, Montagu met Eleanor, he was immediately captivated by her intelligence and promptly poached her, providing her the place of Office Manager at his journal. Eleanor accepted, and the aristocratic writer and his new colleague – 14 years his junior – quickly launched into a prolonged clandestine affair.

Thereafter, Sykes and Eleanor discovered themselves abruptly thrown collectively as colleagues at The Car Illustrated, whereas already properly acquainted with each other below very totally different circumstances. Whether this brought about any awkwardness between them is unimaginable to say; but it surely appears unlikely, since Eleanor was quickly posing for him once more.

During this era (the exact date is unknown) Sykes produced a mascot for Montagu’s Rolls‑Royce Silver Ghost. Called ‘The Whisper’, it was a small aluminium statuette of a younger girl in fluttering robes with a forefinger to her lips. It has been confirmed that Eleanor was the mannequin: whether or not the mascot was a token of appreciation from Sykes to his buddy and employer, or made at Eleanor’s instigation as a present for her lover, stays a thriller. Whatever the reality, Montagu displayed it on each Rolls-Royce automobile he owned till his dying in 1929; maybe as a discreet acknowledgment of his love for Eleanor, which he saved secret for thus lengthy.

Tragically, Eleanor was amongst a whole lot who drowned when the P&O passenger ship SS Persia sank within the Mediterranean in 1915. Montagu was among the many handful of survivors: he spent three days adrift on an upturned lifeboat, having suffered a fractured shoulder. He was additionally nursing a damaged coronary heart. Devasted, he by no means absolutely obtained over the emotion of the lack of Eleanor – of which, naturally, he may by no means converse publicly. But for the remainder of his life, she was with him in spirit wherever he travelled in his Rolls-Royce motor automobile.

RollsRoyce

ROLLS-ROYCE ‘MAKERS OF THE MARQUE’: HENRY EDMUNDS

HENRY EDMUNDS: 20 MARCH 1853 – 18 NOVEMBER 1927

  • A short overview of the life and profession of Henry Edmunds, born 20 March 1853
  • Earned his place in historical past as the person who organized the historic first assembly between his associates Henry Royce and Charles Rolls on 4 May 1904
  • First in a sequence profiling the principal characters within the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars basis story, every launched to have fun the topic’s beginning date, because the marque celebrates its 120th anniversary
  • Insights into the individuals, personalities and intertwined relationships that indelibly formed the marque’s creation, growth and lasting legacy
  • Personal histories underline and have fun the important human dimension of ‘the best car in the world’, as exemplified within the trendy period by means of Bespoke and Coachbuild commissions

 
 “This year we celebrate the 120th anniversary of the first meeting between Henry Royce and Charles Rolls. But while it’s their two names that became world-famous, Rolls-Royce as we know it might never have existed without the intervention, influence and contributions of others. In this series, as well as the founders themselves, we remember those crucial actors, perhaps less recognised by posterity yet absolutely essential to the Rolls-Royce story – beginning, appropriately, with the man who arranged that first historic encounter.”
 Andrew Ball, Head of Corporate Relations and Heritage, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

Henry Edmunds was born on 20 March 1853, in Halifax, West Yorkshire. His father, an engineer and iron service provider, gave him a casual apprenticeship, from which the younger Henry developed a permanent ardour for the then-new world of electrical energy. Having befriended Joseph Swan (the inventor of the incandescent lightbulb) he grew to become a salesman for the Swan Lamps firm. Among his clients was the Royal Navy: in 1881, HMS Inflexible grew to become the primary British warship to be lit with electrical bulbs. He was additionally associates with Thomas Edison (the inventor of just about the whole lot else) and was current at each the primary profitable sound recording and phone name.

In 1886, Edmunds grew to become a accomplice in electrical cable-makers WT Glover & Co, primarily based in Manchester. The firm’s fortunes had been reworked with the opening of the Manchester Ship Canal in 1894 – and, extra particularly, the docks and the world’s first devoted industrial property, Trafford Park, alongside it. Glover’s received the contract to produce the cabling for the huge arc-lighting system, which was designed and manufactured by one other Manchester firm, F H Royce & Co, owned by one Henry Royce.

To full the works, each Royce and Glover’s wanted capital. Through a posh sequence of reorganisations, modifications of identify, mutual shareholdings and administration overlaps between their respective corporations, Henry Royce and Henry Edmunds grew to become established enterprise associates and shut associates.

In 1899, Edmunds joined the Automobile Club of Great Britain & Ireland (later the Royal Automobile Club, or RAC). Edmunds was captivated by motoring and eagerly utilized his agile, creative thoughts to the toddler know-how’s myriad challenges and potentialities. The following 12 months he entered the 1,000 Mile Trial from London to Edinburgh and again, organised by the Club’s imposing and ebullient secretary, Claude Johnson. Among his fellow entrants was The Hon Charles Stewart Rolls, and the three grew to become agency associates.

By 1904, Edmunds had taken a enterprise curiosity within the Parsons Non-skid Co Ltd, which made ‘chains’ that fitted to automotive tyres to stop what was referred to as ‘slide-slipping’. They entered a contest, the Slide Slip Trials, on the finish of April that 12 months, however on the final minute discovered themselves with no appropriate automotive. Edmunds requested Royce if they might use his first 10 H.P. automotive. Royce agreed and the automotive was rapidly despatched by practice to London, the place Edmunds drove it efficiently within the 1,000-mile occasion. Charles Rolls additionally took half, however there isn’t any file of his having something to do with the Royce automotive.

Edmunds was enormously impressed by the ten H.P. He additionally knew Rolls was desperately searching for a high-quality British-made automotive to promote in his thriving London dealership. He was decided to carry the 2 males collectively, and earned his place in historical past when, on 4 May 1904 at The Midland Hotel in Manchester, he introduced: “Henry, may I introduce Charles Rolls”.

RollsRoyce

ROLLS-ROYCE GHOST: A SYMBOL OF ENDLESS PURE EXPRESSION

This Press Kit gives an outline of the present Ghost mannequin household, its design philosophy and place throughout the Rolls-Royce product portfolio. The unique launch launch for Ghost is offered on PressMembership, the place you may as well discover details about earlier generations, variants and fashions, together with Ghost Extended and Black Badge Ghost .


BACKGROUND

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars launched the primary Ghost in 2009 on the Frankfurt Motor Show. More compact than the marque’s pinnacle product, Phantom, it was created for a brand new group of purchasers who desired a extra modest, minimalist expression of Rolls-Royce perfection in design, engineering and craftsmanship. The Ghost Extended variant adopted in 2011. An up to date Series II Ghost was unveiled on the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, with the primary Black Badge Ghost making its debut two years later.

Over the course of its 10-year lifecycle, the first-generation Ghost grew to become probably the most profitable product within the firm’s historical past, enabling Rolls-Royce to scale up manufacturing, put money into its capabilities and set up itself as a really world luxurious model. Production led to 2019, an occasion commemorated within the Ghost Zenith Collection.

The current Ghost, constructed on the identical Architecture of Luxury spaceframe as Phantom, Cullinan and Spectre, was launched in 2020: the line-up additionally consists of Ghost Extended and Black Badge Ghost, launched in 2021.


GHOST PHILOSOPHY AND POSITIONING

Ghost is a examine in discount, minimalism and ease. Its purity gives the best clean canvas for Bespoke commissions, with purchasers in a position to train their formidable creativity and categorical their preferences nearly completely freed from technical and aesthetic constraints.

That purity presents chance. It creates potential as boundless because the proprietor’s creativeness, emboldening them to convey color, power and vibrancy to their fee and to permit stunning supplies, skilled craftsmanship and beautiful particulars converse for themselves, delicate and unadorned.


A NEW APPROACH TO LUXURY

Ghost’s design displays a marked shift in purchasers’ attitudes to luxurious that has occurred since its first incarnation. Today’s luxurious shoppers consciously reject extravagance and ostentation: their tastes are outlined by discount, simplicity and substance, and the clever, thought-about choice and unobtrusive software of remarkable supplies and craftsmanship. Every ingredient of Ghost subsequently has relevance, goal and integrity. This philosophy is the antithesis of ‘premium mediocrity’, a time period coined by the style business for in any other case unremarkable merchandise that depend on contrivance, superficial particulars and meaningless aesthetic artifice to create an phantasm of luxurious.

Ghost can also be designed for a youthful shopper cohort, typically self-made and invariably self-confident and self-reliant, who are typically self-drivers by default, and thus take a eager curiosity of their motor automotive’s driving expertise and dynamics.

THE CURRENT GHOST MODEL

Ghost is ideal in its simplicity; however creating this purity of expression was one of many marque’s greatest-ever technical challenges. It incorporates state-of-the-art tools and features together with:

  • LED and laser headlights with greater than 600m of illuminated vary, plus imaginative and prescient help
  • Alertness assistant
  • Four-camera system with panoramic view, all-round visibility and helicopter view
  • Active cruise management
  • Collision, cross-traffic, lane departure and lane change warnings
  • Industry-leading 7×3 high-resolution head-up show (HUD)
  • On-board Wi-Fi hotspot
  • Self-park system
  • Bespoke navigation and leisure techniques.

ENGINEERING

Proprietary Architecture of Luxury

Ghost is constructed on the marque’s proprietary Architecture of Luxury spaceframe, as utilized in its flagship Phantom, Cullinan SUV and all-electric Spectre. The aluminium spaceframe’s flexibility and scalability creates an acoustically superior, extremely inflexible and dynamic platform, based mostly round 4 mounted factors, one at every nook of the motor automotive. The moveable aluminium bulkhead, ground, crossmembers and sill panels are positioned particularly to make Ghost as gratifying to drive as it’s to be pushed in. Pushing two of the solid suspension mounting assemblies to the very entrance and inserting the 6.75-litre V12 behind the entrance axle, provides an optimum 50/50 weight distribution.

Ghost has all-wheel drive, all-wheel steering and a Planar Suspension System particularly designed to reinforce the marque’s hallmark ‘magic carpet ride’.

All-aluminium bodyshell

Ghost’s metallic superstructure is 100% aluminium, rendered as one clear, expansive piece, flowing seamlessly from the A-pillar, over the roof and right down to the rear of the motor automotive. To eradicate shut strains and physique seams, 4 craftspeople hand-weld the physique collectively concurrently; Ghost can also be fitted with 100% aluminium, laser-welded doorways. As properly as lowering the motor automotive’s total weight, aluminium provides a exceptional 40,000Nm/deg stiffness, and a decrease acoustic impedance than metal, bettering cabin atmosphere.

6.75-Litre Twin-Turbocharged V12

Ghost’s bespoke V12 engine ensures dynamic efficiency, delivering 563bhp/420kW and 850Nm/627lb ft of torque, with most torque accessible from 1600rpm – simply 600rpm above tick-over. The air consumption system incorporates massive ports designed to cut back engine noise within the inside.

Planar Suspension System

The Planar Suspension System is the results of 10 collective years of testing and growth, creating a way of ‘flight on land’ by no means achieved in a motor automotive earlier than. Created via bodily engineering developments, and complex scanning and software program expertise, it incorporates a world-first Upper Wishbone Damper unit, reserved completely for Rolls-Royce and by no means beforehand utilized in a manufacturing motor automotive. Located above the entrance suspension meeting, this assists the constantly variable, electronically managed shock absorbers and self-levelling high-volume air strut assemblies, making a secure, easy experience.

The marque’s Flagbearer system makes use of cameras to learn the street forward and modify the suspension proactively relatively than reactively at as much as 100km/h. This permits Ghost to anticipate and react to probably the most demanding street surfaces. It operates in live performance with the Satellite Aided Transmission system, which pulls GPS information to pre-select the optimum gear for upcoming corners, all managed by the planar software program system.

The five-link rear axle advantages from self-levelling high-volume air suspension expertise and rear-wheel steering.

Effortless Doors

Rolls-Royce purchasers have loved self-closing doorways because the first Goodwood Phantom. In Ghost, purchasers open the rear door with one pull of the inside deal with, then permit it to return to its resting place whereas they test for potential hazards. They then pull and maintain it for full energy help on opening. Once the door is opened sufficiently, they merely launch the deal with, which engages a door brake. The door might be closed fully robotically on the push of a button on the outside deal with.

If purchasers want to shut the door manually, the operation is energy assisted. On-board longitudinal and transverse sensors, in addition to G-force sensors fitted to every door, permit the identical velocity of operation no matter hill or driveway angles.

Micro-Environment Purification System (MEPS)

Ghost advantages from a Micro-Environment Purification System (MEPS), incorporating a full suite of {hardware} and software program. They embody extremely delicate Impurity Detection Sensors that robotically change recent air intakes to Recirculation Mode if unacceptable ranges of airborne contaminants are current. This channels all cabin air via a nanofleece filter, which is able to eradicating almost all ultra-fine particles from the Rolls-Royce’s micro-environment in lower than two minutes.


ACOUSTICS

Ghost applies the marque’s Formula for Serenity, designed to supply a peaceful, serene and near-noiseless inside setting.

The first ingredient of this components is the Architecture of Luxury. Its aluminium development has the next acoustic impedance than metal, and contains advanced varieties, relatively than flat, resonant surfaces. The bulkhead and ground sections are double-skinned and stuffed with composite damping felts to cut back street noise intrusion. In whole, Ghost incorporates 100kg of acoustic materials within the doorways, roof, between the double-glazed home windows, contained in the tyres and all through the underpinning structure.

During growth, each element was interrogated and, the place essential, re-engineered to eradicate unacceptable noise. For instance, the within of the air con ducting is polished to cut back wind noise; the diameter of the prop shaft was adjusted and its rigidity elevated to enhance acoustics.

The growth course of additionally revealed {that a} fully silent inside is definitely relatively disorienting for occupants. Ghost subsequently displays a ‘whisper’ – a mushy undertone skilled as a single, delicate be aware. This is achieved by tuning every element so it shares a standard resonant frequency. Again, this requires particular engineering options, corresponding to damping items within the seat frames, and ports beneath the rear parcel shelf that permit low-frequency sounds produced within the 507-litre boot cavity at motorway velocity to flee.


EXTERIOR

Ghost is outlined by minimalism and purity, underpinned by nice substance. Sharp bow strains intersect with an angular gentle signature, creating an assertive but stunning entrance finish. Twenty LEDS set beneath the highest of the radiator grille subtly illuminate the vanes: the backs of the vanes are brushed, making them much less reflective and making a restrained glow impact. The Spirit of Ecstasy will not be surrounded by panel strains however relatively stands inside her personal unbroken ‘lake’.

The hand-welded aluminium physique seems as one fluid complete, uninterrupted by shut strains, with a single straight stroke within the flanks emphasising the motor automotive’s size. The decrease ‘waft line’ borrows from boat design and makes use of reflection to lighten the surfacing and create a pure sense of movement. The subtly arched roof line and rear finish observe this sense of motion and resolve in a taper. The near-square rear gentle graphic, a longtime tenet of latest Rolls-Royce design, has a slight ahead tilt and seems as an ‘island’ throughout the painted floor.

In the intentionally impartial higher part, the home windows are equally proportioned, balancing Ghost as each a driver-oriented and chauffeur-driven automotive.


INTERIOR

The inside aesthetic pursues the identical minimalist rules as the outside. Free of busy particulars and superficial adornment, it creates a soothing refuge and maximises the influence of Bespoke color personalisation.

Producing an setting outlined by discount, simplicity and magnificence is an especially advanced endeavour, since even the very most interesting supplies will, when left unembellished, invite shut scrutiny. The leather-based utilized in every of Ghost’s 338 particular person panels, nonetheless small and unobtrusive, is topic to the automotive business’s most exhaustive high quality management checks: the stitching is minimal and varieties lengthy, completely straight strains, once more inviting minute inspection.

Ghost options specifically developed wooden veneers in open-pore end, which showcase the supplies of their bare type. Obsidian Ayous is impressed by the wealthy combine of colors present in igneous rock, whereas Dark Amber introduces delicate glamour with fantastic aluminium particles built-in into the darkish wooden. The wooden is left uncovered as lengthy, single-veneer leaves, punctuated solely by cold-to-the-touch strong metallic air vents.


BESPOKE FEATURES

Illuminated Fascia

Ghost’s Illuminated Fascia subtly echoes the Starlight Headliner, which itself has turn into as a lot part of Rolls-Royce iconography because the Spirit of Ecstasy, Pantheon Grille and ‘Double R’ monogram.

Developed over two years and greater than 10,000 collective hours, the fascia consists of an ethereal glowing Ghost nameplate surrounded by greater than 850 ‘stars’. The illumination comes from 152 LEDs mounted above and beneath the fascia, every meticulously colour-matched to the clock and instrument dial lighting. The Ghost wordmark is lit by a 2mm thick gentle information, that includes greater than 90,000 laser-etched dots throughout the floor. This not solely disperses the sunshine evenly however creates a twinkling impact as the attention strikes throughout the fascia.

Located on the passenger facet of the dashboard, the constellation and wordmark are fully invisible when the inside lights are usually not in operation. This is achieved utilizing three layers of composite supplies. The first, a piano-black substrate, is laser-etched to permit gentle to shine via the wordmark and star cluster. This is overlaid with a layer of dark-tinted lacquer, hiding the lettering when not in use. Finally, the fascia is sealed with a layer of subtly tinted lacquer earlier than being hand polished to attain a wonderfully uniform, 0.5mm thick high-gloss end, matching different high-gloss accents integrated into the inside.

Bespoke Audio

As properly as making a serene inner setting, Rolls-Royce’s pursuit of acoustic perfection creates an impressive sound stage for Ghost’s Bespoke Audio system, which is engineered into the motor automotive’s very material. A resonance chamber into the physique’s sill part basically transforms the motor automotive right into a subwoofer: exciter audio system bonded to the Starlight Headliner flip the ceiling right into a single massive speaker. A robust 1300W amplifier drives 18 particular person loudspeakers: state-of-the-art optimisation expertise and high-precision magnesium-ceramic compound cones present excellent frequency response. Two lively microphones detect anomalous frequencies, then set off the amplifiers to counteract them, ensuing a pure and completely balanced listening expertise.


PERFECTION, EVOLVED

The solely elements within the present Ghost mannequin to be carried over from its predecessor are the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot and the beloved umbrellas hid within the doorways: all the pieces else was designed, crafted and engineered from the bottom up. It distils the Rolls-Royce model values into a good looking, minimalist, but extremely advanced product that’s completely in concord with purchasers’ evolving wants, and exactly in tune with the occasions.

Cars, News

Tesla Under Investigation by NHTSA for Steering Issues

Tesla is once again facing scrutiny from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), this time for steering issues. According to the NHTSA’s investigation overview, drivers have been receiving messages indicating reduced or disabled power steering assist. Complaints have included incidents where restarting the car only partially restored steering capability, or drivers needed to make multiple attempts. One complaint even reported a situation where the steering felt stuck, causing the car to slide off the road and crash into a tree. Additionally, Tesla’s lane assistance and emergency features were said to have malfunctioned in this particular incident. Other cases described the steering wheel becoming overly stiff or completely locked.

While some Tesla owners have been able to regain full or partial steering functionality through restarts or multiple on-off attempts, many are concerned about the risk of being stranded in a sensitive traffic or highway situation. This poses not only a safety concern for themselves, but also for other vehicles around them. This is not the first time Tesla has faced steering-related issues with their electric SUV. In June 2023, a batch of Model Y cars were recalled due to steering wheel problems. Three months prior to that, the NHTSA launched an investigation into reports of steering wheels actually falling off while driving, affecting approximately 120,000 Model Y cars from the 2023 cycle.

RollsRoyce

ROLLS-ROYCE SPECTRE: THE ROLLS-ROYCE THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING

This Press Kit provides an overview of Spectre, its design philosophy and position within the Rolls-Royce product portfolio. The original launch press release is available on Press Club , where you can also find pre-launch information about Rolls-Royce’s electric experimental models and heritage.

Background

In 1900, motoring pioneer The Hon Charles Stewart Rolls made a prediction in a magazine article about the potential of electric cars. He believed that they would be quiet, clean, and useful with fixed charging stations. It took over a century, but Rolls-Royce finally realized his vision with the launch of Spectre, the first fully-electric Rolls-Royce. Spectre represents a monumental shift for the brand, as Rolls-Royce aims to have its entire product lineup fully electric by 2030.

Spectre is an ultra-luxury electric super coupé, combining the signature Rolls-Royce experience with instant torque, silent running, and seamless gear shifting. It features a ‘Decentralized Intelligence’ system that enables exchange of information between vehicle functions, enhancing the renowned ‘magic carpet ride’. With its contemporary design and bespoke capabilities, Spectre ushers Rolls-Royce into a new, electric age.

Spectre Philosophy and Positioning

Spectre is the Rolls-Royce that changes everything – the world’s first ultra-luxury electric super coupé, ushering in the marque’s bold new all-electric future. It offers no compromises in terms of interior space, comfort, performance, or ride quality. Spectre is the spiritual successor to the Phantom Coupé with its visually striking design and bespoke personalization options.

Spectre clients appreciate fine materials, craftsmanship, and minimalist design. They often embrace sustainability and authenticity, reflecting their individual personalities and values. As a luxury icon, Spectre symbolizes their achievements and aspirations.

Engineering

Spectre represents Rolls-Royce 3.0 – the next generation of Rolls-Royce engineering. It is built on the all-aluminium Architecture of Luxury platform, specifically designed to accommodate an electric powertrain. The spaceframe structure offers exceptional stiffness and incorporates the battery for added acoustic insulation.

With its all-electric drivetrain, Spectre is powered by two Separately Excited Synchronous Motors (SSMs) producing a combined output equivalent to an internal combustion engine with impressive acceleration. It offers a range of 530km (329 miles) and fast charging capabilities.

Spectre features advanced technologies, including active lane centring, adaptive cruise control, and a sophisticated suspension system that ensures a smooth and stable ride. The digital architecture, known as Decentralized Intelligence, processes data closer to its source, enabling faster responses to driver inputs and changing road conditions.

Inside the cabin, Spectre offers technologically advanced bespoke features, such as Starlight Doors with illuminated ‘stars’, an illuminated fascia, and personalized seat designs. The exterior design draws inspiration from diverse sources, resulting in a sleek and aerodynamic profile.

Overall, Spectre represents a bold leap forward for Rolls-Royce, combining its legendary craftsmanship with cutting-edge electric technology.

Executive Quotes

“Spectre possesses all the qualities that have secured the Rolls-Royce legend. This incredible motor car, conceived from the very beginning as our first fully-electric model, is silent, powerful and demonstrates how perfectly Rolls-Royce is suited to electrification. Spectre’s all-electric powertrain will assure the marque’s sustained success and relevance while dramatically increasing the definition of each characteristic that makes a Rolls-Royce a Rolls-Royce.” – Torsten Müller-Ötvös, CEO, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

“It is a highlight of my professional life to have developed Rolls-Royce Spectre, the car which propels Rolls-Royce into its bold, electric future. Such a remarkable car requires a remarkable testing programme, and I am enormously proud that Spectre has now completed what has been the most arduous schedule ever conceived for a Rolls-Royce motor car. Rolls-Royce Spectre brings the future of this great marque into the present.” – Dr. Mihiar Ayoubi, Director of Engineering, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

“We have designed Spectre as a true Rolls-Royce, with a strikingly modern yet timeless aesthetic, which brings our marque’s design language and Bespoke capabilities into a new, electric era. Spectre’s interior wraps itself around those inside the car, whilst enchanting Bespoke features surprise and delight, showcasing the very outstanding skill and artistry of our world-renowned designers and craftspeople.” – Anders Warming, Director of Design, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

“The electric car is perfectly noiseless and clean. There is no smell or vibration. They should become very useful when fixed charging stations can be arranged.” – The Hon. Charles Stewart Rolls, Co-Founder, Rolls-Royce, 1900