Awhile back we blogged about the Rolls-Royce 200EX concept car. The Rolls-Royce project, codename RR4, has been named and it’s not Shadow, Spirit or Cloud. CEO of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Tom Purves, just announced at the Shanghai Motor Show that the new production car is named Ghost. Ghost will sit alongside the current Phantom range, which means Rolls-Royce will have two production lines. Ghost represents a less formal more dynamic vision by the luxury marque. We can’t wait to share more about the new Rolls-Royce Ghost but until then, check out the more on the 200EX forerunner.
Luxury is reserved for the rich but everybody deserves to indulge once in awhile. While owning a luxury car is a universal dream, driving one doesn’t have to remain fantasy. You can rent the car of your dreams for the day and indulge. That feeling of stepping up in the world is priceless, even if only for 24 hours.
While it may seem that people own what they drive, looks can be deceiving. Down in Miami renting luxury is in and owning luxury is getting harder to do, in this economic climate. Your average joe up to your average millionaire is renting his luxury, especially when it comes to exotic luxury cars. Whether it be for business or pleasure, renting is the way to go. Here are the top 5 most rented luxury cars.
1. Aston Martin Vantage convertible: $1,100 a day
The Aston Martin Vantage affords the most bang for the buck! The two-seater has a 4.7-liter V8 engine and tight handling. Go ahead and channel your inner James Bond.
2. Bentley GT-C convertible: $1,799 a day
The Bentley GT-C is not popular so much for speed as for space. The convertible seats four with a trunk big enough for golf bags or luggage. The Bentley convertible is the perfect vacation rental to make a statement with. Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan are just two celebrities that drive the $200,000 Bentley.
3. Ferrari F430 Spider: $2,299
The F430 Spider has a 4.3-liter V8 engine and does zero to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds. The $220,000 Ferrari makes use of F1 paddle shift technology, changing gear takes just 150 milliseconds.
4. Lamborghini Murcielago Coupe: $3,000 a day
The Murcielago is currently Lamborghini’s flagship supercar. Featuring a 6.5-liter V12 engine and the famous scissor doors. Lamborghini’s most expensive coupe starts at $350,000 if you were to buy your own.
5. Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe $3,999 a day
The Rolls-Royce Phantom convertible has a 6.75-liter V12 engine and rear-hinged suicide doors. The three tons of weight sits on air suspensions that can be raised up, an inch, at the touch of a button and returns to its normal ride height past about 37 mph. The Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead is the most sophisticated and most expensive on the road at nearly half a million dollars. Plus, if you don’t like driving then a chauffeur can be sent with the rental. Go big or go home!
Prices are very subject to change, dependent upon several factors. Many companies like Imagine Lifestyles have a huge luxury fleet. These five just happen to be highly popular rentals, that make for many repeat customers. If you are interested in renting a luxury car, contact Imagine at 305.432.3205.
The recession hasn’t got Rolls-Royce yet. The Phantom was the model that re-launched the luxury brand back in 2003. And the Phantom has since been rejuvenated, refined and re-released for 2009. The latest Phantom received a new streamlined stainless steel front bumper and grille, LED illumination door handles and 21-inch aluminum wheels, standard. The 2009 Phantom got an upgraded RCA component input that gives auxiliary audio and visual connectivity to 12-inch monitors mounted in the car’s picnic tables. What’s more, new electronic controls, bi-directional reading lamps and redesigned door panels with door cappings and integrated grab handles. The 2009 Rolls-Royce Phantom features a 6.7-liter V12 engine at a cost between $350,000 and $423,000. The Phantom is all new for 2009 but nothing too evolutionary because why mess with perfection? If you’re into premier luxury cars then get into the 2009 Phantom.
[…]
The baby Phantom has leaked. The Rolls-Royce 200EX will premier at the Geneva Motor Show and, although, smaller than the Phantom she is still a big deal. The project code name comes from the "experimental" prototypes that Rolls-Royce created during the pre-war era. The smaller version Phantom will lose the 200EX moniker shortly and be renamed with some variation of the words Shadow, Spirit or Cloud. The 200EX concept should be realized and in production by 2010 and has
it’s sight set on the Bentley Continental Flying Spur market. The Rolls-Royce 200EX will be the fourth model premiered since BMW took over in 2004. Rolls-Royce pulled the best of the best from the Phantom and Drophead Coupe models and then used the latest BMW 7 Series platform in the new concept car.
Â
The smaller package spans 212.6 inches long, 83 inches wide and 61 inches tall, with a wheelbase of 129.7 inches. A new air suspension system has been concealed behind seven-spoke, 20-inch wheels. Rolls-Royce says the 200EX will be powered by a new V12 but other then that, engine details are all on the down low. Rolls-Royce is synonymous with luxury in the motoring world and luxury is what you can expect in the 200EX. The inside will hold frosted lamps, chrome door handles, violin key switchgear and an ergonomic roller-ball controller to manipulate the car’s systems.The concept’s look is less formal, not less luxurious but more driveable, prices have not yet been released but expect the 200EX to start at around a quarter million. Its like they say, sometimes the best things come in small packages.
[…]
Rolls-Royce CEO Tom Purves is down to make an electric Phantom. For the internal combustion engine (ICE) people dependent upon gasoline, an electric car is an alternative fuel car that utilizes an electric motor. An electric motor is usually run on a rechargeable battery pack. Electric is just one of the waives of the future and it is environmentally friendly which we always applaud.
The thing is that the first round of electric cars, although the effort was applaudable most were downright ugly. It’s almost hard to look at a hybrid Prius. Recently many higher end car companies have been pushing to get hybrid and electric vehicles to market, there’s the new Cadillac Escalade and now the BMW Mini E. This brings us to BMW’s subsidiary company Rolls-Royce, CEO Tom Purves, and the Phantom.
In an interview with Car Magazine, Purves said that an electric Rolls-Royce would fit perfectly with the Rolls brand, and expects the car to appeal to city dwellers who are Phantom customers. "Many of our customers do small mileages exclusively in the city," said Purves, who is now the driving force behind BMW-owned Rolls-Royce since July. "For these customers, an electric Rolls-Royce would be ideal."
Purves just drove the new electric Mini, which will premiere next month at the Los Angeles auto show. The CEO said," It is superb: quiet, fast and fantastically fun." The Mini E uses lithium ion batteries and has distance range of about 150 miles. The Mini E’s top speed is 95 miles per hour and it does 0-60 miles per hour in 8.5 seconds. Purves believes that by using the experience from the electric mini project, the electric urban version of the Phantom is a very reachable goal.
Tom Purves also believes that an electric Phantom would be the perfect addition to the Rolls-Royce marque. A properly engineered electric motor is quieter, less cumbersome and would keep in line with the unmatched refinement that we all know as Rolls-Royce. Plus, an electric engine delivers maximum torque instantly. Â
Cities with hugh CO2 levels better stay up to date on hybrid and electric projects especially. There may come a time in the not too far off future when legislation is passed to limit Carbon Dioxide pollution and your cars might be first to go. A battery-powered Rolls-Royce would come into good use then. Obviously, the petrol V12 Phantom would still be made available. Honestly, though, who doesn’t want to splurge on a Rolls-Royce Phantom and then be able to keep feeling good about it, the more you are chauffeured around town.Â
[…]
As most companies deteriorate through our current financial collapse, one company named Rolls-Royce remains unscathed. In september Rolls-Royce delivered 129 luxury vehicles, which puts them up 7.5% from last year. To date Rolls-Royce has delivered 829 luxury vehicles. How have they done? The answer is rich clients in emerging economic markets, like India which is one of their strongest. Rolls-Royce has remained hush-hush about new orders but is optimistic of their future. The marque aims to deliver 2,000 cars by 2010, this effort has generated 200 extra jobs at the Goodwood factory, East Sussex. Spurring the economy one Rolls-Royce at a time, thanks.
[…]
The 2009 Rolls Royce Phantom offers three choices of 21-inch wheels, two of them forged with alloy numbers. On this exotic fleet there are standard exterior color palette which come in nine colors but Rolls-Royce offers 44,000 hue variations, "I don’t think we’ll use all the colors but they’re there," Purves said. Duh?  The most fantastic, standout feature on the more aggressive Coupe is called the starlight headliner, think luxe planitarium. The classic Rolls Royce ceiling is adorned with 1,600 fiber-optic lights that can be dimmed or brightened to suit your mood, that’s educational and sexual! Incredibly the stars are all done by hand and on request can be arranged to mimic the northern sky but we wouldn’t expect anything less from Rolls-Royce, would we? Smaller than the grand-daddy Phantom and slightly larger than the baby Drophead, we think the Coupe is the creme de la creme of the Rolls-Royce Phantom line. Â
 
