Rolls Royce Ghost spotted again

Rolls Royce Ghost, the latest high-end luxury vehicle designed by the UK based automaker, has been during  a testing session. Despite the fact that we have seen the fully unveiled model just a week ago, the car in these photos is still sporting a …..quite interesting camouflage.

While we have been used to seeing the funky black and white BMW camouflage, this time the Ghost gives us a “Panda-like” look, pretty cute if we might add.

Probably well known by now, but still worth mentioning again,  the new Rolls-Royce EX200 shares the same platform with the new 7 Series and it imports some design elements from Phantom and Drophead Coupe, but fit into a shorter wheelbase.

It is powered by a new V12 6.6-liter V12 producing 507 horsepower and the first units have already been pre-sold. The Rolls-Royce Ghost will go on sale this fall and will be built on its own dedicated production line at Goodwood but will share paint, wood and leather workshops with the Phantom series of cars.

BMW, Lexus, Mercedes

I have to warn you from the beginning that in this article I will be going a little bit out of topic and talk about some stereotypes that I keep hearing left and right. While attending social events or parties, I always find myself in the middle of interesting conversations, some of them related to the auto industry or car brands in general.

One of these common conversations that I’m sure many of you encountered as well, is always around the myth surrounding certain auto manufacturers. People love to talk about cars based on different angles: reliability, social status, performance….. and the list can go on.

Now for years I have been hearing pretty much the same old record over and over again: Japanese cars are the most reliable, Mercedes is all about luxury, BMWs offer great performance that comes with hefty repair bills and the list can go on and on.

It got even more interesting since I held this conversation with a young lady who totally fits the profile of someone that enjoys to drive luxury cars and most important, “cool cars”. To my surprise, out of all the luxury brands out there, she chose Lexus. Sure, you might say perfectly normal so far, but when asking why would she choose the Japanese brand, her answer was simple: reliability.

Going deeper into the conversation, she acknowledged that BMW are fun cars to drive, but don’t offer anything else. Of course, I let her continue since I wanted to find out more. So why not Mercedes, I asked? “Too luxurious for me plus it’s something what my mom or dad would drive, even my grandparents.”

While one person doesn’t represent a large sample of opinions, during the last few years, I have heard similar statements, from different people with distinct background, social status or financial situations.

Now before I hand over the microphone to you, let me share with you my opinion. I agree that Japanese cars are somewhat more reliable than many vehicles out there, but I can certainly say the same about BMW and my opinion is shared by many former or current BMW owners. Also, just last year, BMW won the Fleet News Reliability award, ahead of brands like Toyota, Honda, VW or Mercedes. Oh….did I mention that BMW offers more than just performance? I would add to that list, luxury, innovation and safety.

To destroy another myth, I also firmly believe that the Mercedes-Benz is far from being a brand that targets an older crowd and at the same time, their cars mean more than just luxury.