Page 52 - Sharp: The Book For Men SS21

HEADS TURN when the new Rolls- Royce Ghost emerges from a sea of ordinary cars. Its domineering front grille seems to have a magnetic pull on the eyes of passersby. But not only is this land yacht extraordinary looking, it’s also exceptionally rare. Ghost is an apt name for a car that cranes pedestrians’ necks like this: who knows when you’ll see it again.
Meanwhile, wafting down the road inside Rolls-Royce Motor Cars’ newest sedan feels like a holiday. Toronto’s roads have never been smoother, nor has the city ever been so blissfully quiet. The leather on the steering wheel is as supple as any Givenchy luggage. On the passenger-side dashboard, 152 LEDs illuminate a sea of miniscule laser-etched dots that twinkle like stars. It’s an otherworldly
show of opulence and attention to detail.
At nearly 5.5 metres long and 2.5 tonnes heavy, the 2021 Ghost is a giant hunk of metal, leather, and wood. In fact, it’s the smallest sedan that Rolls-Royce currently offers. (For those oligarchs and titans of industry who need something a little larger and more imposing, might we suggest the Rolls-Royce Phantom?) Despite its size, navigating rush hour in the Ghost is a breeze. The car reacts intuitively — telepathically, almost — to every touch of the steering wheel or throttle. It’s so smooth, so graceful, that it makes you a better driv- er, covering up any clumsy manoeuvres. You only need your fingertips on the featherweight
steering wheel to pilot this yacht.
The Ghost’s 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged
V12 engine makes its maximum 627 lb-ft of torque just 600 rpm above idle, which means it pulls like a jet engine, minus the noise. Inside the cabin, the car’s inner workings don’t sound like a dissonant drone or a mechanical grum- ble, but a hushed whisper. That’s no accident. Rolls-Royce’s engineers tuned every component to share a common resonant frequency. The
52 BFM / SS21 CARS / OUT OF OFFICE