The new Ghost will be all‑wheel‑drive

The engineering emphasis hints at a new car being developed as much for drivers as chauffeur-driven passengers. Not only will this be the first Rolls saloon with all its wheels driven and steered, but also the first Ghost to eschew a bought-in platform and use instead a version of the spaceframe architecture developed for the Phantom and Cullinan. They are all changes that suggest an injection of dynamism.

The new Ghost is also a car subtly recalibrated for what the firm is calling a “post opulent” world, a less-is-more approach that taps into a shift in luxury taste towards minimalism and simplicity. Don’t worry: it will still be pretty luxurious. But, in the words of chief executive Torsten Müller-Ötvös, it will “whisper rather than shout” its luxury, while “rejecting obvious and unnecessary embellishments and overt complication”. It all comes together to make the new Ghost “the purest expression of Rolls-Royce yet” according to Müller-Ötvös.

It also makes it new from the wheels up. The outgoing Ghost, the first “junior” entry-level Rolls-Royce, was launched in 2009 and its successor – also planned to be in production for at least 10 years – has been worked on for the past six years. In that time everything has been changed apart from the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot and the built-in umbrellas, with all of it designed, engineered and built in Goodwood.

The all-wheel-drive and all-wheel-steer systems are both inspired by similar set-ups in the Cullinan SUV and bring with them what the company calls “significant advances” in ride comfort and dynamic ability. Also from the Cullinan is a version of the quaintly named “Flagbearer”, a system of cameras to read the road ahead and prepare the suspension for lumps and bumps.

What is entirely new to Rolls-Royce is the Planar suspension. Essentially an extra damper atop each upper wishbone in the front suspension assembly. Rolls says it has taken three years to develop, is unlike anything else and, most important, is said to result in more of the magic carpet ride that Rolls owners expect.

“The success of the first Goodwood Ghost taught Rolls-Royce a huge amount about itself,” says product manager Stephen Finch. “We became aware of an entirely new group of people who used and commissioned their cars in ways that we hadn’t seen before. The new Ghost meets their demands with alacrity.”

Rolls-Royce will be unveiling the new Ghost in the autumn.