Rolls-Royce Manchester Ghost honors the city where the brand’s founders first met

MANILA: A one-of-a-kind, completely Bespoke Rolls-Royce Ghost has been created for Manchester, England to honor the city's association with the brand.

Manchester has always been an important place for Rolls-Royce. On May 4, 1904, Charles Rolls and Henry Royce first met in the Midland Hotel, located in the heart of Manchester. It was at this meeting when the two founders of Rolls-Royce decided to collaborate to produce “the best motor car in the world.” However, this is the first time that Manchester has been used as an inspiration for a Rolls-Royce commission.

“As Charles Rolls and Henry Royce first met in Manchester, the city has, and always will have, a potent historical resonance for the marque. Our accomplished artisans, designers and engineers at the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood, West Sussex have created a truly remarkable motor car, capturing the city’s history, and the city today, as well as celebrating some of its most remarkable accomplishments. The Manchester Ghost brings together the Home of Rolls-Royce where each motor car is hand built and the city where the original idea for Rolls-Royce was born,” Rolls-Royce Motor Cars United Kingdom, Europe, and CIS Regional Director Boris Weletzky stated.

Over the course of two years, designers, artisans, and craftspeople from the Bespoke Collective at the Home of Rolls-Royce worked together to build this motor car.

“I  wanted to create a highly contemporary yet elegant iteration of Ghost, honoring the significance of the city for the marque and celebrating the accomplishments of the people of Manchester while also incorporating the melange of Manchester’s modern and traditional architecture,” Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Designer Ieuan Hatherall said.

The Rolls-Royce Manchester Ghost was greatly inspired by the Manchester Bee, one of the most well-known symbols of the city and its emblem for more than 150 years. The Manchester Bee represents the strong work ethic of Mancunians and the bustling lifestyle of the city. The C pillar of the Rolls-Royce Manchester Ghost features a Bespoke motif that was created in Turchese and was inspired by the Manchester Bee. The Manchester Bee is also stitched on the front and rear seat inserts.

The traditional Silver exterior of the Rolls-Royce Manchester Ghost is punctuated by a coachline in Turchese, giving the motor car a modern touch. The pinstripe wheel center caps, which are also finished in Turchese, mirror the design, while the brake calipers in the same color neatly complete the exterior.

A truly unique Illuminated Fascia for the Rolls-Royce Manchester Ghost portrays an enchanting view of Manchester from above with 10,000 laser etched dots. The Midland Hotel, where the Rolls-Royce founders first met at the beginning of the 20th century, is represented by the biggest etched dot on the Illuminated Fascia. The Illuminated Fascia references the title of the poem “This is the Place” by Tony Walsh, an ode to the city of Manchester.

Manchester landmarks are embroidered in tone-on-tone thread on the center of the rear seat, showcasing the Bespoke department's unparalleled skills.

In 2004, University of Manchester professors discovered graphene, an extremely light, robust, and flexible material. The discovery of this material, with its unique qualities, contributed to the city of Manchester being renowned for groundbreaking innovations, academic excellence, and research. The Rolls-Royce Manchester Ghost honors this spirit of innovation by featuring a Graphene lattice pattern on the iconic Rolls-Royce headliner.

The illuminated tread plates also honor Manchester's status as a technological trailblazer. The city's abbreviated name, “MCR,” is printed in Binary inside the cabin doors.  This is a homage to “The Manchester Baby,” the first ever stored-program electronic digital computer in the world, which was successfully run at the University of Manchester on June 21, 1948 – a significant day in the history of computing.

“As a born and bred Mancunian, this commission is truly special and will always be highly memorable for me. From the moment we set out to design a motor car to celebrate the city of Manchester, we wanted to create something that would celebrate the city’s history and the place today,” Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Manchester Brand Director Jon Crossley stated. “It has been great to work with the team at Home of Rolls-Royce to turn our vision into a reality.”

Photos from Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

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