Charles Rolls and Henry Royce initially met at the Midland Hotel in Manchester 99 years ago. To mark the occasion, the manufacturer has designed a one-of-a-kind commission honoring the city.
The Manchester Ghost was created by Ieuan Hatherall and the Rolls-Royce team of craftspeople, who were inspired by the carmaker and city's shared heritage.
"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 whilst also incorporating the mélange of Manchester's modern and traditional architecture," Hatherall stated.
The Manchester Bee, long a symbol of Manchester's status as a swarm of industry and effort, was integrated into numerous places of the automobile. Outside and inside, the bee is most obviously shown on the C-pillar, in Turchese (or turquoise), amid pinstriping that contrasts with the usual silver paint that dominates the Manchester Ghost's appearance.
Meanwhile, the bee is embroidered in a more recognisable yellow, within and alongside the Turchese accents on the front and rear seats. In a tone-on-tone needlework, the names of numerous of the city's major spots can also be discovered between the back chairs.
Rolls-Royce used dots and lights on the trim plate that covers the passenger side dashboard, as is now customary. However, instead of portraying stars as viewed from below, they symbolize city lights as seen from above in this scenario. The biggest dot depicts the Midland Hotel, where Charles Rolls and Henry Royce met for the first time. The title of Tony Walsh's poem, "This is the Place," can also be seen on the fascia.
To commemorate Manchester's historical significance as the birthplace of the first stored programmed electronic digital computer, the initials "MCR" are etched in binary inside the cabin doors. But that isn't the final technological advancement that the Ghost celebrates. Its logo has a Graphene lattice design, which was inspired by the substance discovered in 2004 by two academics at the University of Manchester.
"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," said Boris Weletzky, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars' regional manager for the United Kingdom. "At the Home of Rolls-Royce, our accomplished artisans, designers, and engineers have created a truly remarkable motor car, capturing the city's history as well as the city today."
