The Rolls-Royce Black Badge Ghost Ékleipsis Private Collection is limited to just 25 units worldwide.
While the solar eclipse is certainly one of those natural phenomena that has been the basis of legends in all cultures, and this tradition has certainly been continued with Rolls-Royce and its newly announced Black Badge Ghost Ékleipsis Private Collection. That is as just 25 units of this bespoke luxury limousines will be made, hence the chances of actually seeing one is likely to about the same as catching the actual solar event that inspired its inception.
In any case, if anyone does manage to catch sight of one of these custom British limousines, here is how it differs from a regular Ghost:
The main distinguishing feature on the outside of this Black Badge Ghost Ékleipsis Private Collection will be its dark Lyrical Copper hue, which is accented by various exterior bits such as the brake calipers and coachline finished in Mandarin. Said brown body colour has been quoted by Rolls-Royce to incorporate a special powdered copper pigment that appears darker until it catches the light when it produces a rich and dramatic iridescence, while its orange exterior accents on the other hand are meant to resemble the colour of the sun as it hides behind the moon in the stages leading to a total eclipse.
This hint of bright orange on the exterior also continues within too, with the Mandarin hue poking through the over 200,000 individual perforations made to this Ghost’s bespoke bi-coloured seats. All this is apparently in order to achieve what Rolls-Royce touts as a ‘panoramic sunset’ effect. Though in terms of amazing eclipse inspired interior touches, the illuminated fascia that is adorned with 1,846 laser-etched ‘stars’ in a symbolic timeline of a total eclipse is perhaps the more amazing feature with this custom limousine.
What more too is that this next to the dashboard’s solar eclipse motif is a bespoke timepiece that has within it a 0.5-carat diamond. Said to recall the ‘Diamond Ring’ effect where a single point of light that appears on the Moon’s outline just as it covers and uncovers the sun, this is the first time Rolls-Royce has integrated a gemstone into a clock’s bezel. And being typically Rolls-Royce, the British luxury automaker has went through 14 design iterations of this timepiece, in addition to subjecting this clock through intense adhesion and extreme temperature tests to ensure the diamond would stay in place regardless of where this Ghost will go.
But even the effort Rolls-Royce has put into the clock pales in comparison to what it had done with the Starlight Headliner of this Black Badge Ghost Ékleipsis Private Collection. That is as the company has in essence spent a whole year and three prototypes to create what is a 7 minute and 31 second animation sequence (which is incidentally the longest possible duration of a total solar eclipse) that replicates the totality of a solar eclipse event.
According to Rolls-Royce themselves, ‘as the coach doors close and the engine is started, the ‘stars’ in the Starlight Headliner darken and a mesmerising sequence begins, replicating the totality of the solar eclipse, when the dark silhouette of the Moon completely obscures the bright light of the Sun. A circle of 940 ‘stars’ is formed, representing the bright corona of light around the lunar silhouette. This is surrounded by a further 192 illuminating ‘stars’, recreating the otherworldly spectacle of stars visible in the sky during daylight, which occurs only during a total solar eclipse.’
Finishing this bespoke Black Badge Ghost are illuminated treadplates and umbrellas with Mandarin piping concealed in the coach doors. A unique indoor car cover bearing the Private Collection’s wordmark has also been included with this special Rolls-Royce.
As mentioned at the beginning, all 25 units of this bespoke Ghost has already been allocated for, with Rolls-Royce unsurprisingly not disclosing the figure that its international clients have forked out for these custom limousines. The British automaker is however more than happy to share that the date chosen for its reveal coincides with the annual solar eclipse on October 14, which is visible in parts of the Western Hemisphere.
