Rolls-Royce Centenary Drive

PH joins 100 other Rolls-Royces on a celebratory jaunt through London

Last Sunday morning over 100 Rolls-Royce motor cars met at the fittingly grand Forbes House in Belgravia to take part in a 'Centenary Drive' through central London, ending up at Syon Park in West London.

In among the well-dressed R-R Owners Club members and priceless classic cars assembled on the Belgravia streets were two impostors in the form of me and amateur snapper (and PHer) Tony Hetherington, driving a borrowed Ghost. The drive was to celebrate 100 years of the famous Spirit of Ecstasy and is just the start of a year-long celebration programme.

Our borrowed R-R was an 'LA-spec' Ghost finished in a light metallic blue, complete with a silver painted bonnet and chrome wheels. There's no mistaking that the Ghost has done a great job of delivering a genuinely contemporary-looking Rolls, but if it was my signature on the order form I would be specifying a more discreet hue. Regardless, beggars can't be choosers and we silently slipped into position 8 of 100 and started the run as only the second modern R-R in a row of classics.

Rather than randomly schlep around London, we did have a route to follow, which passed notable R-R-related addresses including the birthplace of Charles Rolls on Hill Street in Mayfair, the Spirit of Ecstasy design studio on the Brompton Road and the fantastic Rolls-Royce showroom on Berkeley Square. As the driver of the Ghost I didn't have much time to enjoy the scenery as we threaded our way through London traffic, mindful that a gentle nudge of the Rolls in front would have me in debt for the rest of my life, but it was hard to ignore the slack-jawed amazement as people watched us pass and clamoured to get a photo of the convoy.

The Ghost was getting rather a lot of attention around London, and seemed to be getting the lion's share of the glances, even among such glamorous company. Perhaps that was because the Ghost is still a relatively rare sight on the roads, or maybe it was thanks to the bright exterior and wheels making the car stand out on a grey Sunday morning.

Either way the attention was well-deserved. We already tested the Ghost a few months ago, but this drive reinforced our original feeling that the Ghost manages to retain the serene silence, immense road presence and sense of absolute luxury that a Phantom gives, but in a less ostentatious manner (and that's a good thing).

It feels no bigger than an S-Class, and that means it has genuine daily-driver possibilities, the dashboard manages to look bang up to date while retaining traditional charm, and it actually feels good to drive. Considering all of this, you can see exactly why the majority of Ghost customers are owner-drivers who (in the main) are new to the Rolls-Royce brand.

At journey's end we parked the Ghost at the front of the impressive Syon House and were treated to lunch with the other drivers. The room demonstrated that the Rolls-Royce lifestyle is available to all walks of life, as owners of brand-new Phantoms chatted cars with £5000 Silver Shadow drivers....and a couple of PH blaggers, too. The cars looked fantastic on the lawns of Syon House, and if the Ghost shows what 100 years of progress can achieve, we only wish that we could be around to witness what a Rolls-Royce looks like once another century has passed.

Cheers to Tony Hetherington for the photographs

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Mercutio

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164 months