'Baby' wont be mistaken for a smart car
Yesterday’s sneaky 200EX preview has blossomed into a full-blown reveal as Rolls-Royce shows off all the angles of its Geneva motor show star turn.
The 200EX is destined to become the next model in RR’s range in 2010. Hardly befitting the ‘baby Roller’ tag the new model is 5.4m nose to tail and, as the photos show, its Phantom-esque rear-hinged ‘coach doors’ open onto a world of refined luxury.
According to R-R, the brief for the new model was to create a ‘modern, lithe and dynamic’ machine, noticeably ‘less formal’ than the Phantom, and with a ‘broader appeal making it more appropriate for a wider range of circumstances’. It should fit a slightly wider range of pockets, too, at a predicted £180k (or thereabouts) on the road.
Chief designer Ian Cameron is the man responsible for styling the 200EX, and he describes it as a ‘touring saloon with more panache and bravado than one might expect from a Rolls’. This is expressed by the new front grille (flanked by LED headlamps) which Cameron wanted to be ‘less reminiscent of the traditional ‘Parthenon’ style and more like a jet intake, with the sides of the intake curved inwards and the vanes set into the opening’.
Inside, the interior is typically cosseting, especially for rear ‘lounge seat’ passengers as the C-pillar heightens the sense of privacy.
The dashboard has been kept relatively simple, with the most important functions emphasised by chrome highlights against a shiny wood veneer – cut from Santos Palissander apparently, a material chosen for its contemporary look and striking grain.
Riding on 20ins wheels, the production version of the 200EX will be powered by a new V12 reported to have been developed from BMW’s 4.0 twin-turbo V8. The V12 version in the Rolls will be 6.0 litres, normally aspirated and drive through a six-speed ZF auto transmission.
There’s a lot more BMW in the new car than its engine, though. It has been reported that 20% of the model’s ‘body-in-white’ is shared with the new 7-series, particularly the front and rear crash assemblies – all part of the effort to constrain cost.
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