Five-Point Inspection: 2013 Rolls-Royce Ghost Extended Wheelbase

2. Keepin’ it Real

Reinforcing the Ghost’s super-premium image everything is real, every surface is genuine. There’s no imitation this or simulated that. If it looks like wood, it’s wood. If it feels like metal, it’s metal. From this standpoint Rolls-Royce builds the most honest cars in the world. The folks at Buick could learn a thing or two about being truthful.

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This Roller’s glove box is flocked with leopard furs; the leather covering everything in the cabin that isn’t trimmed in ancient kauri wood imported from New Zealand is harvested from unborn rhinos. Various inlays and other trimmings are fashioned of narwhal tusk, while the floor mats are panda pelts. All cushions are stuffed with parrot feathers.

Actually, disregard that last paragraph because none of it is true, but exaggeration does give you an idea of just how opulent the Ghost’s cabin is. The burled wood trim is positively radiant; the floor mats are fashioned from plush wool that’s so soft it could have been made into underpants; instead it gets ingloriously trod on by everyone that ever climbs aboard.

As for the leather, which blankets seemingly every square inch of the interior, it’s buttery soft and even smells like a stack of $100 bills. It’s harvested from bulls that are born and raised in the Bavarian Alps. Rolls-Royce does this because farmers do not use barbed wire, which can cause unwanted blemished in the animals’ skin. Also, just like humans, female cattle can apparently be afflicted by stretch marks when they’re pregnant. This is another potential imperfection.