Rolls-Royce dug up a 120-year-old racing story and wrapped it in a Ghost
A one-off Black Badge Ghost Tourist Trophy honours the 1906 Isle of Man win — and hides the racer's chassis number inside the air vents.
Rolls-Royce has built a one-off Black Badge Ghost Tourist Trophy — and the trigger isn’t just an anniversary, but a very specific date. 120 years ago Charles Rolls won the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy in a Light 20 H.P. Today the TT badge is locked in everyone’s mind as a motorcycle event, but in the early 20th century cars fought for it on the same roads. And one of the founders of Rolls-Royce ended up among the winners.
The body wears Emerald Green — a modern reading of the colour worn by the original racer. A thin Ghost White pinstripe runs along the flank, with a tiny number 4 worked into it: the start number of the historic car.
The cabin is black-and-tan leather. The tan covers the seat inserts, the piping, the stitching and the carpets. The outline of the Isle of Man is embroidered into the rear seats. And then the details only an obsessive owner will ever find: engraved into the underside of each circular air vent are the historic racer’s registration number, its chassis number and the coordinates of the Short Highroads Course.
Mechanically — no surprises. Under the bonnet sits the familiar 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12, with 592 hp and 899 Nm, paired to an 8-speed automatic. Drive goes to all four wheels. There’s no Sport mode in the usual sense, but the Low button on the selector sharpens the gearbox and the throttle response.
Rolls-Royce, as ever, didn’t name a price. A standard Black Badge Ghost starts at around £325,000 in the UK, and a one-off commission asks for a great deal more. The money doesn’t buy more power — there isn’t any. It buys a story. And nobody packages a story quite like Rolls-Royce.