Rolls-Royce has revealed details of the illuminated fascia that will be available on its Ghost model, due to be launched at the start of September. The company says the fascia was developed over two years and took more than 10,000 hours of work.
The unit consists of the Ghost nameplate surrounded by more than 850 stars and is located on the passenger side of the dashboard. The constellation and nameplate are completely invisible when the car is not in operation and apparently the feature was inspired by the company’s ‘Post Opulence’ design direction conceived for the new Ghost. The company says that busy, superficial detailing was rejected in favor of more refined means for customers to realize their interior wishes.
Illumination of the fascia is achieved through the use of 152 LEDs mounted above and beneath the structure, which are color-matched to the cabin’s clock and instrument dial lighting. According to Rolls-Royce, in order to ensure the Ghost graphic is lit evenly, a 2mm-thick light guide is employed featuring more than 90,000 laser-etched dots across the surface. This not only disperses the light evenly but also creates a twinkling effect as the eyes move across the fascia, echoing the subtle twinkle of company’s similarly themed starlight headliner.
Extensive engineering development was needed to ensure the fascia is invisible while not operational. To achieve this, three layers of composite materials are used. The first is a Piano Black substrate, which is laser-etched to remove the black coloring and allow light to shine through the Ghost emblem and star cluster. This is then overlaid with a layer of dark-tinted lacquer, which hides the lettering when not in use. Finally, the fascia is sealed with a layer of tinted lacquer before being hand polished to achieve a uniform 0.5mm-thick, high-gloss finish.
