#212, 2021 Rolls-Royce Ghost named Car of the Year

Early in 2021, a teenage boy witnessed a colleague and me exit a 2021 Rolls-Royce Ghost at a local sandwich shop. He approached us, looked at my friend and said: "Excuse me, sir. What kind of job do I need to get to afford a car like that?"

A few hours later while waiting in the Ghost at a stoplight two men in a vehicle to my right that may not have made it to its destination, caught my attention. Before the light changed, they uncorked a jubilant dance of synchronized hand signs and body gestures. I didn't know what the display meant, but I'm certain it was a good thing.

The Rolls-Royce Ghost is the 2021 Car of the Year. All images © James Raia/2021

Far more expensive vehicles exist. But the Ghost, with its stunning craftsmanship and its elusive existence, is the Car of the Year chosen by TheWeeklyDriver.com.

As per the site's tradition, our Cars of the Year list is published at the end of the calendar year. Many prominent print and online publications make selections sometimes before vehicles are available to the public. We've always waited until the end of the year. It provides perspective,
2021 Car of the Year? Rolls-Royce Ghost!
TheWeeklyDriver.com reviewed 34 different 2021 model year vehicles with full reviews. We drove several other 2021 models and included their information in round-up articles, on podcasts and in additional industry print and online publications.

TheWeeklyDriver.com has been online since 2004 and this is our 15th annual list.

For the past several years, Bruce Aldrich, my co-host on The Weekly Driver Podcast, and I have picked our top-10 vehicles individually and then shared our selections on podcasts episodes.

We're doing so again this year. Bruce also picked the 2021 Rolls-Royce Ghost as his Car of the Year. Together, we reveal our respective choices.

The 2021 Rolls-Royce Ghost is powerful and beautifully designed. It's the 2021 Car of the Year selected by TheWeeklyDriver.com.

The new Rolls-Royce is an unfair selection in some ways. While the Ghost has no rivals in several areas, it's not available to the general consumer. The entry-level Ghost and its siblings — Cullinan, Dawn, Phantom and Wraith — attract attention like no other carmaker's offerings. Global sales of 5,125 in 2020, a record, continued the brand's reputation. It's a name everyone knows, a car few see.

By the time the new Ghost was announced, it was already sold out. The manufacturer describes its creation as its "purest expression."
2021 Cars of the Year: Ford Mustang Mach-E gets runnerup
Who's to argue? The 2021 Rolls-Royce Ghost features a 6.75-liter, twin-turbo, 48-valve V12. It produces 563 horsepower and advances from zero to 60 miles per hour, via its eight-speed automatic transmission, in 4.6 seconds. The top speed is 155 miles per hour. The drive is powerful, smooth, quiet and carried 21-inch, 10-spoke wheels. And while the wheels spin, the RR center emblems remain upright.

It's all impressive for a vehicle that weighs 5,540 pounds and extends slightly more than 18 feet.

The sedan's performance could define it, but Ghost's presence reigns. The combination of the Tempest Grey exterior paint with Tailored Purple trim is unusual, but it works. Similar colors adorn the interior, complemented with Obsidian Ayous wood trim and white lambswool foot mats.

The 2021 Mustang Mach-E was runner-up to Rolls-Royce Ghost in the Cars of the Year list selected by TheWeeklyDriver.com.

A few Rolls-Royce Ghost signature features add ridiculously wonderful opulence. An umbrella is secured into the interior of both rear doors, released with a push of a button. Two champagne flutes are ready in the cooled small refrigerated compartment in the middle of the back seat.

The headliner is the design of a shooting star. Lots of constellations are offered, a bespoke feature selected by every new buyer and configured with between 600 and 1,600 hand-placed fiber-optic stars.