Cigar Aficionado

California’s Highway One is a meandering ribbon of tarmac that follows the state’s serpentine coastline from Mexico to the Oregon border. It’s a scenic route, but can also be a treacherous one, especially along the Central Coast, as it weaves through the high palisades of Big Sur. It’s a perfect place for a low-slung sports car, but this particular afternoon, we’re heading north to the Monterey Peninsula behind the wheel of a new Rolls-Royce Ghost.

Perhaps the most well-recognized marque in the automotive world, the very name Rolls is likely to bring to mind a lumbering mass of metal, a liveried chauffeur up front and a distracted matron in the rear. But the nimble new Ghost challenges such assumptions. Decidedly smaller and more subtle than the brand’s classic saloon cars—such as the ostentatious Phantom—it is surprisingly lithe and sure-footed as we charge through the tightest corners at well above the posted speed limit.

If the new Ghost lends a sporty air to the brand’s staid persona, that’s precisely what the planners at Rolls-Royce had in mind. The new sedan is expected to double, perhaps even triple, the British marque’s sales in the coming years by appealing to a younger, hipper, but still quite affluent buyer.

And though Rolls executives tend to downplay the comparison, the Ghost takes aim at another exclusive U.K. nameplate: Bentley, whose Continental models—a sleek mix of sedans, coupes and convertibles—have, over the past decade, become the best-selling entries ever in the ultra- luxury car market.

For nearly three-quarters of a century, the two carmakers operated as one. The struggling Bentley was acquired by its more successful rival in 1931 and, in the decades that followed, little difference, beyond their hood ornaments, separated the brands. But as the second millennium drew to a close, the Rolls-Royce Motor Co., aware that it didn’t have the resources to retain its position at the pinnacle of automotive excellence, put itself on the auction block. An unexpected turn of events—documented in Cigar Aficionado [April 1999 issue]—split the two divisions, and Rolls wound up in the hands of German luxury maker BMW, while Bentley became one of a growing corral of luxury franchises acquired by the aspiring Volkswagen AG.

In the dozen years since, they have been cordial but nevertheless aggressive rivals. And if Rolls is taking aim at the low end of its former partner’s lineup, Bentley is striking out at the prestigious pinnacle of the Rolls brand with its all-new Mulsanne.

The massive machine is decidedly more modern than the outgoing Arnage, and is being positioned as a sporty alternative to Rolls’s big Phantom. But it is nonetheless aimed at the exospheric elite, with a forest full of wood trim and a pasture’s worth of leather. Simply sewing all that cowhide together, the maker boasts, takes Bentley craftsmen nearly three weeks.

The challenge that both manufacturers face is that the global luxury market is in the doldrums. While there are still plenty of potential customers with ready cash in hand, “they’re not necessarily willing to flaunt that wealth when they may be closing plants and cutting jobs,” concedes Ian Robertson, the BMW marketing executive who oversees Rolls-Royce.

The good news is that both of the high-line marques now have the luxury of waiting out the recession without fear of economic disaster, as might have been the case when they lacked substantial backing.

Financial problems have taken a heavy toll on the once-mighty British auto industry, as a whole, over the last few decades. Some of the best-known brands—Triumph and MG—have vanished from the market. With rare exception, the survivors have sought shelter in the arms—and treasuries—of erstwhile foreign rivals. In a surprising twist, two British brands, Jaguar and Land Rover, are now the prized possessions of Indian automaker, Tata.

Yet, as with Rolls-Royce and Bentley, the British makers who’ve survived are now turning out some of the best and most competitive products in their history. Here’s a look at what they’re up to.

Rolls-Royce: Taking Aim at the Affluent Mainstream

Though the big Phantom and its spin-offs, such as the Drophead Coupe, are the flagships of the Rolls-Royce fleet, the new Ghost is expected to become the best-selling model in the brand’s history.

Named for the legendary 1906 Silver Ghost, it’s a decidedly different animal than the in-your-face Phantom, with which it shares an assembly plant in Goodwood, a couple hours’ drive from London. Yes, there’s still the classic “Spirit of Ecstasy” hood ornament above the waterfall grille, but Ghost is a more subtle sedan—if one can use that term to describe a $250,000 automobile.

As always, some owners will likely prefer to have a chauffeur handle driving duties, but with Ghost, Rolls hopes to appeal to a more involved, if still top-tier, buyer. Words like driving dynamics and performance come into play, concepts that the saloon car can readily deliver with its 563 horsepower 6.2-liter V8.

As well as the requisite wood and leather, Ghost offers modern luxury touches. There’s a big navigation screen in the center console, and twin video monitors for rear-seat engers. You can even plug in an iPhone or use the Bluetooth system for hands-free calling. And borrowing from parent BMW, the new car features the latest in safety systems, including active cruise control and radar technology that can warn a driver of an impending collision.

Unveiled in 2009, in concept form, as the 200EX, the new sedan will be just one of several body styles to boast the Ghost badge, Rolls officials confirm. Although specific plans are still under wraps, expect to see a convertible—or drophead, in British parlance—among other variants.

While Rolls CEO Torsten Mueller insists the brand is now making money, the Ghost will be a critical part of its business case, going forward. After a slow and agonizing start, the maker is selling about 1,000 Phantom variants annually. Even if the Ghost triples that output, as the maker predicts, that’s barely a single day’s production for a mainstream assembly plant. But for this BMW subsidiary, it could provide a very handsome profit, indeed, says Mueller.

Bentley: Reaching Up

After its acquisition by Rolls in 1931, Bentley became an automotive afterthought. By the early 1980s, the brand ed for barely 5 percent of total Rolls-Royce Motor Co. volume. Then came the introduction of performance-oriented Bentley models, such as the lightning-quick Turbo R, and suddenly the equation turned upside down.

Following its 1998 acquisition by Volkswagen, Bentley put even more of an emphasis on performance with the launch of the sleek Continental line. Models like the GT coupe and new Supersport that can deliver an unexpected blend of muscle and elegance had Bentley sales surging to more than 10,000 cars a year before the global economic meltdown.

With sales now running barely a third of their peak, Bentley is struggling, and an updated version of the Continental line is under development. Meanwhile, like its luxury rivals, the marque is facing some stiff challenges, in the years ahead, as new emissions and mileage standards go into effect in key markets like Europe and the U.S., so it is preparing to unveil new, more efficient powertrain technologies for the new Continental line.

Even the big Mulsanne will be able to run on the renewable E85 bio-fuel. With the saloon car replacing the decades-old Arnage, Bentley is betting it will let it compete with the best in the world—a less-than subtle reference to former partner Rolls-Royce.

As you’d expect, this is a very large car, and it’s lavished with leather and wood—in an interesting touch, the veneer wraps around the entire enger compartment. But then there’s the powertrain. Mulsanne’s 6.75-liter V8 delivers the sort of muscle the brand has been known for since the days when W.O. and the Bentley Boys dominated the Le Mans endurance racing circuit. The car produces 505 horsepower and 752 pound-feet of tire-spinning torque. The Mulsanne can be driven as deliberately as any luxury limousine, but switching to sport mode and flogging the throttle will sink you deep into its plush upholstered seats.

Intriguingly, Bentley has priced Mulsanne at $280,000, well below the Rolls-Royce Phantom and only a wee bit more than the smaller Rolls Ghost. The two makers insist they appeal to very different sorts of buyers, but spend some time around the ultra-affluent and the argument sounds less persuasive. Will they be poaching off one another with their new offerings?

Jaguar and Land Rover: The Empire Strikes Back

Perhaps no automotive manufacturer has had so lengthy a roller-coaster ride as Jaguar. The British marque was repeatedly left for dead during its first three-quarters of a century. But, as we reported in the August 2008 issue, this cat clearly has nine lives. Jaguar’s seeming salvation came in 1989 with its $2.5 billion sale to Ford Motor Co. But despite the billions Ford invested over the years, success continued to elude it.

As for Land Rover, the SUV maker had come perilously close to running off the road when the British Rover Group, collapsed despite the largesse of parent BMW. But Ford snapped up the Land Rover operations, as well, merging them into its newly-created Premier Automotive Group, along with Jaguar, Aston Martin and Volvo.

A decade later, when it was clear that the PAG would never come close to yielding its promised profits, the new Ford CEO Alan Mulaly announced his One Ford strategy, beginning the piece-by-piece sell-off of the European-based luxury subsidiary. The surprise came when Jag and Land Rover, which had effectively consolidated into a single business unit, were sold to the increasingly ambitious Indian automaker, Tata Motors—a company better known for its $2,500 Nana microcar.

Though still early, insiders seem pleased with the new parent, and Tata is betting its future on nurturing its new high-line subsidiaries. Ironically, Jaguar’s and Land Rover’s near-term success will almost certainly depend on the launch of the final products each developed while still a part of Ford.

For Jaguar, that’s the all-new XJ sedan. The brand’s long-time flagship has undergone the most dramatic remake in decades. “It’s the face of the brand,” proclaims Gary Temple, CEO Jaguar Land Rover North America. The sweeping coupe-like design calls attention to what is a very sophisticated bit of engineering. Under the paint, Jaguar has crafted a lightweight, all-aluminum package that has somehow achieved seemingly polar opposite goals. It is refined and comfortable, yet swift and sporty. It’s offered in a variety of versions, all the way up to the newest addition for 2011, the 510-horsepower XJ Supersport.

While Jaguar’s goal was to regain its reputation for striking, if timeless beauty, Land Rover is trying a different strategy with the Evoque. “This is the smallest, lightest, most fuel-efficient addition to the Land Rover lineup ever,” contends managing director Phil Popham. Originally shown in concept form as the LRX, the new model is the Brit marque’s first car-based crossover-utility vehicle, or CUV. The move is critical considering tightening fuel consumption and emissions standards—yet Land Rover insists Evoque will still offer some enviable off-road capabilities. Initially, it will be produced in four-wheel-drive configuration, with a front-drive model to follow. But in keeping with the times, look for a battery-based hybrid to follow around 2013.

Mini: Going to the Max

The Mini launched in 1959, as the British Motor Co.’s response to the fuel shortage created by the Suez Canal crisis of a few years earlier. The design penned by Sir Alec Issigonis proved to the Brits that small could be beautiful. Americans took another four decades to catch on.

Like Triumph and Humber, Mini might have landed on the junk heap had it not been for the former BMW Chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder—coincidentally a nephew of Issigonis. The avowed Anglophile acquired an array of foundering U.K. marques, though BMW was eventually forced to sell off all but Rolls-Royce and Mini.

The original Mini went out of production in 2000, but a new version debuted a few years later, and for the first time, was backed by a serious U.S. distribution channel. Sales quickly outstripped supply. Volumes dipped a bit in 2009, but several factors seem poised to drive a comeback, especially the likelihood of another fuel-price spike once the global recession ends.
And there’s plenty of new product, with most of the attention focused on the all-new Countryman. It boasts a variety of firsts, starting with the fact that it’s the first Mini SUV/crossover. It’s also the brand’s first four-door and the first model with all-wheel-drive.

“We’ve gone from astonishingly small to small,” laughs Jim McDowell, Mini’s top American executive, noting that even now the Countryman remains one of the tiniest vehicles on the American market.

Mini is also launching a new roadster and a coupe. And it is field-testing the battery-powered MiniE. Early results were so positive the maker agreed to extend the initial leases for some of its American drivers. Expect battery power to be a key part of Mini’s strategy, going forward, suggests McDowell.

Aston Martin: How Do You Say “007” in Arabic?

“We would have disappeared if Henry Ford II hadn’t come along,” says Aston Martin’s charismatic CEO Uli Bez of the Ford Motor Co. heir who purchased the foundering British maker in 1987. But Aston, which thrived under Ford’s stewardship, was the first PAG brand to be sold off exactly two decades later. And again, the buyer proved a surprise—in this case a consortium headed by Kuwaiti investors and the chief of the Aston Martin Racing team, David Richards.

Competing in the same rarified air as Ferrari, Aston has been struggling through the economic downturn, relying on arm-twisting and hefty incentives to keep dealers moving the metal and its assembly lines rolling. But as it prepares for a future without a deep-pocket automotive parent it is taking some risky, if intriguing, gambles.

At one end is the new Rapide, which Bez describes as “the most elegant four-door sports car in the world.” Until recently, that might have seemed a contradiction in , but suddenly this space is becoming crowded, what with offerings that also include the new Porsche Panamera. At Rapide’s heart is a 470-horsepower, 6-liter V12. Like Panamera, Aston is billing the new model as more of a daily driver than its typical sports car, something “the entire family can enjoy together,” said Bez during the Rapide’s introduction at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show.

Aston’s other new offering, the Cygnet, is yet again a response to changing government regulations—if not evolving consumer trends. The winged logo on the hood might seem familiar, and there’s plenty of Aston’s plush leather in the cabin, but nonetheless a minicar seems a stretch for the maker. All the more curious was Aston’s decision to partner with Toyota on the project. Based on the mainstream maker’s little IQ, Aston will charge $45,000 to $75,000 for its version. While we can imagine the legendary superspy James Bond behind the wheel of the Rapide, it’s a little more difficult to see 007 wending his way through London traffic in a minicar, whatever the brand.

Lotus: A New Fantasy

Have a fantasy of going up against the likes of Michael Schumacher? Lotus, with models like the all-new 125, Formula-One-class racer that can be run by a team of one, rather than by 80 people, has historically been the place to go. Now, the rarified, but economically fragile, British marque announces the rollout into 2015 of a fleet of new models that seem to portend—by tiny Lotus measures—a move toward more practical rides.

The announcement, made on September 30 at the Paris Motorshow, introduced five new street-worthy versions, including the entry-level (about $56,000) Elise, Elite, Elan, Espirit and Eterne, a four-door, four-seater with hybrid technology, meant to compete with the Rapide. The hoopla comes with a website devoted to the as-yet unavailable models (lotusnewera.com) and bespeaks a new dawn for the company (owned since 1994 by Malaysia’s Proton) with buzz phrases like “the end of compromise,” “the icon is back,” and “the grown up.”

Also due for new expressions is the already on-the-market Evora. They include Evora S and Evora IPS, the second of which will be the first automatic-transmission Lotus in quite a while. While details are sketchy on what is to come, the current Evora has already proved itself a winner. The latest offering, which was developed under the codename Eagle, is a punchy mid-engine two-seater—and the marque’s first 2+2 since the 1992 Excel. With its featherweight aluminum chassis and 276-hp 3.5-liter V6, Evora can keep pace with some of the best sports cars on the road, hitting 0 to 60 in just 4.9 seconds and topping out at 162 mph. It’s also as nimble as a go-kart—if only a wee bit easier to climb into.

 Of course, if extra seating and easy access isn’t why you look to Lotus (and you also have an extra million dollars lying around) you can sign for the 125. But you better move fast, as the British-based company plans to produce only around 25 of what is, for all intents and purposes, a copy of the British marque’s 2010 Formula One design. Except you get a slightly longer cockpit—to handle drivers measuring anywhere from 5'4'' to 6'2''—and a downsized Cosworth 640-horsepower V8 with the luxury of an on-board starter.

Yet Lotus promises, “there’ll be a bit of Formula One in most of the new entries.” The Eterne will be one of numerous models offered with the KERS hybrid system developed for the marque’s F1 racing program.”

Morgan: Forward Into the Past

While the days of the empire are long gone, there’s something about the products of the Morgan Motor Co. that harks back to a bygone era. The very retro-influenced design, for one thing, with sweeping, offset fenders that could be lifted nearly whole from the 1930s. And the fact that the boutique brand continues to use wood for the underlying chassis, even today, 101 years after its founding by Henry Frederick Stanley Morgan.

HFS, as he was generally known, ran the maker until his death in 1959, when son Peter took over. Today, Charles Morgan, the grandson of the founder, is at the helm, and he has been carefully crafting a new generation of products that have one axle in the past, the other in the future.

Consider the Aero Max, with its distinctive split-window boat-tail rear. The 367-horsepower two-seater falls into the rarified supercar class, capable of launching from 0 to 60 in just 4.4 seconds, with a top speed of more than 170 mph. Yes, there are still modified running boards, and the body frame is yet again made from ash, but the chassis is lightweight aluminum, and the overall car weighs well less than the more modern-looking BMW M3.

Morgan is producing just 100 copies of the $220,000 Aero Max, slightly more of the soft-top Aero 8. But the company is about distinctive, classic, even quirky design, not about volume. It typically produces well under 1,000 cars annually.

Morgan is the most obvious tie between past and present for the British auto industry. Things have changed dramatically since the days when British warships ruled the seas—and the roadways. The U.K. has created more brands that remain on the market than most countries in the world, but today, the majority of those nameplates are foreign owned. And while that may be a bit of a blow to British pride, marques like Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Jaguar and Land Rover are now producing not just some of the best cars in English automotive history, but some of the best products in the world. Rule Britannia.

Paul A. Eisenstein is publisher of TheDetroitBureau.com on the Internet.