At the finish of the drive I stayed at the wheel of the Ghost for 10 minutes. It's hard to tear yourself away from this car. The facia is such a beautifully judged piece of art deco design that you half expect to find a gorgeous woman swathed in a Mariano Fortuny gown, cocktail glass in hand, in the back seat.
Rolls-Royce calls the switches and instruments "the jewellery" and on the new Ghost they are exquisite. Textures of polished chromium, piano black, cool aluminium, crystal and faux Bakelite rotary switches are so lovely to touch you feel quite pervy running your fingers over them.
There's also reverence and wit. The quadrants for the heater controls are allusions to Seventies dashboards and the heater's blower is controlled by rotary dials with descriptions rather than numbers; Off, Soft, Medium, High and Max. Soft? What manner of breeze is that? Even the matt-black lighting panel recalls the Lucas CAV charging panels on many pre-Second World War cars.
This cabin is almost better than the larger Phantom's – it's partly the captivating details. The symmetry, the bisecting panels and a simple clock with no sub-branding. Or the delightfully thin steering wheel, a precision device, with the cruise control buttons elegantly incorporated within the rim.
The proportions are slightly odd, though, and with wing mirrors as huge as an elephant's ears and the high roof, it feels as if you've inadvertently climbed into a giant's car. The arc of the bonnet means you can't see the front corners and, to the driver, the Spirit of Ecstasy preserves her modesty from the waist down.
There's generous space, but not the austere, drawing-room elegance of the Phantom. Being based on the steel monocoque of owner BMW's 7-series, there are compromises and, as a result, the Ghost feels more like a car than an ethereal conveyance. The transmission tunnel is a continual presence and care is needed to avoid the cant rail along the roof line when alighting. At the wheel, the BMW-derived steering column stalks irritatingly return to the central position. Other jarring notes include cup holders with crude grabbing mechanisms and the clacky, placky electronic park brake, a spectacularly unpleasant surprise.
