It may have the Spirit of Ecstasy on the bonnet, but that’s about as much as Rolls-Royce’s “Vision Next 100” concept has in common with anything you’ve ever seen from the company before.
Too Wealthy to Drive?
This is a concept car, so BMW (which owns Rolls-Royce) aren’t likely to put a price tag on the Vision Next 100 anytime soon. We can, however, safely assume that like all of the company’s products it will be marketed at the super-rich.
Whatever the price-tag though, the technology included in the Vision Next 100 is frankly astonishing. Not only does it feature autonomous driving but there’s a voice controlled concierge service named Eleanor – after Eleanor Thornton, reputed to have been the model for the Spirit of Ecstasy.
The car is 100% electrically driven, allowing the space where the engine would otherwise have been to be used for extra luggage. It even has a step that appears from under the running boards when the car draws to a halt, while the doors automatically open to allow you to step out and arrive unruffled at your embassy cocktail party. Extraordinary.
But oh dear me, the looks.
As any dealer, including http://leasing.totalmotion.co.uk/ specialists in car leasing in Leciester will tell you, looks do matter in the car business. So, having examined the technology, we must address the Vision Next 100’s styling.
Visually the car is unmistakeably still a Rolls-Royce product, however – and there’s no other way to say this – it is genuinely quite ugly. Beauty is often said to be in the eye of the beholder, we know, however, any beholder who believes that the Vision Next 100 is beautiful needs to spend more money at their opticians.
The square corners and floors so low they would be knocked off by a sleeping moth (never mind a policeman) are unfortunately some way beyond bold design. With the Vision Next 100, Rolls-Royce’s designers have, for reasons beyond understanding, scrapped the traditional, gorgeous front grill and replaced it with something resembling a 1970’s gas fire.
In short, the Vision Next 100 might be a technological marvel, but with looks like that it’s difficult to see why anyone would be silly enough by such a hideous car. Sorry BMW.