Rolls-Royce Ghost coupé breaks cover

The £210k-plus Rolls-Royce Ghost coupé has broken cover while testing in Germany. The new luxury two-door is being readied to challenge rivals from Aston Martin, Bentley and Ferrari in 2013-2014.

Officially, the car is an engineering mule “trialling ideas for future variants of the Ghost”, but the short wheelbase, fastback styling and tighter rear overhangs identify it as the two-door version of the Ghost.

Although the disguise does an effective job of hiding the body surfacing, it’s possible to pick out a few key details — such as the rear-hinged coach doors of the same design as the Phantom Coupé and Drophead.

The giveaway is the shutline at the leading edge of the door, which gracefully arcs down the bodyside and back along the door sill. And although there appears to be a pair of small rear doors, on closer examination they are exposed as clever decoys.

This mule also reveals the Ghost’s sporty proportions, with its rakish windscreen and flowing roofline, which lends the silhouette a much more aggressive look than the stately Phantom coupé.

In concept, it is closest to the Bentley Continental GT — a stately two-door that mixes elegance, sportiness, practicality and refinement.

A wheelbase reduced by around 150mm and a tighter rear overhang suggest that the Ghost coupé will be just over five metres long — putting it on a par with the Mercedes CL.