Rolls-Royce has unleashed its most powerful car ever - blending derring-do Spirit of Spitfire power with a flash of Saturday Night Fever.

Riding on vast 23-inch wheels, the new all-electric Black Badge Spectre super-coupe comes complete with a special booster button which emulates the sort of extra power-punch enjoyed by British pilots flying legendary Spitfire fighter-planes in dogfights during the Second Word War.

Hailed officially as 'the most powerful Rolls-Royce in history', the added grunt means the new £320,000 Black Badge Spectre variant can accelerate from rest to 60mph in just 4.1 seconds - shaving a third of a second off the time of a standard Spectre - for an extra £50,000 on the price tag. 

However, that price can also soar swiftly depending on the degree of additional bespoke options.

Rolls-Royce says the new two-door Black Badge Spectre is aimed at wealthy non-conformist clients - described as 'fearless', 'unconventional' and 'rule-breakers' with a 'disruptive spirit' - who want to explore their dark-side 'alter-ego', and is the latest in a line of Black Badge models targeting rich mavericks.

So while the added raw power may be a salute the smartly uniformed RAF's stiff-upper lip British pluck, the new Black Badge Spectre's funky colour and trim palettes - such as Vapour Violet - take their cues from the neon lights of the 1980s and '90s club culture and are more evocative of Saturday Night Fever and New York's infamous 'Studio 54' than the White Cliffs of Dover.




The most powerful Roll-Royce EVER! New Black Badge Spectre is a £320k electric vehicle with a feature that's inspired by one used by Spitfire pilots in WW2





Hailed officially as 'the most powerful Rolls-Royce in history', the new £320k Black Badge Spectre accelerates from 0-62mph in 4.1 secs - shaving a third of a second off the time of a standard Spectre for an extra £50k on the price tag









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Rolls-Royce says the new zero-emissions Black Badge Spectre has introduced two new innovations as a nod to the legendary Rolls-Royce Merlin engines which powered Spitfires during the last war and which featured a special button to give a the aeroplane a short burst of enhanced power to get out of sticky situations.

The first is a special 'Infinity Mode' button on the steering-wheel which unlocks the electric car's full 659 horsepower (485kW) to boost throttle response and driving dynamics. That compares to a standard Spectre at 585 horsepower/430kW.

'Once this mode is activated, the dials become more vibrant to match the change in the motor car's character,' says Rolls-Royce. 

The infinity symbol used to signify a Black Badge Rolls-Royce is also used on the steering-wheel 'Infinity Mode' button. 




The 'Infinity Mode' button on the steering-wheel - inspired by additional boost utlilised by British pilots flying legendary Spitfire fighter-planes in dogfights during WW2 - unlocks the electric car's full 659 horsepower (485kW) 





The feature replicates that of aircraft powered by the legendary Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, including the Supermarine Spitfire, where pilots could obtain a burst of additional power by pushing a switch on the throttle quadrant





Pressing the button boosts throttle response and driving dynamics to ramp up the standard Spectre's 585 horsepower (430kW) - though it will severely limit the battery range if used too often

The second new twist is a form of launch-control called 'Spirited Mode'.

This 'temporarily amplifies' the car's pulling-power (to a 'landmark' 1075Nm) and unleashes 'a burst of intense, instantaneous acceleration'.

The luxury car-firm which employs 2,500 people at its boutique factory at Goodwood near Chichester in West Sussex explained: 'The driver engages this function by fully depressing the brake and throttle at the same time, waiting for a haptic and visual response signalling the car is ready, before fully releasing the brake. 

'This temporarily amplifies the torque output to a landmark 1075 Nm, unleashing a surge of force and propelling the motor car from 0-to-60mph in just 4.1 seconds.'

Torque - often referred to as pulling-power - on the standard Spectre is 900Nm.

Rolls-Royce explained: 'Although these function are new for a Rolls-Royce motor car, they have a historical precedent.

'In aircraft powered by the legendary Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, including the Supermarine Spitfire, pilots could obtain a burst of additional power by pushing a switch on the throttle quadrant.'

But it notes wryly: 'While the robust Merlin engine was easily able to accommodate these temporary pulses, pilots were required to report the use of the function on landing as a precaution to flight engineers - a requirement that does not apply to Black Badge Spectre drivers today.'

The new car promises an electric range of between 306 and 329 miles - enough get from London to Newcastle upon Tyne.

Propulsion is from two electric motors - one driving each axle.

Charging takes 34 minutes to 80 per cent on a high-powered DC charger or 5 hours 30 minutes on a domestic AC wall-charger.




The new car promises an electric range of between 306 and 329 miles - enough get from London to Newcastle upon Tyne











It's not just the look of the new Rolls-Royce Spectre Black Badge that's menacing - so are the dimensions. At 5.5 metres long, 2.1 metres wide and weighing almost 3 tonnes, it's no shrinking violet





Charging takes 34 minutes to 80% on a high-powered DC charger or 5 hours 30 minutes on a domestic AC wall-charger


Tight-lipped Rolls-Royce customers have already tried it... 
To perfect their 'uncompromising' new Black Badge Spectre and its WW2 fighter-plane-inspired features, Rolls-Royce took soundings from existing owners of other Black Badge models.

Under conditions of secrecy, they also made available to a select group of existing Rolls-Royce customer early prototypes of the new Black Badge Spectre to get and input their feedback ahead of the official launch of the production model.



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Explaining how existing Rolls-Royce owners were recruited secretly under a 'clandestine agreement' as road-test guinea-pigs, to ensure that the new Black Badge Spectre lived up to its aim of being 'effortlessly intense, immediate, and precise', JetBlack the firm revealed: 

'A group of Rolls-Royce owners granted engineers access to their anonymised driving data, allowing drivetrain specialists to quantitatively analyse their driving behaviour across hundreds of thousands of collective miles.

'This revealed that clients exploited maximum power in short pulses more than over extended periods.'

In the image of this 'bold client group, Rolls-Royce then developed 'the dramatic, intense character of the most powerful Rolls-Royce ever created'.

Rolls-Royce added: 'Our conversations with clients made it clear that they were eagerly anticipating this motor car's arrival long before its official debut.

'In response to their frequent enquiries, Rolls-Royce granted a select group early access to this motor car on the condition that they would keep their ownership secret until the official unveiling.

'A small, highly exclusive fleet of clandestine Black Badge Spectres was commissioned for these individuals ahead of the motor car's reveal. 

'Their emphatically positive response to Black Badge Spectre, and the motor car's daring treatment that had been developed in their image, provided powerful validation of the most potent Rolls-Royce in history.'