It’s a tired cliché to say someone stopped in their tracks from surprise, but that’s exactly what my mother did when she realized what kind of car was parked in front of her house. “It’s a Rolls! Mother of God, it’s a Rolls!” she shouted, stunned. To be fair, the Cullinan didn’t immediately stand out; it was tucked between the other SUVs that populate my Vermont hometown, and its understated ‘Emperador Truffle’ paint more café au lait than ostentatious didn’t scream for attention. She only recognized it once the Spirit of Ecstasy caught her eye.
My mother and I have a tradition, one that’s admittedly unique to automotive writers and the people who love them: every year for her birthday, I drive up to visit and give her a ride in a very nice car. But this year was different. She was celebrating a rather important birthday I won’t specify which one, as I am a good son and she requested something truly special for the occasion. So I arrived in the most special thing I could think of: a Rolls-Royce.
For enthusiasts, that may seem like a controversial choice. Gearheads tend to idolize machines like the Ferrari F40, the E39 BMW M5, or the Porsche 993 Turbo cars built to be driven, pushed, and mastered. But to most people, those are simply fast cars, impressive but not meaningful. Lamborghinis can seem gaudy, Corvettes basic, BMWs smug. A Rolls-Royce, though, represents elegance and importance; it signals that whoever is inside must be someone of significance, even if only for a brief ride. That’s why far more couples leave their weddings in classic Rolls-Royces than in vintage 911s.
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