Just ahead of its September 1 reveal, Rolls-Royce has released a sneak picture of the all-new Ghost’s fascia, and it’s not just any fascia as you’d expect from the luxury brand.

It’s called Illuminated Fascia and was developed over the course of two years and more than 10,000 collective hours, to bring an “ethereal glowing Ghost nameplate surrounded by more than 850 stars into the interior suite of new Ghost”. 

Located on the passenger side of the dashboard, the constellation and wordmark are completely invisible when the car is not in operation. This world-first Bespoke innovation subtly echoes Starlight Headliner, which has become as much a part of Rolls-Royce iconography as the Spirit of Ecstasy, Pantheon Grille and ‘Double R’ monogram.

Rolls-Royce’s Lead Bespoke Designer, Michael Bryden, says, “Illuminated Fascia is perfectly in tune with the Post Opulent design direction we pursued with the new Ghost. This elegant and minimal aesthetic is a specific response to the layer of clients who respond to Ghost: men and women who share a desire for a clean, pared-back expression of Rolls-Royce. Like the rest of the motor car’s progressive design, this hidden-until-lit feature hides the complexity required to create a sense of effortless luxury with a simple decorative statement.”

The illumination itself is achieved by way of 152 LEDs mounted above and beneath the fascia, which are meticulously colour matched to the cabin’s clock and instrument dial lighting. To ensure that the Ghost graphic is lit evenly, a 2mm-thick light guide is used, featuring more than 90,000 laser-etched dots across the surface. This not only disperses the light homogenously but creates a twinkling effect as the eyes move across the fascia, echoing the subtle sparkle of Starlight Headliner.

Extensive engineering work was undertaken to ensure that Illuminated Fascia was completely invisible while not operational. To achieve this, three layers of composite materials are used. The first is a Piano Black substrate, which is laser etched to remove the black colouring and allow light to shine through the Ghost wordmark and star cluster. This is then overlaid with a layer of dark tinted lacquer, hiding the lettering when not in use. Finally, the fascia is sealed with a layer of subtly tinted lacquer before being hand polished to achieve a perfectly uniform 0.5mm thick, high-gloss finish, matching other high gloss accents incorporated into the interior.