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Rolls-Royce has revealed these, the first official pictures of the new Rolls-Royce 200EX, the concept car that will become the fourth model in the manufacturer’s range and the cheapest.

The £170,000 Rolls-Royce 200EX is significantly smaller than a Phantom, although at 5.4 metres long it is not a small car. It is lower, too, and will be lighter and, although Rolls is not revealing the car’s exact weight, it will be roughly 2300kg.

Underneath the body is a heavily modified version o...Read the full article

 I'm not usually one for saying a car looks like this or looks like that, but squint and you have  300c/75 cross at the front and a blatant rip off of the 75 at the back. Not impressed.

Looks pretty good to me - derivative but pleasing styling.

5.4 metres is still very long for a car though, so not exactly a 'small' Rolls then, just that the Phantom is a monster size. I'd take one of these over the equivalent Bentley Flying Spur on a looks basis. 

I just hope they can get it riding to a Rolls standard, and not to the reportedly uncomfortable and noisy levels of the latest BMW 7 series.

Well, I think that's rather splendid!  The rear does appear less impressive than the rest, but possibly those images are not the most flattering.  However for me this is another example of good brand interpretation by BMW - what they're doing with Rolls Royce is sooooo much better than the footballtastic toot VW are churning out with a Bentley badge. 

I don't have the budget or lifestyle for such a beast sadly, but I could see this having a much broader appeal than the awesome but rather ostentatious Phantom, not only on financial grounds.  Okay so it's not discrete, but it's characterful and I imagine is a car to which one could become emotionally attached - not something that's true of an S-class, and certainly not the awful, awful, oh my God Maybach.  I for one am pleased to see Rolls Royce continue to develop in these difficult times - good luck to them!

Looks pretty good to me. Only a couple of reservations : 1, not too sure I like the way the front grille extends below the bumper line with the number plate on it, and 2, the big chrome ringed exhaust tailpipes at the back, I think they look a bit tacky, suggesting that it makes a lot of noise - not very RR !!

As a fan of Richard Woolleys Rover 75, and past owner, I love the look of this little 'Roller'.

Regardless of what many believe, I still think there is a place for the 'Gentlemans Club' approach to motor car interiors. One hopes it will have a Pifco Portable Trouser Press for the passengers tweeds as an option, as well as fully stocked Mini Bar.

 

The right Rolls for these calamatous financial times.  I reckon this will drag in a few first time buyers....after they've sorted out the mortgage arrears.

 Seriously, like it lots - well done R-R.

Agitprop:

a blatant rip off of the 75 at the back

I have to agree - it does bear more than a passing resemblance to the Rover 75 at the back!    Not keen on the fact that the grille appears to be "inset" and not a full size, protruding chrome grille like on previous RRs. I feel the same way about Mercedes' flat chrome plastic inset grilles too! Much preferred the more substantial grilles on the W124 etc.

But, overall, I quite like it, a lot more in fact than the monster Phantom, a car I've never taken to.  Wonder how close in design the production model will be to this concept?

sorrel:

Wonder how close in design the production model will be to this concept?

According to the article, pretty much identical. That's the only problem with the Autocar website, the pictures are never big enough and can't be resized unlike most of the competitor car magazine websites out there.

If they were it would be easier to look at shutlines etc. and give you a fuller answer, but I can't see much that isn't production viable. 

Apart from the front it looks bland bland bland, like a um, cheap Roller.

And they couldn't give it an aluminium body? If it doesn't cost much less than the Phantom then what's the point??

One thing is telling though - that it uses the old 7's chassis - this is not a bad thing really as from most reviews one can reasonably deduce that the new chassis may be less accomplished, given all the chassis electronics BMW has resorted to in the new car.

Thumbs up from me. I actually find it more desirable than the Phantom, if not quite as grand.

It looks particularly lovely inside.

 Looks painfully normal to me, very much like the phantom coupe in fact. Im not sure the term 'baby' suits this car as it is still very large. Its got presence, but as it is smaller than the phantom, it will never have the same level of presence as its brother. It'll make you look like a  millionaire, but not a multi-millionaire, if you catch my drift.