There are few cars on Earth more synonymous with untouchable luxury than the Rolls-Royce Ghost Series II.
It’s the kind of machine that makes a Bentley look like a sensible hatchback and a Mercedes S-Class feel like an Uber, powered by a twin-turbocharged 6.75-litre V12 that delivers 563 horsepower in near-silence, with lambswool floor mats, starlight headliners, and hand-stitched leather. Probably Italian.
This is a vehicle designed for Mayfair boulevards, five-star hotel forecourts, and chauffeur-driven arrivals at Cannes, not the flooded streets of Kolkata.
Caught in the city’s heaviest rainfall since 1988 Imore than 250 millimetres in just seven hours) a Ghost Series II worth over ₹10 crore (~$1.7 million AUD) was left stranded in a waterlogged street, its wheels half-submerged, as Tata sedans and budget scooters zipped past unbothered.
It’s hard to imagine a clearer metaphor for wealth colliding with reality. Rolls-Royce has built the Ghost with the sort of engineering rigour that could launch a small rocket.
Yet, for all the bells and whistles added to one of Britain’s most important luxury brands, cutting-edge spec is rendered useless the moment it meets a flood. A half-metre of murky rainwater turned this ₹10 crore status symbol into an accidental traffic island.
Of course, the irony wasn’t lost on locals. Videos show a driver in a Tata proudly commenting that his family car, worth a fraction of the Ghost’s price, were able to cruise through the floodwaters without much trouble, happily filming the stranded Ghost as he passed by.
Luxury car owners in India often pay eye-watering taxes, with import duties doubling or tripling sticker prices, and here was the ultimate case study in diminishing returns. Sometimes, the best car on the road is the one that gets you home dry.
